The scientific method is a systematic way of learning about the world around us and answering questions.
The key difference between the scientific method and other ways of acquiring knowledge are forming a
hypothesis and then testing it with an experiment.
STEPS
Purpose/Question
Research
Hypothesis
Experiment
Data/Analysis
Conclusion
Conclude whether to accept or reject your
hypothesis. There is no right or wrong
outcome to an experiment, so either result
is fine.Conclude whether to accept or reject
your hypothesis. There is no right or wrong
outcome to an experiment, so either result
is fine.
Record observations and analyze the
meaning of the data. Often, you'll
prepare a table or graph of the data.
Don't throw out data points you think
are bad or that don't support your
predictions. Once you have the data, you
may need to perform a mathematical
analysis to support or refute your
hypothesis.
Design and perform an experiment
to test your hypothesis. An
experiment has an independent
and dependent variable. You
change or control the independent
variable and record the effect it has
on the dependent variable. It's
important to change only one
variable for an experiment rather
than try to combine the effects of
variables in an experiment.
Propose a hypothesis. This is a sort
of educated guess about what you
expect. It is a statement used to
predict the outcome of an
experiment. Usually, a hypothesis is
written in terms of cause and effect.
Alternatively, it may describe the
relationship between two
phenomena.In reality, you probably
expect a change but rejecting a
hypothesis may be more useful than
accepting one
Conduct background research.
Write down your sources so you
can cite your references. In the
modern era, a lot of your research
may be conducted online. Scroll to
the bottom of articles to check the
references. Even if you can't access
the full text of a published article,
you can usually view the abstract
to see the summary of other
experiments. Interview experts on
a topic. The more you know about
a subject, the easier it will be to
conduct your investigation.