Chances are you've heard of the scientific method. What exactly is the scientific method?

Is it a precise and exact way that all science must be done? Or is it a series of steps that most scientists generally follow, but may be modified for the benefit of an individual investigation?

The Scientific Method

There are basic methods of gaining knowledge that are common to all of science. At the heart of science is the scientific investigation, which is done by following the scientific method. A scientific investigation is a plan for asking questions and testing possible answers. It generally follows the steps listed in Figure below.

Steps of a Scientific Investigation

Steps of a Scientific Investigation. A scientific investigation typically has these steps. Scientists often develop their own steps they follow in a scientific investigation. Shown here is a simplification of how a scientific investigation is done.

Making Observations

A scientific investigation typically begins with observations. You make observations all the time. Let’s say you take a walk in the woods and observe a moth, like the one in Figure below, resting on a tree trunk. You notice that the moth has spots on its wings that look like eyes. You think the eye spots make the moth look like the face of an owl.

Moth Eye Spots

Does this moth remind you of an owl?

Asking a Question

Observations often lead to questions. For example, you might ask yourself why the moth has eye spots that make it look like an owl’s face. What reason might there be for this observation?

Forming a Hypothesis

The next step in a scientific investigation is forming a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a possible answer to a scientific question, but it isn’t just any answer. A hypothesis must be based on scientific knowledge, and it must be logical. A hypothesis also must be falsifiable. In other words, it must be possible to make observations that would disprove the hypothesis if it really is false. Assume you know that some birds eat moths and that owls prey on other birds. From this knowledge, you reason that eye spots scare away birds that might eat the moth. This is your hypothesis.

Testing the Hypothesis

To test a hypothesis, you first need to make a prediction based on the hypothesis. A prediction is a statement that tells what will happen under certain conditions. It can be expressed in the form: If A occurs, then B will happen. Based on your hypothesis, you might make this prediction: If a moth has eye spots on its wings, then birds will avoid eating it.

Next, you must gather evidence to test your prediction. Evidence is any type of data that may either agree or disagree with a prediction, so it may either support or disprove a hypothesis. Evidence may be gathered by an experiment. Assume that you gather evidence by making more observations of moths with eye spots. Perhaps you observe that birds really do avoid eating moths with eye spots. This evidence agrees with your prediction.

Drawing Conclusions

Evidence that agrees with your prediction supports your hypothesis. Does such evidence prove that your hypothesis is true? No; a hypothesis cannot be proven conclusively to be true. This is because you can never examine all of the possible evidence, and someday evidence might be found that disproves the hypothesis. Nonetheless, the more evidence that supports a hypothesis, the more likely the hypothesis is to be true.

Communicating Results

The last step in a scientific investigation is communicating what you have learned with others. This is a very important step because it allows others to test your hypothesis. If other researchers get the same results as yours, they add support to the hypothesis. However, if they get different results, they may disprove the hypothesis.

When scientists share their results, they should describe their methods and point out any possible problems with the investigation. For example, while you were observing moths, perhaps your presence scared birds away. This introduces an error into your investigation. You got the results you predicted (the birds avoided the moths while you were observing them), but not for the reason you hypothesized. Other researchers might be able to think of ways to avoid this error in future studies.

So what exactly is an experiment?

At first you may picture a science laboratory with microscopes and chemicals and people in white lab coats. But do all experiments have to be done in a lab? And do all scientists have to wear lab coats?

Experiments

Figure below shows a laboratory experiment involving plants. An experiment is a special type of scientific investigation that is performed under controlled conditions, usually in a laboratory.

Laboratory experiment studying plant growth

A laboratory experiment studying plant growth. What might this experiment involve?

Some experiments can be very simple, but even the simplest can contribute important evidence that helps scientists better understand the natural world. As many different types of experiments are possible, an experiment must be designed to produce data that can help confirm or reject the hypothesis.

Variables

An experiment generally tests how one variable is affected by another. The affected variable is called the dependent variable. In the plant experiment shown above, the dependent variable is plant growth. The variable that affects the dependent variable is called the independent variable. In the plant experiment, the independent variable could be fertilizer—some plants will get fertilizer, others will not. The scientists change the amount of the independent variable (the fertilizer) to observe the effects on the dependent variable (plant growth). An experiment needs to be run simultaneously in which no fertilizer is given to the plant. This would be known as a control experiment. In any experiment, other factors that might affect the dependent variable must be controlled. In the plant experiment, what factors do you think should be controlled? (Hint: What other factors might affect plant growth?)

Sample Size and Repetition

The sample in an experiment or other investigation consists of the individuals or events that are studied, and the size of the sample (or sample size) directly affects the interpretation of the results. Typically, the sample is much smaller than all such individuals or events that exist in the world. Whether the results based on the sample are true in general cannot be known for certain. However, the larger the sample is, the more likely it is that the results are generally true.

Similarly, the more times that an experiment is repeated (which is known as repetition) and the same results obtained, the more likely the results are valid. This is why scientific experiments should always be repeated.