Outline of scientific method
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the scientific method:
Scientific method – body of techniques for investigating phenomena and acquiring new knowledge, as well as for correcting and integrating previous knowledge. It is based on observable, empirical, reproducible, measurable evidence, and subject to the laws of reasoning.
Nature of scientific method
| Scientific method |
|---|
| Background |
| Scientific community |
| Characterization |
Elements of scientific method
Observation
Hypothesis
Experiment
- Laboratory
- Laboratory techniques
- Design of experiments
- Scientific control
- Natural experiment
- Observational study
- Field experiment
- Self-experimentation
- Placebo effect
Theory
Prediction
- Prediction
- Bayesian inference – subjective use of statistical reasoning
- Deductive reasoning
- Retrodiction
Evaluation by scientific community
Scientific method concepts
Empirical methods
Use of statistics
- Uncomfortable science — Inference from a limited sample of data
- Exploratory data analysis
- Confirmatory data analysis
Paradigm change
Problem of induction
The problem of induction questions the logical basis of scientific statements.
- Inductive reasoning appears to lie at the core of the scientific method, yet also appears to be invalid.
- David Hume was the person who first pointed out the problem of induction.
- Karl Popper offered one solution, Falsifiability
Scientific creativity
Deviations from the scientific method
Critique of scientific method
- Paul Feyerabend argued that the search for a definitive scientific method was misplaced and even counterproductive.
- Imre Lakatos attempted to bridge the gap between Popper and Kuhn.
- Sociology of scientific knowledge
- Scientism
Relationship of scientific method to technology
Aesthetics in the scientific method
History of scientific method
| Background |  | |
|---|---|---|
| By era | ||
| By culture | ||
| Natural sciences | ||
| Mathematics | ||
| Social sciences | ||
| Technology | ||
| Medicine | ||
Publications
- Ibn al-Haytham's Book of Optics
- Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine
- Roger Bacon's Opus Majus
- Francis Bacon's Novum Organum
Persons influential in the development of scientific method
See also
- Bayesian probability
- Epistemology
- Post-processual archaeology is a methodological curiosity from Archaeology.
- Structuralism
- Physical law