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 edit
Elements of scientific method edit
Observation edit
Hypothesis edit
Experiment edit
- Laboratory
- Laboratory techniques
- Design of experiments
- Scientific control
- Natural experiment
- Observational study
- Field experiment
- Self-experimentation
- Placebo effect
Theory edit
Prediction edit
- Prediction
- Bayesian inference – subjective use of statistical reasoning
- Deductive reasoning
- Retrodiction
Evaluation by scientific community edit
Scientific method concepts edit
Empirical methods edit
Use of statistics edit
- Uncomfortable science — Inference from a limited sample of data
- Exploratory data analysis
- Confirmatory data analysis
Paradigm change edit
Problem of induction edit
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 edit
Deviations from the scientific method edit
Critique of scientific method edit
- 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 edit
Aesthetics in the scientific method edit
History of scientific method edit
Publications edit
- 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 edit
See also edit
- Bayesian probability
- Epistemology
- Post-processual archaeology is a methodological curiosity from Archaeology.
- Structuralism
- Physical law