By Prof. Liwayway Memije-Cruz

Scientific Method

is not a method in a sense of procedure, but rather an attitude and a philosophy providing guidance by which dependable over-all concepts can be extracted from impressions that penetrates in a man’s senses from the outside world

as the search of the general set of instructions or “recipe” for getting scientific research.

an attempt to describe the general aims of science.

thought of as whatever in practice serves to promote those aims. Asking what all the various subjects popularly called “sciences” have in common would yield only beatitudes like “Don’t jump to conclusions in the absence of firm evidence”.

is a way of explaining a major aspect of nature put together from a large body of information. Example is on the visible light, or white light, which is consists of a collection of component colors. These colors are often observed as light passes through a triangular prism. Upon passage through the prism, the white light is separated into its component colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. 

Direct observation is through systems of vision, hearing, taste, olfaction and touch. 

Indirect observation is through the use of special equipments with perception. Making systematic observations means focusing one or more senses on a particular object or event in the environment and screening out information that has nothing to do with the problem. 

Observation is of two types: direct and indirect

Hypothesizing is putting together a tentative explanation to account for an observation.

Hypothesis is a suggested explanation for a collection of known facts. It must be measurable and the test must not so loosely conceived that they cannot be duplicated or verified. Experiments are devised to test whatever predictions derived from the hypothesis Hypothesis must be constructed in a manner that it will provide a framework for implementing the results of an experiment. Its content must be more specific than a problem and often it is worded in the negative structure.

Experiments are conducted to control all variables except the one under study.

What are variables? Variables are events or conditions subject to

change. Examples are the amount of light, temperature and moisture.

Variables are classified into: Independent variables involve the condition

or event under study Dependent variables are conditions that can

possibly change because of the presence of, or change in, dependent variables. 

Controlled variables, conditions that could either /or not affect the outcome of an experiment but that do not, because they are held constant.

The one conducting the experiment observes or manipulates one independent variable at a time to identify any effects it has on dependent variables

After the experiments, the collected data and test results are organized using data tables or graphs. These are used to organize information for analysis.

Data have value only when valid generalizations are from them. Such generalizations must be based entirely on facts observed in the experiments. If the experiments confirm the hypothesis, the hypothesis may be elevated to the more certain status of a theory. However, such a theory is never – in the strict sense – logical conclusion from the observed facts.

It is the obligation and responsibility of the research scientists to publish their studies and results. Scientific literature keeps scientist aware and updated of research in their respective fields. The exchange of information thus saves time, effort and money and thereby speeds up scientific progress.