scientific method

(noun)

A method of discovering knowledge about the natural world based on making falsifiable predictions (hypotheses), testing them empirically, and developing peer-reviewed theories that best explain the known data.

Related Terms

(noun)

A method of discovering knowledge about the natural world based on making falsifiable predictions (hypotheses), testing them empirically, and developing peer-reviewed theories that best explain the data.

Related Terms

Examples of scientific method in the following topics:

  • Using the Scientific Method: From Theory to Conclusion

  • Psychology and the Scientific Method: From Theory to Conclusion

    • All scientific disciplines are united by their use of the scientific method.
    • Across all scientific disciplines, the major precepts of the scientific method are verifiability, predictability, falsifiability, and fairness.
    • The scientific method is a process for gathering data and processing information.
    • This diagram shows the steps of the scientific method, which are listed below.
    • Defend each step of the scientific method as necessary to psychological research

  • Psychology and the Scientific Method

    • The scientific method is a systematic process that allows people to hypothesize and draw conclusions about the world around them.
    • The scientific method is an orderly system of procedures that is used in the field of psychological research.
    • The goal behind the scientific method is to prove or disprove a hypothesis.
    • Several types of studies exist within the scientific method—experiments, descriptive studies, case studies, surveys, and non-descriptive studies.
    • Critical thinking is a key component of the scientific method in psychology .

  • Methods for Researching Human Development

    • Developmental psychology uses scientific research methods to study the changes that occur in human beings over the course of their lives.
    • Three research methods used include the experimental, correlational, and case study approach.
    • The experimental method involves actual manipulation of treatments, circumstances, or events to which the participant or subject is exposed.
    • A limit to this method is that the artificial environment in which the experiment is conducted may not be applicable to the general population.
    • This method can be used to draw conclusions about which types of development are universal (or normative) and occur in most members of a cohort.

  • Cognitive Psychology

    • It accepts the use of the scientific method and generally rejects introspection as a valid method of investigation, unlike phenomenological methods such as Freudian psychoanalysis.
    • He is most widely known for his stage theory of cognitive development, which outlines how children become able to think logically and scientifically over time.

  • Defining Psychology

    • Psychology is the scientific study of human mental processes and behavior.
    • Research psychologists employ scientific methods to explore relationships between various psychosocial variables and examine a wide range of topics related to mental processes and behavior.

  • Managing Stress Through Conventional and Alternative Medicine

    • Conventional methods of stress management are most popular in the Western world.
    • These methods are called conventional because most people are familiar with them and their effects on stress.
    • Some conventional methods of reducing stress include psychiatric therapy and anxiety-reducing medications.
    • As with alternative medicine, alternative stress therapies are not rooted in the scientific method, but rather have non-evidence-based healing effects.
    • These methods tend to focus on the person experiencing stress, providing methods for mental reframing or management.

  • Early Roots of Psychology

    • The field of psychology emerged as a scientific discipline in the 19th century, but its roots go back to ancient philosophy.
    • The late 19th century marked the start of psychology as a scientific enterprise.
    • Wundt's primary method of research was "introspection," which involves training people to concentrate and report on their conscious experiences as they react to stimuli.
    • Like Wundt, Titchener used introspection to try to determine the different components of consciousness; however, his method used very strict guidelines for the reporting of an introspective analysis.
    • As structuralism struggled to survive the scrutiny of the scientific method, new approaches to studying the mind were sought.

  • History of Cognition

    • The word "cognition" is the closest scientific synonym for thinking.
    • He also placed great importance on ensuring that his studies and ideas were based on empirical evidence (scientific information that is gathered through observation and careful experimentation).
    • Wundt believed that scientific psychology should focus on introspection, or analysis of the contents of one's own mind and experience.
    • Though today Wundt's methods are recognized as being subjective and unreliable, he is one of the important figures in the study of cognition because of his examination of human thought processes.

  • Biopsychology

    • As technical sophistication leads to advancements in research methods, more advanced topics, such as language, reasoning, decision-making, and consciousness, are now being studied.
    • Neuropsychologists are often employed as scientists to advance scientific or medical knowledge, and neuropsychology is particularly concerned with understanding brain injuries in an attempt to learn about normal psychological functioning.
    • Biopsychology as a scientific discipline emerged from a variety of scientific and philosophical traditions in the 18th and 19th centuries.
    • In The Principles of Psychology (1890), William James argued that the scientific study of psychology should be grounded in an understanding of biology.