Questioning involves asking questions that can be answered through observation or experimentation.
Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood described science as “an imaginative adventure of the mind seeking truth in a world of mystery.”
Your work may guide someone else’s research on creating alternative energy sources to generate light, additional uses for battery power, etc.
Although it is not common, even well-established theories and laws can be invalidated by new data.
The different ways that scientists explore or seek truth in the world can be collectively described as scientific inquiry.
The scientific method is used by scientists to conduct experiments and research and record their findings.
These recordings allow others to interpret and build upon their work.
Different books, websites, and documents describe the scientific method in various ways.
Some sources describe the scientific method in four steps, while others describe it in five steps.
The scientific method generally includes the same basic concepts, which are described in the following pages.
Scientists may go through the process of scientific inquiry in different ways.
Scientists generally begin by making an observation, exploring and collecting information with their senses (smell, sight, sound, touch, and taste) and asking a question that they would like to answer.
After asking the question, scientists spend time reading papers and books on past research to prepare for their own research.
It is important that the information from a credible source, meaning that the information and the source of the information are believable and trustworthy.
Conducting research helps scientists better understand their observations or questions before they conduct experiments.
Scientists decide on what they want to test, stating what they expect to find out during the experiment.
The statement made by scientists is called a hypothesis.
A hypothesis guides the experiment and must be testable.
To collect data, scientists read the measuring instruments carefully.
If the data do not support the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is considered incorrect or invalid.
Performing an experiment multiple times can be helpful in determining the credibility of your data.
Communication is a very important component of scientific progress as it gives other people a chance to learn more and improve their own experiments.
By documenting both the successes and failures of scientific inquiry in journals, speeches, or other public documents, scientists are contributing information that will serve as a basis for future research.
Scientists learn something from both valid and invalid hypotheses.
Many scientists’ greatest breakthroughs would not have been possible without published communications from previous experimentation.
If a hypothesis is invalid, it must be rejected or modified.
Data are pieces of information collected before, during, or after an experiment.
Once the experiment is complete, the data is then analyzed to determine the results.
Every experiment yields new findings and conclusions.
Scientists generally tell others what they have learned through communication.
Scientists usually record their data in notebooks, journals, or on a computer.
The results that have been written down are reviewed.
Scientists rely heavily on data so they can make an accurate conclusion.
Conclusions must always be backed up by data.
If the data support the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is considered correct or valid.
If the hypothesis was testable and the experiment provided clear data, scientists can make a statement telling whether or not the hypothesis was correct.
Communication is an important step in future scientific discovery.
A hypothesis is not invalid because it is incorrect, it can be modified or rejected.
The results of the experiment are recorded in a table.