What is the scientific method and what are its steps?

The Scientific method is a research system used more than anything in the production of scientific knowledge, which stipulates measurement and empirical criteria as its indispensable bases, as well as submission to reasoning tests. This means that the scientific method is an analysis mechanism that allows, in theory, to discern scientific experiences from those that are not.

The fundamental principles of the Scientific Method are two:

This means that the Scientific Method proposes a system of knowledge of the universe who disbelieves in the absolute, who trusts in reason and in the deductive gifts of man and in the accumulation of knowledge as a way of approaching the truth.

Some specialists argue that there is not one scientific method but several, since every scientist uses different mechanisms of measurement, definition, classification, statistical or hypothetical-deductive, which are also subject to their historical moment and therefore can change over time. Thus, what is accepted scientific truth at one time may be unbelievable in later times.

Although its historical origin is uncertain, its birth is usually located in the seventeenth century, mainly thanks to the Galileo Galilei studies.

Steps of the scientific method

The scientific method is a experimental system knowledge, that is, based on the direct observation and subsequent reproduction of the natural phenomena. This does not mean, however, that every form of experiment is necessarily scientific, nor that experimentally unsustainable theories (such as social Sciences) are less scientific.

In fact, the scientific method has been revised and refined over the centuries, as understanding of the world by man also provides him with a better understanding of his methods and of the science itself based. Behold, science does not seek to be dogmatic, authoritarian, or absolute.

However, the traditional model of the scientific method, as proposed by Francis Bacon in the 17th century, comprised the following steps:

1. Observation. This is the name given to the initial step that involves fixing the senses in nature and its phenomena, to gather the information and the necessary context to think about the problem.
2. Induction. An attempt is made to extract the fundamental principle or the basic elements of the observed phenomenon.
3. Hypothesis. A provisional or working explanation is prepared to answer the questions posed.
4. Experimentation. An attempt is made to check the hypothesis established by reproducing the phenomenon in a controlled environment.
5. Antithesis or refutation. An attempt is made to refute the hypothesis with an experimental counterexample to demonstrate its universality.
6. Thesis or theory. In case of not being able to refute it, a scientific theory is proposed. If it is refuted, on the other hand, or if it is not experimentally verifiable, the results are used to refine the hypothesis and move forward again. For many, a theory is nothing more than a hypothesis that has not yet been refuted.

In this way, the scientific method would function as a proven reasoning algorithm, allowing third parties reproduce or accompany the experiences of the scientist and thus verify his procedures and interpretations.

Examples of the scientific method in everyday life

1. Problem: The cure for a physical illness

1. Problem: Making a new fuel

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