Characteristics of the Scientific Method

The scientific method is the set of various procedures or techniques to explain a phenomenon. This technique consists of some basic steps common to all forms of research, which are: observation, hypothesis, experimentation, verification or rejection of the hypothesis, and formulation of theories and scientific laws with which a phenomenon or fact.

Depending on the field of study in which it is applied, steps and procedures can be added in the application of the scientific method; However, the mentioned stages are basic and are present in the application of the scientific method.

Main characteristics of the scientific method:

The scientific method is characterized by the detailed observation of a phenomenon or the statement of a problem, taking into account the observable details of the same.

Another feature is the creation of hypotheses, which is the explanation or the possible resolution of the problem posed, based on the observations made. The hypothesis is the interpretation that we give to the phenomenon or the possible solution of the problem, and it can be confirmed or rejected by carrying out the following processes of this method.

The scientific method has the peculiarity of experimentation; The experimentation consists of the attempt to reproduce in controlled conditions the phenomenon initially observed, to try to understand the interaction of the different components and circumstances of the phenomenon, in order to check the validity or invalidity of the hypotheses that we have raised.

It has the characteristic of the creation of theories, which are formed from the verification of the hypotheses raised, and that relate the results of the experiments favorable to the hypothesis, and the various hypotheses tested, to understand their causality and dependency relationships, to give an explanation to the phenomenon, as well as the anomalies that usually do not fit into the previous theories.

Another peculiarity of this method is the creation of scientific laws; scientific laws, are established theories of the verification of the observations and hypotheses raised, and that when reproducing the experiments, within of the specific conditions, always produce the same results, so it is considered that the same causes always produce the same results.

It has the property of being objective; which consists in that the knowledge obtained is based only on the facts and circumstances studied, in all elements that can be seen, measured and weighed, regardless of metaphysical or other explanations nature.

It is rational; the scientific method uses concepts, judgments and reasoning, cause-to-effect relationships tending to discover the intrinsic truth of things or phenomena, ignoring supernatural conceptions for the explanation of the phenomena.

It is systematic; Observation and experimentation methods are used to search for the truth of a phenomenon, in a coherent, regular and continuous, by means of the measurement, description and classification of the processes tending to the explanation of the phenomenon, in a regular and neat.

It is typical of this method to avoid fallibility in the experimentation processes. This is that the conditions under which the experiments are conducted are carefully recorded, taking note of the variables between one experiment and another and the results that produce that variation.

It has the characteristic of the search for perfectibility, seeking the improvement and perfection of the known processes to achieve an end, and simplify them as much as possible for their best use later.

It is a guide that contains research techniques, which science uses to find the causes, processes and effects of what is investigated, but the scientific method is not a recipe book with which the desired end is reached, but rather contains procedures with which the investigation is carried out in a structured and efficient way to obtain correct results in the investigation of a phenomenon.