The Scientific

Method
Also Known as:

“The Complete
Method of Creative
Problem Solving”
Created March 2009
By
Margaret E. Rousset
 Missouri ABE/ASE Content Standards
 Adult Education Content Standards for Roles in the
Family, the Workplace, and the Community
Science and Technology
GOAL 1: Understand and use basic concepts of science to achieve
personal, family, workplace and community goals.
Standard 2: Solve problems in multiple contexts using the scientific
method of inquiry.
a) Use scientific principles to formulate hypotheses concerning outcomes of scientific investigations.
b) Design, conduct, and evaluate scientific investigations of everyday situations.
c) Observe and record data for analysis.
d) Describe possible explanations for the results of scientific investigations.
e) Design new investigations to clarify results of previous outcomes.
f) Explain how scientific knowledge, thinking processes, and skills can be used to solve family, workplace,
and community problems.
g) Use the scientific method to design and test a solution to a personal or societal need.
 Those Trained in the Scientific Method
will have a Higher Degree of:
 1. Confidence; know quickly how to
proceed.
 2. Coping with novelty; are trained for
complex problems.
 3. Curiosity; perceptual sensitivity
increases value of observations.
 4. Believe in theory; accumulate tentative
hypotheses.
 5. Ability to define and redefine problem:
do so frequently.
 Those Trained in the Scientific
Method will have a Higher
Degree of:

 6. Ability to set goals & plans; ensure

maximum results for efforts.
 7. Creativity; trained and encouraged in
creativity.
 8. Finding ideas through recognition of patterns
and irregularities.
 9. Arriving at final conclusion that is correct.
 10. Suspending judgment throughout work and
on final conclusion.
 Those Trained in the Scientific
Method will have a Higher
Degree of:
 11. Training in communication skills, report
writing & related skills
 12. Familiarity with creative, logical, and
technical methods.
 13. Independence of judgment, reject conformity,
and group pressure.
 14. Ability to abstract concepts and basic
principles from material.
 15. Awareness of danger of bias and prejudices
in analysis.
Those NOT Trained in The
Scientific Method Are More Apt to:

 1. Always puzzle about how to

proceed.
 2. Be frustrated by complexity;
untrained in investigation methods.
 3. Overlook opportunities,
discoveries, data, solutions, etc.
 4. Turn up multitude of irrelevant
data, conduct unfocused searches.
 5. Often work on wrong problem.
Those NOT Trained in The
Scientific Method Are More Apt to:

 6. Waste time and energy jumping

around aimlessly.
 7. Not recognize need for or reason to
learn methods of creativity.
 8. Make fewer discoveries and solve
fewer problems.
 9. Arrive at conclusion with only 50-50
chance of correctness.
 10. Be over-confident of untested ideas
and concepts.
Those NOT Trained in The
Scientific Method Are More Apt to:

 11. Be untrained in preparation of

professional-grade reporting.
 12. Have little knowledge of these
methods.
 13. Flow with tide of authoritative
opinions; lose chance to progress.
 14. Be poor at abstracting meat from
material read.
 15. Reach false conclusions; accept
biased, prejudiced reasoning.
 STEPS of the SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
STEP 1: ASK a QUESTION: The scientific
method starts when you ask a question
about something that your observe: How,
What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where?
And, in order for the Scientific Method to
answer the question, it must be about
something that you can measure, preferably
with a number.
 STEPS of the SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
STEP 2: DO BACKGROUND
RESEARCH: Rather than starting from
scratch in putting together a plan for
answering your question, you want to be a
savvy scientist using library and Internet
research to help you find the best way to do
things and ensure that you don’t repeat
mistakes from the past.
 STEPS of the SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
STEP 3: CONSTRUCT a HYPOTHESIS:
A hypothesis is an educated guess about
how things work:
“if ______(I do this)____, then ____(this) will
happen.”
You must state your hypothesis in a way that
you can easily measure, and of course, your
hypothesis should be constructed in a way
to help you answer your original question.
 STEPS of the SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
STEP 4: TEST YOUR HYPOTHESIS
BY DOING AN EXPERIMENT: Your
experiment tests whether your hypothesis is true or
false. It is important for your experiment to be a fair
test. You conduct a fair test by making sure that you
change only one factor at a time while keeping all
other conditions the same.
You should also repeat your experiments
several times to make sure that the first
results weren’t just an accident.
 STEPS of the SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
STEP 5: ANALYZE YOUR DATA AND
DRAW A CONCLUSION: Once your
experiment is complete, you collect your measurements
and analyze them to see if your hypothesis is true or
false.
Scientists often find that their hypothesis was false, and in
such cases they will construct a new hypothesis starting
the entire process of the scientific method over again.
Even if they find that their hypothesis was true, they may
want to test in again in a new way.
STEPS of the SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
STEP 6: COMMUNICATE YOUR
RESULTS: Lastly, communicate your
results to others in a final report.
Professional scientists do this by
publishing their final report in a scientific
journal or by presenting their results on
a poster at a scientific meeting.
Scientific Method Reviewed

ASK Question
Do Background Research
Construct Hypothesis
Test with an Experiment
Analyze Results and Draw Conclusions
Hypothesis is True
If: Hypothesis is False (Go back to Step 3)

Report Results
 The Scientific Method
Explained
• http://www.brainpop.com/science/scientificinquiry/scientific
method/
 Scientific Method Definitions
 Analysis – The breakdown of something that is complex
into smaller parts in such a way that leads to a better
understanding of the whole.
 Classify – Grouping things together based on specific
characteristics.
 Compare – To examine the different and/or similar
characteristics of things or events.
 Control – The group or subject that is used as a standard
for comparison in an experiment.
 Critical thinking – Thinking that uses specific sets of
skills to carefully analyze problems step-by-step;
scientific methods are one type of critical thinking.
 More Definitions
Data – Information, measurements and materials
gathered from observations that are used to
help answer questions.
Dependent Variable - a variable whose value
depends on that of the independent variable.
Experimental error – Incorrect data in an
experiment that may result from a variety of
causes.
Experiment – A test using observations and
controlled variables to discover answers to
questions, and/or to check a hypothesis.
 More Definitions
 Hypothesis – A testable explanation for observations and
questions about the physical universe. (Note: “hypothesis”
is very similar to “prediction,” and the two words are often
used interchangeably.)
 Independent Variable - The variable that is a part of the
experiment that is being tested or the part that is
changed by the person doing the experiment.
 Inference – A logical explanation or conclusion based on
observations and/or facts.
 Measure – To compare the characteristics of something
(such as mass, length, volume) with a standard (such as
grams, meters, liters).
 More ….

Methods – An ordered series of steps followed to

help answer a question.
Nature – The entire physical universe.
 Observation – (1) Noticing objects or events using the five
senses. (2) The data collected by using the five senses to
learn about objects and events.
 Prediction – A statement made about the future outcome
of an experiment based on past experiences or
observations.
 And finally….
 Procedure – An ordered series of steps followed to help
answer a question.
 Qualitative data – Data that is based on observable
characteristics of things or events that can be collected
using the five senses. Example: “The juice tastes sweet to
me.”
 Quantitative data – Data that is based on measurable
characteristics of things or events such as mass, volume,
length, and quantity. Example: “There is one liter of juice
in the carton.”
 Crossword Puzzle
• http://sciencespot.net/Media/scimethod
puzzle.pdf
 Scientific Method Encore
http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/faculty/k
kvre/smethorg.htm