Scientific+Method

== **Scientific Method** ==

The scientific method is an organized process/way of thinking to find new information out.
The scientific method is generally broken down into 5 steps (*some sources say 4 some say 6 and use other terminology, but the idea is generally the same*):


 * 1. Determine the problem/ask a question:** The scientific method usually begins with a question about something you observe or something you want to learn about. For example: "Why is the sky blue?" or "Why do penguins not fly" or "Is it better to water my vegetables in the morning or night?"


 * 2. Research the problem/question:** Rather than starting from scratch, you want to find out as much as you can about your topic. Books from the library, the internet, as well as teachers and scientists are all great places to start your research.


 * 3. Build a Hypothesis:** A hypothesis is an educated guess. You should construct your hypothesis in a way that it is a testable prediction. Generally (but not all the time), it is written the form of an If/then statement:

"If _(//I do this)// _, then _(//this)//_ will happen."

For example: "If I water my garden during the night, then my vegetables will grow taller than if I water them during the day."


 * 4. Test your Hypothesis with an Experiment:** An experiment is a step by step procedure to test your hypothesis. In our garden example. We could divide our garden in half or have two separate gardens (A and B) with the same type and amount of vegetable plants. We would measure the starting height of the plants in Garden A and B. We would water one garden at night (A) and one garden during the day (B). After a certain amount of time we would measure the plant heights again in both gardens. In the case of this example, the heights we measured would be considered 'data'. We will use this 'data' in the next step.


 * A note about data: Data is a record of what happened during the experiment. A lot of the times it is in the form of numbers, but it does not always have to be. See below for more on Experiments.*


 * 5. Analyze the results:** When we analyze our results, we look at our data to see if it supports/defends our hypothesis (in other words proving the hypothesis true). The data can also prove our hypothesis wrong or false.


 * 6. Draw conclusions:** Going back to our example about the garden. If our data showed that watering plants during the night made them grow taller then our hypothesis was proven true, and we can communicate our hypothesis and findings to our peers. If the hypothesis was proven false, we generally go back to our hypothesis and change it or test it in a new way.


 * These steps are known as the Scientific Method and are habitually put in the beginning chapters of most science text books (including our own). They present scientific thought as a step by step process that follows an exact path. However, like a great group of Scientists at University of California point out:**


 * "Though many useful points are embodied in this method, it can easily be misinterpreted as linear and "cookbook": pull a problem off the shelf, throw in an observation, mix in a few questions, sprinkle on a hypothesis, put the whole mixture into a 350° experiment — and //voila//, 50 minutes later you'll be pulling a conclusion out of the oven! That might work if science were like Hamburger Helper®, but science is complex and cannot be reduced to a single, prepackaged recipe."**


 * Check out the University of California's Web-site on How Science Works and The //Real// Process of Science**

More on Experiments:** A good experiment is a step by step procedure that is written in detail. It is written in detail and complete so someone else can duplicate the experiment if the need arises. As a matter of fact, repeated trials is a good way to show reliability in the results that you get. A good experiment should only test 1 specific factor at a time (this is know as a fair test). We call this factor a variable. A variable is any factor, trait, or condition that can exist in differing amounts or types. An experiment usually have two kinds of variables: independent and dependent. The independent variable the part of your experiment that you will test (vary/change) to answer your hypothesis. In our example above, changing the time of day we water the plants is the independent variable. The dependent variable is what occurs in response to the changing independent variable. It is what we measure/the outcome. In the example above, the height of the plants and vegetables would be the dependent variable.

An experiment not only has two variables, but a good experiment should have two groups: an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group consists of the trials where you change the independent variable. The control group consists of all those trials where you leave the independent variable in its natural state. We use the control group to compare what happens normally to what happens in the experimental group.