The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the scientific method: Scientific method – body of techniques for investigating phenomena and acquiring new knowledge, as well as for correcting and integrating previous knowledge. It is based on observable, empirical, reproducible, measurable evidence, and subject to the laws of reasoning.
Nature of scientific method
Scientific method
Science Philosophy of science Sociology of knowledge Process of science Knowledge
Elements of scientific method Research
Basic research
Observation Observation
Scientific method Causation Investigation Measurement (Outline of metrology and measurement)
Hypothesis Hypothesis
pro:Karl Popper Falsifiability con:Paul Feyerabend Statistical hypothesis testing
Experiment Experiment
Laboratory Laboratory techniques Design of experiments Scientific control Natural experiment Observational study Field experiment Self-experimentation Self-experimentation in medicine Placebo effect
Theory Scientific theory
Prediction Prediction Bayesian inference – subjective use of statistical reasoning Deductive reasoning Retrodiction
Evaluation by scientific community Peer review Medical peer review
Scientific method concepts
Empirical methods Empirical methods
Empiricism Robert Grosseteste Peter Parker Empirical validation Operationalization
Use of statistics Uncomfortable science — Inference from a limited sample of data Exploratory data analysis Confirmatory data analysis
Paradigm change Thomas Kuhn The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Paradigm Paradigm shift
Problem of induction The problem of induction questions the logical basis of scientific statements.
Inductive reasoning appears to lie at the core of the scientific method, yet also appears to be invalid. David Hume was the person who first pointed out the problem of induction. Karl Popper offered one solution, Falsifiability
Scientific creativity Tacit knowledge
Deviations from the scientific method Junk science Pseudoscience Pathological science Fringe science
Critique of scientific method Paul Feyerabend argued that the search for a definitive scientific method was misplaced and even counterproductive. Imre Lakatos attempted to bridge the gap between Popper and Kuhn. Sociology of scientific knowledge Scientism
Relationship of scientific method to technology Science and technology studies Theories of technology
Aesthetics in the scientific method Elegance Occam's razor
History of scientific method
Publications Ibn al-Haytham's Book of Optics Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine Roger Bacon's Opus Majus Francis Bacon's Novum Organum Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
Persons influential in the development of scientific method Alhazen Francis Bacon Galileo Galilei Isaac Newton René Descartes Charles Sanders Peirce
See also Bayesian probability Quasi-empirical methods Foundation ontology Ontology Philosophy of mathematics Mathematics Epistemology Post-processual archaeology is a methodological curiosity from Archaeology. Structuralism Post-structuralism Deconstruction Postmodernism Latour, Bruno Secularism- Physical law Science policy Scientific Revolution Sociology of knowledge Science studies
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