scientific method

American  

[sahy-uhn-tif-ik meth-uhd] / ˈsaɪ ənˌtɪf ɪk ˈmɛθ əd /

noun

1. Often the scientific method the method of discovery used by scientists from the Enlightenment onward, in which a question is identified, data are gathered through observation and research, a hypothesis is formulated and then tested through experimentation, and the results are analyzed to draw a conclusion: usually followed, in the scientific community, by sharing the results so that others can attempt to replicate and confirm them independently.

2. any process followed systematically to arrive at knowledge of the universe, especially in premodern times.

   In developing his systematic reflection, Thomas Aquinas followed Aristotle's scientific method as far as possible.

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scientific method British  

noun

1. a method of investigation in which a problem is first identified and observations, experiments, or other relevant data are then used to construct or test hypotheses that purport to solve it

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scientific method Cultural  

1. An orderly technique of investigation that is supposed to account for scientific progress. The method consists of the following steps: (1) Careful observations of nature. (2) Deduction of natural laws. (3) Formation of hypotheses — generalizations of those laws to previously unobserved phenomena. (4) Experimental or observational testing of the validity of the predictions thus made. Actually, scientific discoveries rarely occur in this idealized, wholly rational, and orderly fashion.

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Etymology

Origin of scientific method

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Its assertion that “studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism” is a travesty of the scientific method.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2025

Journalism is the art of using the scientific method to communicate facts to the public.

From Salon • Oct. 24, 2025

What the scientific method can’t do, though, is make moral claims about right and wrong.

From Slate • Sep. 25, 2025

“Everything about our scientific method makes it hard to prove these sorts of things.”

From Salon • Jan. 13, 2025

Devised by the French criminologist Alphonse Bertillon in 1879, it was the first scientific method for identifying repeat criminals.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann