scientific method

[ sahy-uhn-tif-ik meth-uhd ]

/ ˈsaɪ ənˌtɪf ɪk ˈmɛθ əd /

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noun

a method of research in which a problem is identified, relevant data are gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from these data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested.

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Origin of scientific method

First recorded in 1850–55

Words nearby scientific method

sciential, scientific, scientific content analysis, scientific creationism, scientific empiricism, scientific method, scientific name, scientific notation, scientific socialism, scientific theory, scientism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use scientific method in a sentence

So gain-of-function has been used in virology and microbiology for decades as a part of the scientific method.
“We never created a supervirus.” Ralph Baric explains gain-of-function research.|Rowan Jacobsen|July 26, 2021|MIT Technology Review
We’re using modern segmentation and scientific methods, in a rapid test-and-learn framework, to develop and refine a proprietary point of view based on actual efficacy and impact.
Media Buying Briefing: Known builds clients an ‘Iron Man suit’ made of data science and creativity to supercharge campaigns|Michael Bürgi|July 6, 2021|Digiday
The reason he made so little progress and abandoned neuroscience was because there weren’t scientific methods by which you could study things.
Consciousness Is Just a Feeling - Issue 98: Mind|Steve Paulson|March 3, 2021|Nautilus
Sherlock Holmes and tons of great detective fiction allow us to play virtual scientists by going into a space where our ego doesn’t exist and we can practice our scientific method of making predictions and testing them.
Literature Should Be Taught Like Science - Issue 97: Wonder|Kevin Berger|February 24, 2021|Nautilus

A group of liberal strategists he brought together in the early 2000s led to the creation of the Analyst Institute, a secretive firm that applies scientific methods to political campaigns.
The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election|Molly Ball|February 4, 2021|Time
The story of fluoridation reads like a postmodern fable, and the moral is clear: a scientific discovery might seem like a boon.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
And Epstein continues to steer money toward universities to advance scientific research.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking|M.L. Nestel|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Their three-day scientific outing was paid for by Epstein and was big success.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking|M.L. Nestel|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
She wanted to know what happened over five years, or even 10, but the scientific literature had little to offer.
Why Your New Year’s Diet Will Fail|Carrie Arnold|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By the late 1600s, chemists and herbalists had begun to concoct their own scientific mixtures for curing the hangover.
History's Craziest Hangover Cures|Justin Jones|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To reproduce the impulse born of the thought—this is the aim of a psychological method.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
Roman Pane who accompanied Columbus on his second voyage alludes to another method of using the herb.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
Their method of curing the leaves was to air-dry them and then packing them until wanted for use.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
Smith's method usually gives good results, as does also the more simple method of Hiss (p. 263).
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
All that scientific bric-a-brac in the cupboard had far better be thrown away.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

British Dictionary definitions for scientific method

scientific method

noun

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for scientific method

scientific method

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.