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)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)

Use scientific principles to formulate hypotheses concerning outcomes of scientific investigations.

Design, conduct, and evaluate scientific investigations of everyday situations.
Observe and record data for analysis.
Describe possible explanations for the results of scientific investigations.
Design new investigations to clarify results of previous outcomes.
Explain how scientific knowledge, thinking processes, and skills can be used to solve family, workplace,
and community problems.
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 dont 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
werent 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/

kkvre/smethorg.htm