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To: exDemMom
I would point out that your seven steps of the scientific method aren't exactly in the correct order. I've never started off with making observations; I need to have a hypothesis in place first, or I won't even know what observations to make.

I think most hypotheses are the result of first having observed something you do not have an explanation for, and the desire to find one.

175 posted on 08/22/2011 7:17:00 PM PDT by tacticalogic
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To: tacticalogic
I think most hypotheses are the result of first having observed something you do not have an explanation for, and the desire to find one.

I didn't go through my whole process, but, in most cases, that isn't how I develop a hypothesis.

My usual process is to review the literature pertaining to the research I want to do, and then to identify gaps in the knowledge. I then make a hypothesis as to what knowledge I think might fill a gap. For instance, I might consider a disease process in which I know that the exposure happens one week before the symptoms, and try to make an educated guess as to what is happening between the two events. I then design the experiment to ascertain whether I am correct in my educated guess or not. And this is an iterative process: once I complete that phase of the research and analyze the results, I then try to identify the new gaps in knowledge which have been revealed during that phase, and plan further experiments (guided by new or altered hypotheses).

177 posted on 08/22/2011 8:20:42 PM PDT by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
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