The 8 steps of the scientific method

A summary of the practices that allow us to generate knowledge under the scientific method.

Let's imagine that we see an apple fall from a tree, and the next day we see someone trip and fall, and the next day we see a child kick a ball that inevitably ends up on the ground as well. Perhaps it suddenly occurs to us that there may be some kind of force that pulls and attracts bodies to the ground and that this may explain why different masses tend to be in contact with the surface and to have a certain weight.

While we are hinting at the existence of the force of gravity, we cannot consider such thoughts as scientific without more. It will be necessary to perform a series of scientifically valid procedures in order to be able to propose its existence. in order to be able to propose its existence as a theory: we will need to employ the scientific method. This method requires a series of steps in order to elaborate knowledge.

In this article we will see what are the different steps of the scientific methodIn order to be able to see how scientific knowledge and the different theories have had to go through a series of basic procedures to be considered as such.

The scientific method: general concept

Before entering to speak of the steps that it comprises, in first place it is necessary to establish briefly what is the scientific method.. It is understood as such to the set of methodologies and steps by means of which science seeks knowledge and the formulation of hypotheses to contrast experimentally.

This method is a theoretical process that is applied systematically with a determined order in order to generate valid and objective knowledge, based on empirical observation and the search for knowledge that can be refuted or falsified and that can be replicated if the same conditions are met.

The methodology used in the scientific method can be variable, although the procedure generally used is the the hypothetico-deductive procedure is generally used.. This method has the advantage that as knowledge advances, it is corrected in such a way that hypotheses and beliefs that are not validated are rejected, using the logic and objectivity of experimentation and replication.

Through this process, what initially seems to us to be observed will give rise to a series of hypotheses that through research, observation and experimentation will be contrasted, generating increasingly contrasted knowledge through the controlled replication of the events, something that will graduallyThis will gradually produce theories and, in the long run and if our hypothesis is maintained in all known conditions in a universal way, laws.

Thus, the scientific method must be the basis of any research that wants to be called scientific, since it allows us to obtain a relatively objective knowledge of reality, serving to answer numerous questions about it and the phenomena that occur in it, generating theories and laws about it and being able to advance based on them both at the level of knowledge and at the level of the practical application of what is obtained.

The steps of the scientific method

As we have said, the scientific method is the main procedure that serves as a basis for the construction of scientific knowledge based on evidence, its application implying the following of a series of steps that the understanding of the phenomena.. The steps followed by the scientific method are the following.

1. Definition of the problem or question to be investigated

The first step of the scientific method is, logically, the establishment of a problem or question to be analyzed. It may be a phenomenon that we have observed and from which we intend to obtain knowledge, or the perception that perhaps there may be a relationship with other phenomena.

But need not be based on direct observationIt can also be based on a question that arises spontaneously or on the attempt to see if a belief is founded.

2. Assessment and review of previous experiments and precedents

It is possible that the phenomenon we have observed or the relationship that has seemed viable to us has already been verified previously by other researchers, it is necessary to make a review of the existing scientific literature on the subject. literature on the subject.

Obtaining this information, as well as that which can be extracted from other research of a more theoretical nature or even from the philosophy of science, makes it possible to generate the theoretical framework of the study.

The theoretical framework is not a simple circumlocution, nor does it serve simply to educate the readers of the scientific article resulting from the research, but rather gives an idea of the presuppositions and purposes adopted by the research team, in such a way that it helps to understand why what comes next..

Hypothesis generation

The observation or the question in question generates a series of impressions in this respect, with the researcher elaborating possible solutions to his questions. These possible solutions will for the moment be mere hypotheses, since they are proposed solutions to the original question that have not yet been tested.

It is important in this step to generate hypotheses that are testable, otherwise they could not pass the test.Otherwise, they would be no more than mere beliefs, and, as far as possible, operationalizable. These hypotheses will allow predictions to be made about the behavior and interaction of the different variables linked to the original question or problem.

Essentially, the hypothesis is a reference on which the research should be based, either to confirm or refute it. This makes it possible to go from the abstract to the concrete without forgetting the purpose of the study.

4. Search/design and use of an empirical falsification method.

The next step, once the hypothesis has been obtained, is to choose and design a methodology or experiment that allows us to systematically and in a controlled way to check whether our proposed solution holds. To this end, we must bear in mind that the hypothesis must be evaluated in a situation that is as controlled as possible, taking into account the interaction of variables beyond those intended.

Experimentation is generally used for this step, since it allows control of the situation and the variables, so that it is possible to observe whether the hypothesis is valid or not. in such a way that it is possible to observe whether the variables considered have any relationship with each other or not.. It is important to keep in mind that we will need large samples or the repetition of the experiment so that the result obtained is not merely casual.

It is essential to assess the type of variables that we are going to use when testing our hypothesis, as well as the characteristics of the sample or the stimuli to be used and the control of possible extraneous variables. It will be necessary to make these variables operational, defining the values they may have in order to be able to collect them later.

5. Experimentation or testing of the hypothesis

The next step, once the experiment or method to be used has been designed, is to carry out the experiment itself. It is important to collect the data systematically, always in the same way so that there are no divergences that invalidate the possible interpretation of the data.

Also the experiment is carried out by manipulating the variablesThe experiment is also carried out by manipulating the variables, but without actively encouraging the result to favor our hypothesis, otherwise we would be introducing a bias in the subsequent interpretation. In fact, we should aim rather to try to disprove our hypothesis than to confirm it.

6. Exhaustive analysis of the results

The experiments carried out will yield a series of results, which must be analyzed so that we can later assess whether or not they correspond to the hypothesis we held.

It is important to bear in mind that a single experiment on a single occasion is not enough to determine that a hypothesis is true. to be able to determine that a hypothesis is true or not.It should be replicated on numerous occasions or with different subjects.

The possible influence of factors other than those of our hypothesis that could interfere or generate one or another result, regardless of whether the relationship between variables that we imagined is true or not, should also be assessed. All this must be evaluated through statistical methodology in order to assess whether our results are reliable and valid.

7. Interpretation

Once the results have been analyzed, it will be necessary to assess what they imply in terms of our hypothesis, based on whether or not the predictions regarding the behavior of the variables that should have occurred if our hypothesis were correct are fulfilled. In short, this step is intended to provide an answer to the question or problem originally posed.. If the data correspond, the experiment will support the hypothesis, and if not, it will refute it.

However, we must bear in mind that we are only dealing with positive or negative data from an experiment: it will be necessary to replicate it in order to determine whether our hypothesis is fulfilled in other experimental conditions or in other experiments.

On the other hand, it is also necessary to take into account the limitations of the methodology used in the research and the nature of the concepts used when formulating the hypotheses and operationalizing the initial questions.

This is one of the steps of the scientific method in which the discipline known as the philosophy of science is most important. the discipline known as philosophy of scienceThis is one of the steps of the scientific method in which the discipline known as philosophy of science is most important, since it allows us to know to what extent it is valid or not to draw certain conclusions from the results of the analysis of the data worked on. To this end, we reflect on the ontological character of the phenomena studied, and on the possible weaknesses of the methods used from the point of view of epistemology.

8. Reformulation or generation of new hypotheses

Whether or not the hypothesis that we held has been empirically verified, it can be redefined or, if it has been demonstrated to be used, it can be used as a new hypothesis. as a basis for generating new knowledge and new questionsThis will give us an ever deeper understanding of the phenomena and problems studied.

In any case, it should not be forgotten that the refutation of hypotheses also offers knowledge that was not available before the research was carried out, so in these circumstances it is not all bad news.

Is replication part of the process?

In many cases it has been pointed out that scientifically extracted knowledge must be replicated. This does not mean reanalyzing the data obtained to see if another team of researchers comes to the same conclusions from the same information (which is known as replication), but rather to collect data analogous to those collected by other scientists and arrive at the same or very similar conclusions..

For example, replicating a study on cognitive biases that predispose us to racism would mean taking another sample of people and finding the same biases in that group, and in the same amount, as in the study we are trying to replicate.

However, whether this is a prerequisite is open to debate. For example, in certain fields of biology, psychology, and the social sciences, it is unrealistic to expect to find a data set to be analyzed that reflects the same as what was reflected in the initial study dataset. This, in principle, makes the problems of replicability greater, so that an investigation that does not lead to the same conclusions as another on the same subject is not in itself sufficient reason to discard a theory or hypothesis.

In the same way, disciplines such as logic or mathematics often do not allow replicating studies, since they always start from the same premises, and not from different sets of data but referring to the same phenomenon.

In any case, it should not be forgotten that under the label of "science" there are in fact different sciences and different scientific methods. Therefore, replication will be part of the steps of the scientific method only in those cases where it makes sense.