scientific method

Noun

scientific method (plural scientific methods)

1. A method of discovering knowledge about the natural world based in making falsifiable predictions (hypotheses), testing them empirically, and developing theories that match known data from repeatable physical experimentation.
   • 1858 - George Woodyatt Hastings, Andrew Edgar, Charles Wager Ryalls, Edwin Pears - Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science
     Mr. Payne's paper aimed at the introduction of a scientific method founded upon rational principles which were altogether unknown to the...
   • Let us sharply distinguish here between two epistemological positions. The first, extreme physicalism, asserts that only physics and its branches can be considered sciences. Hence, all observations must be formulated in the language of physics. The second position, a sort of liberal empiricism...1974, Thomas S. Szasz, M.D., chapter 6, in The Myth of Mental Illness, →ISBN, page 102