The scientific method of research is a process -- a process that usually takes years or even decades to move an idea from hypothesis to theory. In recent years this process has accelerated, but the steps of the process are research doctrine in that studies are only considered scientifically valid if this method is followed. They are taught at all levels of education, from elementary school (I still have my daughter’s 5th grade poster presentation regarding which brand of dish soap produced more suds) to serving as the backbone of every Ph.D. candidate’s dissertation. The process is as follows:
- A researcher garners an idea through review of the research literature to date, observations through clinical practice or even conjecture that seems to hold truth -- e.g., Pavlov noting the behavior of his dogs at meal time or Newton being bonked on the head by a falling apple.
- From this initial idea, a scientist develops a hypothesis –- a tentative explanation -– into what he or she believes to be the truth.
- The next step involves the development of a method for testing this hypothesis.
- The research is then conducted using the detailed method chosen and the data is then analyzed.
- The findings are reported to the scientific community and future directions are determined. If the findings support the hypothesis, additional research will be conducted by other scientific teams towards replicating the same results, giving additional weight to the hypothesis, or demonstrating that the same results cannot be reproduced, indicating the hypothesis is not valid. This process may also uncover information that gives researchers new ideas, new hypotheses for research.
- If, over time, many researchers following the exact same procedures and then testing with differing methods in differing circumstances have achieved the same results, a hypothesis becomes a theory -– a formally accepted explanation with considerable facts to support why or how something happens.
Over the couple of centuries the scientific method has been developed and applied, the process began as a ponderous, disorganized approach with gains in understanding and theory slow to evolve. However, as with any discipline, the work gained a collective consciousness, shed much of the weight of religious and political interference, developed specialties and organized review processes. This allowed research to become leaner and more efficient, gaining momentum with findings built on the work of predecessors. Gains in learning are now achieved in periods of years rather than decades.
Consider the computer industry. Within my lifetime, the work now achieved by a calculator found in every high school student’s backpack previously took a room full of processing machines the size of refrigerators to crunch the same calculations. These leaps in understanding and technology and are now the reality of medical research as well.
