The scientific method is usually described in five steps. However, some identify only three or four steps, while others say there are six or seven steps. The number of steps is not important. What is important is the process that the researcher follows (a hypothetico-deductive paradigm). The scientific method should be regarded as a series of steps but, rather, as a set of overlapping and interdependent procedures for systematically studying phenomena and revealing knowledge. In other words, it is a way of thinking when doing research. In fact, the philosopher John Dewey referred to the scientific method as a “habit in mind”. The steps of the scientific method described here need not be followed in order, although researchers usually write up their reports as if they were. They do this more to meet the conventions of researched writing established over the years and to show that each of the steps was attended to in their research than to show that they began with the first step of the process. To illustrate the steps in the scientific method of research, we will refer to the previous example of the student whose car would not start.
Step 1 The first step in the scientific method is usually characterized as the sensing or realizing that some problem exists through familiarity with a topic. For example, something might happen that cannot be easily explained, or the way to accomplish some goal may not be
evident.The realization that the car did not start even though it had worked previously served to establish the existence of the problem for the student.
Step 2 The problem is clarified; that is, the nature, and specifics of the problem are identified. In our example, the student recognized the problem to be, simply, “How do I get the car started?” The problem is a question that determines, to a large extent, the direction the investigation will take. For example, had the student recognized his problem as “How will I get to school today?” or “Whom shall I ask to fix the car?” his subsequent behavior would have been very different.
Step 3 The third step is devising the plan for the research. To do this, a statement describing a possible solution to the problem is made, and procedures are identified to test the plausibility of this tentative solution. Going back to our example, the student first thought that the problem might be with the battery, and so he developed a strategy to test that possibility. Finding that solution to be implausible or unsupported by his observations, he reasoned that the problem might be due to damp terminals on the starter motor, and he proceeded to test this. He continued to make plausible guesses about the cause of his inability to get the car started until he found one that was supported by what he saw in his investigati-
gations. Each guess he made led to a strategy. A plan for investigating the plausibility of the solution.
Step 4 This step is decision making. Based upon the data collected in the previous step, the researcher evaluated the adequacy of the proposed solution. If the data support the solution, it is accepted as reasonable. The student in our example rejected the reasonableness of two possible solutions before he found one that was adequately supported by his observation.
Step 5 The final step involves interpretation and generalization of the findings into the larger body of knowledge about the phenomenon. This might involve consideration of previous knowledge in terms of the new knowledge or further experimentation. Both consideration of what is already known and further experimentation in light of the new knowledge might be appropriate. We saw this in our example when the student replaced the worn-out fuse. In a sense, he was investigating whether or not the car would start with a new fuse in place of the old one. Furthermore, as he was driving to school, the student considered his knowledge about the fuse in his car in terms of what he knew about blown fuses in general and, therefore, determined to search for a short circuit.
