scientific method
nounDefinition of scientific method
: principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses
Examples of scientific method in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
There is growing interest in these kinds of checks, says John Ioannidis at Stanford University in California, who studies scientific methods and advocates for the better use of statistics to improve reproducibility in science. — David Adam, Scientific American, "How a Data Detective Exposed Suspicious Medical Trials," 6 Aug. 2019 Billed as a scientific method for sorting pukka Indians from a suspected mass of unwanted Bangladeshi intruders, the seemingly banal administrative procedure has instead encoiled millions of people in a cruelly absurdist game. — The Economist, "India is declaring millions of its citizens to be foreigners," 11 July 2019 Dendrochronology, the scientific method of studying tree rings, can pinpoint the age of archaeological sites using information stored inside old wood. — Erin Blakemore, National Geographic, "How are tree rings used to help date an archaeological site?," 8 July 2019 This is the closest that journalism has come to a scientific method: the transparency allows the process to be replicated, the underlying data to be examined, and the conclusions to be tested by others. — Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, The New York Review of Books, "Bellingcat and How Open Source Reinvented Investigative Journalism," 10 June 2019 Barrett-Connor was a believer in the scientific method. — Karen Weintraub, BostonGlobe.com, "Dr. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, scrutinizer of aging, dead at 84," 19 June 2019 They were inspired by (Savage’s) work on that show to be investigative and innovative and apply the scientific method. — John Wenzel, The Know, "School of Mines built a real-life Iron Man suit for new Discovery Channel series," 9 June 2019 Radiocarbon dating used to require samples in the region of tens of grams, but advances in scientific methods mean the amount of test material required is being dramatically reduced. — The Economist, "Researchers find a way to use minute samples to detect forged paintings," 8 June 2019 Molecular cuisine uses scientific methods to craft small, savory dishes. — The Seattle Times, "Hungry? Tokyo’s food meets visitor appetites for history and modernity," 7 Sep. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'scientific method.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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