The scientific method is a set of steps or steps that a scientist follows, in a logical and organized sequence, to study phenomena. The main steps of the scientific method followed by most scientists in the world are:
Main steps of the scientific method
Let's see what each of them basically consists of:
* Observation: Faced with some system or situation that occurs in nature, the scientist is driven by curiosity and the need to look for ways to understand what makes it happen. Thus, from observation, which can be with the naked eye or with the use of instruments such as the microscope, the scientist begins to formulate questions.
For example, it is observed that most of the leaves are green. So, the following question could be raised: “Why are the leaves green?”.
* Hypothesis: In an attempt to answer the question or questions raised, the scientist starts to try to give a possible answer that explains the phenomenon observed. This is the hypothesis, that is, prior statements to explain the phenomena.
For example, to answer the question “Why are the leaves green?”, the scientist could raise the following hypothesis: "Some substance is present in all green leaves and is responsible for giving them that color.".
* Experiences: To verify that the hypothesis raised is really true, the scientist or team of scientists performs several controlled experiments, the data of which are carefully measured and noted. Experiments can confirm the hypothesis or show that it is not true and should be discarded. Thus, another hypothesis can be raised and other experiments will be carried out.
With technological advances, there are now many devices that make these experiences more accurate and reliable.
For example, to prove the hypothesis that some substance imparts a green color to leaves, experiments could be carried out to isolate some compounds present in all green leaves and check if any of these substances would not be present in leaves that are from other Colors.
* Law: After carefully analyzing the results obtained from the experiments, the scientist draws some conclusions. If he proves that a given phenomenon repeats itself after a certain number of experiences, he can formulate a law. This means that it will describe events that occur uniformly and invariably, but it will not explain why they occur.
For example, the scientist can formulate the following law: "All green leaves have the substance chlorophyll."
* Theory: It's the explanation for the law. The theory explains not only the question raised at the beginning, but also all those that arose during the experiments, and even predicts possible related situations.
For example, a theory would be: “The greenish hue of the leaves occurs because they produce a large amount of the chlorophyll pigment. The structure of chlorophyll has the Mg ion2+, which is responsible for the green color, as it absorbs well the wavelengths of red, orange, blue and violet, but reflects a large part of the green light, which is the color we see.”
More explanations about the colors of the sheets can be found in the text: Why do leaves change color?
See now an illustration that shows the steps of the scientific method in sequence:
Representative scheme of the steps of the scientific method
By Jennifer Fogaça
Graduated in Chemistry
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