Scientific Experiment | Types & Examples

Aristotle postulated that the generation of knowledge was done through a deductive method. The deduction is the process in which, through general and universal truths, conclusions can be drawn from particular phenomena. He thought that inductive reasoning (drawing general conclusions from particular phenomena) could not clearly identify causes and therefore was not truly scientific or reliable. In contrast, Bacon was an advocate of inductive methods. He thought that the proposed hypothesis must be analyzed and compared with other hypotheses, in order to approach, through a gradual ascent, to the general truths. Descartes followed a radically different approach from Bacon's practical and experimental method. He was an advocate of applying deductive methods to avoid deception of the senses.

Currently, both methods are used. In inductive methods, new knowledge is generated, but the conclusion is a probability. The premises can be true and yet the conclusion can be false. But if the premises are true, the conclusion is more likely to be true. Deductive methods do not provide new knowledge as they only describe or confirm already known phenomena. In this method if the premises are true, the conclusion is true, otherwise, it means that some of the premises (or all of them) are false or that the deduction was not done correctly. Isaac Newton finally consolidated the scientific method with an extraordinary development of applied mathematics and laid the foundations for classical mechanics, whose inductive-deductive approach other sciences tried to emulate.

Today, the scientific method is still valid. Through the scientific method, and experiments, came the invention of the radio, television, and the Internet. In the same way, technology has been able to provide and determine the purpose, design, and means of production for the creation of goods and services. This has allowed the creation of very useful technological devices in the modern world, especially in health, communication, education, and entertainment. Thanks to the development of statistical software packages, it is now possible to analyze millions of data at the same time to draw conclusions, as well as to find relationships between variables.