Scientific Approach
Scientific inquiry is used to obtain this knowledge:
- Observe and identify what others have observed.
- Develop a hypothesis about the observations.
- Test the hypothesis through experimentation or new observation.
- Get feedback from the scientific community.
- Use results and analysis to inform new inquiries.
Scientific inquiry is not linear; what is learned in one study helps inform subsequent explorations and experiments, often around the same topic, but at a deeper level. Read more about the process of scientific inquiry here. This approach requires the ability to make observations and conduct experiments, and often integrates systemic and problem-solving components throughout the process. This process is discovery focused not just problem-solving based.
The scientific approach is often seen in environmental science studies.