What is the Scientific Method?

The scientific method differs largely from other ways of knowing in that it focuses mainly on observation and experimentation. Many ways of gaining knowledge come from sources such as books, authority figures (government, church, teachers, parents etc.). The scientific method however, allows one to make that jump to conclusion by oneself, through their experiments. For instance, if one was noticed that college students tend to sleep more than other age groups, there would be two different directions to go about finding out why. The most obvious answer, and definitely the easiest would be to ask someone, a teacher or even an online source (as many of us resort to google for everyday questions) which would give us a fact yet the validity of that fact is questionable. The other approach would be to conduct an experiment, surveying different age groups, their stressors, and their amount of sleep. AN experiment such as this would help to determine if the sleep levels are caused by the stress of being in college or merely needing more sleep at that age. 

The scientific method is truly a way for one to see the data laid out in front of them which would allow them to come to an educated guess which they have seen the results of, as opposed to getting information second-hand and accepting it as fact.