Editing Hypothetico-deductive model

{{Short description|Proposed description of the scientific method}}
The '''hypothetico-deductive model''' or  '''method''' is a proposed description of the [[scientific method]]. According to it, [[scientific inquiry]] proceeds by formulating a [[hypothesis]] in a form that can be [[Falsifiability|falsifiable]], using a test on observable data where the outcome is not yet known. A test outcome that could have and does run contrary to predictions of the hypothesis is taken as a falsification of the hypothesis.  A test outcome that could have, but does not run contrary to the hypothesis corroborates the theory.  It is then proposed to compare the explanatory value of competing hypotheses by testing how stringently they are corroborated by their predictions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Popper |first1=Karl |title=The Logic of Scientific Discovery |date=1959 |publisher=Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge |url=https://archive.org/details/The_Logic_Of_Scientific_Discovery_Karl_Popper.pdf/page/n3/mode/2up}}</ref>

==Example==
{{main|Scientific method}}
One example of an algorithmic statement of the hypothetico-deductive method is as follows:<ref>Peter Godfrey-Smith (2003) ''Theory and Reality'', p. 236.</ref>

<div style="padding-left:1.25em">
:'''''1'''''. Use your experience: Consider the problem and try to make sense of it. Gather data and look for previous explanations. If this is a new problem to you, then move to step&nbsp;'''''2'''''.
:'''''2'''''. Form a conjecture ([[hypothesis]]): When nothing else is yet known, try to state an explanation, to someone else, or to your notebook.
:'''''3'''''. Deduce predictions from the hypothesis: if you assume&nbsp;'''''2''''' is true, what consequences follow?
:'''''4'''''. Test (or [[experiment]]): Look for evidence (observations) that conflict with these predictions in order to disprove&nbsp;'''''2'''''. It is a fallacy or error in one's reasoning  to seek &nbsp;'''''3''''' directly as proof of&nbsp;'''''2'''''. This [[formal fallacy]] is called ''[[affirming the consequent]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Taleb|2007}} e.g., p. 58, devotes his chapter 5 to ''the error of confirmation''.</ref>
</div>

One possible sequence in this model would be '''''1''''', '''''2''''', '''''3''''', '''''4'''''. If the outcome of '''''4''''' holds, and '''''3''''' is not yet disproven, you may continue with '''''3''''', '''''4''''', '''''1''''', and so forth; but if the outcome of '''''4''''' shows '''''3''''' to be false, you will have to go back to '''''2''''' and try to invent a '''''new 2''''', deduce a '''''new 3''''', look for '''''4''''', and so forth.

Note that this method can never absolutely '''verify''' (prove the truth of) '''''2'''''. It can only '''[[Falsifiability|falsify]]''' '''''2'''''.<ref>"I believe that we do not know anything for certain, but everything probably." —[[Christiaan Huygens]], Letter to Pierre Perrault, 'Sur la préface de M. Perrault de son traité del'Origine des fontaines' [1763], ''Oeuvres Complétes de Christiaan Huygens'' (1897), Vol. '''7''', 298. Quoted in Jacques Roger, ''The Life Sciences in Eighteenth-Century French Thought'', ed. Keith R. Benson and trans. Robert Ellrich (1997), 163. Quotation selected by {{harvnb|Bynum|Porter|2005|p=317}} Huygens 317#4.</ref> (This is what Einstein meant when he said, "No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong."<ref>As noted by Alice Calaprice (ed. 2005) ''The New Quotable Einstein'' Princeton University Press and Hebrew University of Jerusalem, {{ISBN|0-691-12074-9}} p. 291. Calaprice denotes this not as an exact quotation, but as a paraphrase of a translation of A. Einstein's "Induction and Deduction". ''Collected Papers of Albert Einstein'' '''7''' Document 28. Volume 7 is ''The Berlin Years: Writings, 1918-1921''. A. Einstein; M. Janssen, R. Schulmann, et al., eds.</ref>)

==Discussion==
Additionally, as pointed out by [[Carl Hempel]] (1905–1997), this simple view of the scientific method is incomplete; a conjecture can also incorporate probabilities, e.g., the drug is effective about 70% of the time.<ref>Murzi, Mauro (2001, 2008), "[http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/hempel.htm Carl Gustav Hempel (1905—1997)]", ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. Murzi used the term relative frequency rather than probability.</ref>  Tests, in this case, must be repeated to substantiate the conjecture (in particular, the probabilities). In this and other cases, we can quantify a probability for our confidence in the conjecture itself and then apply a [[Bayesian analysis]], with each experimental result shifting the probability either up or down. [[Bayes' theorem]] shows that the probability will never reach exactly 0 or 100% (no absolute certainty in either direction), but it can still get very close to either extreme. See also [[confirmation holism]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

Qualification of corroborating evidence is sometimes raised as philosophically problematic. The [[raven paradox]] is a famous example. The hypothesis that 'all ravens are black' would appear to be corroborated by observations of only black ravens. However, 'all ravens are black' is [[Logical equivalence|logically equivalent]] to 'all non-black things are non-ravens' (this is the [[contraposition|contrapositive]] form of the original implication). 'This is a green tree' is an observation of a non-black thing that is a non-raven and therefore corroborates 'all non-black things are non-ravens'. It appears to follow that the observation 'this is a green tree' is corroborating evidence for the hypothesis 'all ravens are black'. {{cn|date=March 2025}} 

Attempted resolutions may distinguish:
* non-falsifying observations as to strong, moderate, or weak corroborations{{cn|date=March 2025}}
* investigations that do or do not provide a potentially falsifying test of the hypothesis.<ref>[[John W. N. Watkins]] (1984), ''Science and Skepticism'', p. 319.</ref>

Evidence contrary to a hypothesis is itself philosophically problematic. Such evidence is called a [[falsifiability|falsification]] of the hypothesis. However, under the theory of [[confirmation holism]] it is always possible to save a given hypothesis from falsification. This is so because any falsifying observation is embedded in a theoretical background, which can be modified in order to save the hypothesis.  [[Karl Popper]] acknowledged this but maintained that a critical approach respecting methodological rules that avoided such ''immunizing stratagems'' is conducive to the progress of science.<ref>Karl R. Popper (1979, Rev. ed.), ''Objective Knowledge'', pp. 30, 360.
</ref>

Physicist [[Sean M. Carroll|Sean Carroll]] claims the model ignores [[underdetermination]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2013/07/03/what-is-science/ |author=Sean Carroll |title=What is Science?|date=3 July 2013 }}</ref>

===Versus other research models===

The hypothetico-deductive approach contrasts with other research models such as the [[Inductivism|inductive approach]] or grounded theory. In the data percolation methodology,
the hypothetico-deductive approach is included in a paradigm of pragmatism by which four types of relations between the variables can exist: descriptive, of influence, longitudinal or causal. The variables are classified in two groups, structural and functional, a classification that drives the formulation of hypotheses and the statistical tests to be performed on the data so as to increase the efficiency of the research. <ref>{{Citation |last= Mesly |first= Olivier | date= 2015 |title= Creating Models in Psychological Research | location= United States | publisher= Springer Psychology  |pages= 126  |isbn = 978-3-319-15752-8}}
</ref>

==See also==
* [[Confirmation bias]]
* [[Deductive-nomological]]
* [[Explanandum|Explanandum and explanans]]
* [[Inquiry]]
* [[Models of scientific inquiry]]
* [[Philosophy of science]]
* [[Pragmatism]]
* [[Scientific method]]
* [[Verifiability theory of meaning]]
* [[Will to believe doctrine]]

===Types of inference===
* [[Strong inference]]
* [[Abductive reasoning]]
* [[Deductive reasoning]]
* [[Inductive reasoning]]
* [[Analogy]]

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{Citation|first=Thomas A.|last=Brody|year=1993|title=The Philosophy Behind Physics|publisher=Springer Verlag|isbn=0-387-55914-0}}. ([[Luis de la Peña]] and Peter E. Hodgson, eds.)
* {{Citation|last1=Bynum|first1=W.F.|last2=Porter|first2=Roy|year=2005|title=Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations|publisher=Oxford|isbn=0-19-858409-1}}.
* {{Citation|first=Peter|last=Godfrey-Smith|author-link=Peter Godfrey-Smith|year=2003|title=Theory and Reality: An introduction to the philosophy of science|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=0-226-30063-3}}
* {{Citation
 | first = Nassim Nicholas
 | last = Taleb
 | author-link = Nassim Nicholas Taleb
 | title = [[The Black Swan (Taleb book)|The Black Swan]]
 | year = 2007
 | publisher = Random House
 | isbn = 978-1-4000-6351-2
}}

{{philosophy of science}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hypothetico-Deductive Model}}
[[Category:Scientific method]]
[[Category:Philosophy of science]]
[[Category:Conceptual models]]