The scientific method is a concept in psychology that psychologists use in order to minimize bias and error while measuring data. It is composed of 6 steps: perceive; hypothesize; test; draw conclusions; report, revise, replicate; and repeat. The first step, perceive, is when the researchers come up with a question based on what they want to know. After the question is asked, the researchers then think of what the answer to this question is going to be which is also known as forming a hypothesis. Once the hypothesis is formed, it obviously must be tested. Conclusions are then drawn from the test. The last few steps are to report your conclusion whether it was successful or not. Even if it was a failure, other researchers will be able to help revise the experiment in order to make it a success. That is why the experiment is then replicated after hearing opinions from other researchers. This replication is done by the other researchers to see if they get the same results. Once step five (report, revise, replicate) is complete, the whole process should be repeated to fix any problems that might have occurred the first time.

However, this method is not only used by psychologists. I’m sure many students can relate to having used the scientific method once in their lives. I know I definitely used this method many times ever since I was in elementary school. It may not have been anyone’s favorite part of science class, but every single one of my science teachers stressed it at some time or another. Whenever we were going to indulge in an experiment, we always had to use this method. Even though it is not the most interesting part of science class, it is a crucial step in order to accomplish the goals of psychology (Ciccarelli, 20).  Obviously I am not a psychologist or a scientist, but I can relate to using the scientific method along with plenty of other students at Penn State.

Reference:

Ciccarelli, Saundra K., and J. Noland White. Psychology. 3rd. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2012. 78-79. Print.