Lessons on the Basic Theories
of the Scientific Method of Problem Solving

Problem solving lessons #1 to #4 on helping to understand the scientific method problem solving process are discussed in greater detail on my website www.scientificmethod.com. Here is a condensed version of them. Lesson #5 on the four major problem solving divisions is explained in greater detail here.

Problem Solving Lesson #1 of 5

After all the efforts over the centuries to find a way to obtain reliable knowledge, scientific method or the scientific method has been found superior to all other methods of resolving doubt and uncertainty. Thus its use is one of the major problem solving strategies for practical problem solving.

In An Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method (1934), Cohen and Nagel say, under the heading The Method of Science or Reflective Inquiry:

The other methods discussed are all inflexible, that is, none of them can admit that it will lead us into error. Hence none of them can make provision for correcting its own results. What is called scientific method differs radically from these by encouraging and developing the utmost possible doubt, so that what is left after such doubt is always supported by the best available evidence. As new evidence of new doubts arise it is the essence of scientific method to incorporate them - to make them an integral part of the body of knowledge so far attained. Its method, then, makes science progressive because it is never too certain about its results.

My extensive research and analyses of the literature confirm that the scientific method of problem solving is the best and most practical problem solving process ever devised or recognized. For this reason, it is one of the major problem solving strategies and the major problem solving process.

Problem Solving Lesson #2 of 5

The Value of Method

There is no better example of the power of a method for problem solving than the results produced by the scientific method throughout the development of modern civilization. I did a search of the literature on the value of method for problem solving. This is what various authors emphasize who helped in the development of the scientific method. This explanation further supports that the scientific method is a major problem solving strategy.

The advantages of method for problem solving:

Problem Solving Lesson #3 of 5

The Scientific Method Is a General Method for All Fields

The scientific method was recognized, developed, and used mainly by scientists. The literature often refers to it as the method scientists use. For this reason many people do not realize that it is really a general method suitable for all fields. Numerous methods have been offered by authors under other names that are really just variations of the scientific method. Many authors have called attention to it being a general method. Still, most people do not realize that it is the universal method of originating reliable knowledge in all fields. This is another reason the scientific method is one of the major problem solving strategies and the major problem solving process.

Problem Solving Lesson #4 of 5

Basic Steps and Ingredients of the Scientific Method of Problem Solving

Over the last few centuries hundreds of model formulas for the steps or stages have been offered for the scientific method by various authors. After years of analyzing them I selected eleven steps and three supporting ingredients as the best model formula (SM-14) suitable as a standard for teaching the scientific method and for using the scientific method of problem solving. These steps and ingredients represent the system of science and the problem solving process. Each step and supporting ingredient has two pages of explanatory information coming up soon.

Problem Solving Lesson #5 of 5

Practical Problem Solving

Divisions of the Scientific Method of Problem Solving

These divisions are explained on the following pages.