ongoing process. This diagram represents one variant, and there are many others. The<unk>  is an empirical<unk>  of acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries). It involves careful observation, applying rigorous skepticism about what is observed, given that cognitive assumptions can distort how one interprets the observation. It involves formulating hypotheses, via induction, based on such observations; experimental and measurement-based testing of deductions drawn from the hypotheses; and refinement (or elimination) of the hypotheses based on the experimental findings. These are principles of the<unk> , as distinguished from a definitive series of steps applicable to all<unk>  enterprises. Although procedures vary from one field of inquiry to another, the underlying process is frequently the same from one field to another. The process in the<unk>  involves making conjectures (hypothetical explanations), deriving predictions from the hypotheses as logical consequences, and then carrying out experiments or empirical observations based on those predictions. A hypothesis is a conjecture, based on knowledge obtained while seeking answers to the question. The hypothesis might be very specific, or it might be broad. Scientists then test hypotheses by conducting experiments or studies. A<unk>  hypothesis must be falsifiable, implying that it is possible to identify a possible outcome of an experiment or observation that conflicts with predictions deduced from the hypothesis; otherwise, the hypothesis cannot be meaningfully tested. The purpose of an experiment is to determine whether observations agree with or conflict with the expectations deduced from a hypothesis. Experiments can take place anywhere from a garage to a remote mountaintop to CERN's Large Hadron Collider. There are difficulties in a formulaic statement of<unk> , however. Though the<unk>  is often presented as a fixed sequence of steps, it represents rather a set of general principles. Not all steps take place in every<unk>  inquiry (nor to the same degree), and they are not always in the same order.
Scientific method
Component causes
Universal design
Candidate of Medicine
Evidence-based medicine
Glossary of clinical research
Guaranteed issue
In silico medicine