What is hypothetico-deductivism?

Question

Just a defenition please.

Answer 1

I think its related to science..in SOMEway..its probally like a theory.

Answer 2

I just love Wikipedia.

"The hypothetico-deductive model is a theory about scientific method. According to the theory, scientific inquiry proceeds by formulating a hypothesis that is intended to explain an observed phenomenon, from the hypothesis a sufficient number of explicit predictions of further phenomena are deduced that should be observable as a consequence of the hypothesis. Observations that run contrary to those predicted are taken as a conclusive falsification of the hypothesis, observations which are in agreement with those predicted are taken as corroborating the hypothesis. It is then supposedly possible to compare the explanatory value of competing hypotheses by looking to see how well they are sustained by their predictions."

Hypothetico-deductivism seems to be a complicated way of describing the basic scientific method--forming a hypothesis and proving or disproving it by experimentation. (Why can't scientists just say things in a way everyone can understhd them?) If you read the phrase "Observations that run contrary to those predicted are taken as a conclusive falsification of the hypothesis, observations which are in agreement with those predicted are taken as corroborating the hypothesis" in a certain way, though, it seems to mean that if the evidence points to a conclusion that runs contrary to your hypothesis, then then those results can be tossed out and further experiments conducted until you come up with a pleasing result--I believe that is the same method Lenin and Hitler used to justify their ideas.

Answer 3

You're best off to read here, about halfway down the page: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:fC_OZRtOVegJ:www.ul.ie/~philos/vol3/gnostic.html+hypothetical+deductivism+Method+of+Hypotheses+Popper&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5