Science and scientific methodology are the formal set of rules that govern our understanding of the Universe and Earth. It has two main parts: hypotheses and theories. Science is based on observation (inductive logic) and experimentation (deductive logic).
Science is the study of the natural world. Scientific method is the formal way of conducting a logical study of things. The Universe, and because we are at present confined to it, the Earth and it’s inhabitants can be tested through observations, experiments and then analysis. Scientific method has two main elements: hypotheses and theories.
A hypothesis is an explanatory idea that a person may have given a set of data or a particular observation. Many of the ideas espoused on this website take the form of hypotheses, they are ideas that I have based on observation (and some social experimentation!) but are as yet untested from other independent observers. A good example of a hypothesis is the incorrectly termed ‘String Theory’ which isn’t actually a theory but rather a set of ideas to explain the fundamental principles of the universe. It has a mathematical basis, but nobody as yet can observe or perform an experiment to test it’s likelihood.
A Theory is a hypothesis that has been based on principles that are agreed on by a ‘majority’ of specialists (scientists) that can be tested independently and that people have agreed is logically sound. A Theory is not necessarily true, Newtown’s laws of gravity were proven wrong by Einstein’s theory of Relativity, which in turn may be wrong. However a Theory is the current widely accepted idea, and is assumed logically correct. Intelligent design is not a scientific Theory, in that the existence of a supreme creator cannot be experimentally proven, only believed. Evolution is a Theory, in that it can be studied in the fossil record, experimentally observed over a period of time, and it’s principles proven within a computer.