The Hypothetico-Deductive Method

Abstract

It is true that during a hypothetico-deductive investigation, the researcher should try to be as objective and as unemotionally “connected” to the respondents as possible. In an ideal world, one could test the variables in highly controlled or fully controlled circumstances. The researcher would have two clone groups, one where one variable would be tested, and the other where it would not, and all the other variables would be held constant, just as is attempted in research labs around the world. This is often impossible to do in the area of social sciences and psychology, in particular, which is one of the reasons the researcher wants to learn as much as possible about the different significant variables using literature review, expert opinion, qualitative studies and possibly simulation prior to conducting hypothetico-deductive research. It is also one of the reasons he looks for contrasting cases. In reality, there are few controlled variables in psychology, hence the requirement to resort to data percolation.