The Scientific Method

To conduct empirical studies, researchers use the scientific method—a stepwise process for evaluating ideas and answering questions.

During the first step, she could make an observation: when students are triggered by something annoying, they behave differently. Some are calm, breathing slowly, and interacting with generosity, whereas others react with anger—their hearts are beating rapidly as they redirect their rage.

Such observations prompt her to ask questions, like could the distressed individuals alter their responses and replace negative emotions with more composed reactions?

After formulating questions, she can then form hypotheses—potential explanations for the observations that lead to specific testable predictions.

In this case, one hypothesis is that meditation training promotes compassion, which prompts the prediction that students who meditate will show fewer aggressive outbursts after being triggered by a stressor relative to those who do not meditate.

Often, hypotheses fit within the context of a theory—a set of principles that attempts to explain how several observations are related. In this example, the current assumption could be grounded in Polyvagal theory, whi