THE BEECHMONT CREST GUIDE TO BIOLOGY
Hypothetically speaking
Outside the world of science, a hypothesis is often looked at as a shaky proposition with little or no basis. Think about how many times you have heard someone challenge another person with words like, “Well, that’s just your hypothesis.” When someone wants to make a statement and leave himself some wiggle room, he may use the disclaimer “hypothetically speaking.”
However, a hypothesis in the world of science isn’t an arbitrary guess or an opinion that someone gave off the cuff. A hypothesis is a possible explanation for an observed phenomenon based on existing evidence and past knowledge. A hypothesis might be true, but it might be overturned by evidence that has not yet been discovered.
An experiment is a test set up to prove or disprove a hypothesis. When conducting an experiment, a scientist manipulates factors known as variables. To measure the effects of the experiment on one variable, the scientist holds the other variables constant.