Answer:
Hypothesis
Step-by-step explanation:
The following steps are applicable when we wish to prove a specific fact:
- a hypothesis is made; this is a statement that we provide after some observations and we wish to either prove or deny it;
- multiple experiments are carried out in order to gather significantly substantial amount of data that can be then further analyzed and any tendencies can be noticed;
- based on the data gathered, conclusions are made: we either prove or deny the hypothesis. If hypothesis is proved, it may become a theory over long time.
In the context of this problem, we're at the first step where we make a hypothesis.