102k views
1 vote
When new information conflicts with a hypothesis, the hypothesis _____.?

User Fareevar
by
5.2k points

1 Answer

5 votes

Whoa, hold up. When you have a hypothesis, you don't just let it sit there. You TEST it, to see if it holds water. When real information conflicts with a hypothesis, the hypothesis is simply discarded. Period.

If the tests seem to indicate that the hypothesis is true, then you have a THEORY.

Later, if new information or further tests conflict with the theory, (or the theory makes a prediction which fails), then the theory is changed. Depending on the complexity of the theory, the change may be anything from a small tweak to completely discarding it and starting over with a new hypothesis.

User James Greig
by
5.4k points