A scientific hypothesis is________________, or capable of being shown to be incorrect.

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks about a scientific hypothesis and its characteristics in terms of falsifiability.
Option 1: 'falsifiable' — This aligns with a core principle of the scientific method: a hypothesis must be testable and capable of being shown false by evidence or experiment. Falsifiability is what demarcates scientific hypotheses from non-scientific or supernatural claims.
Option 2: 'justified' — While a hypothesis can be justified based on prior evidence or reasoning, justification alone does not guarantee scientific testability. A hypothesis could be well-supported but still unfalsifiable if there is no possible observation that could disprove it. Thus this option captures a related concept but not the defining property asked for.
Option 3: 'verifiable' — Verifiability refers to the ability to confirm a claim with observations or experiments. However, in science, some statements are not strictly verifiable in all conditions, and Karl Popper emphasized falsifiability as the crucial criterion over verifiability. Therefore, this choice misses the key requirement that a hypothesis be disprovable.
Option 4: 'reversible' — Reversibility concerns whether a process or outcome can be undone, which is not a criterion used to define scientific hypotheses. A hypothesis does not need to be reversible; its essential feature is whether it can be tested and potentially disproved.
In summary, the distinguishing feature among these options is whether the hypothesis can be potentially contradicted by empirical evidence. The term that captures that criterion best is the one related to disproof or refutation, rather than justification, verifiability, or reversibility.

A scientific hypothesis is________________, or capable of being shown to be incorrect.

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