Within the frames of a dynamic method called the
scientific method, scientists set up
experiments, normally with the end of determining causality in the physical world. For instance, one may want to
know whether a high intake of
carrots causes humans to develop the
bubonic plague. As an observation of a
correlation does not imply causation, it is necessary to use
inductive reasoning from particular observations in order to strengthen (through observed
reproducibility) or disprove hypotheses about causal relationships. The fundamentally uncertain nature of inductive reasoning has been claimed to give rise to scientific
paradigm shifts, as described by
Thomas Kuhn.
This framework is sometimes called the
scientific method, and forms part of the
Philosophy of science. The dichotomy between
hard and soft science can be regarded as stemming from the increased uncertainty and vagueness connected to the inductive proofs of causal links in "softer" sciences.
