ABSTRACT
The multiple hypotheses method is shown to have eight advantages compared to the hypothetico-deductive method. Compared to the hypothetico-deductive method, the multiple hypothesis method is better at (1) identifying a correct hypothesis, (2) abandoning incorrect hypotheses, (3) providing a true sense of the acceptability of a hypothesis, (4) assessing data relevant to the hypotheses under investigation, (5) retaining hypotheses in the face of conflicting data, (6) resurrecting hypotheses, (7) improving thinking skills, and (8) demarcating science from pseudoscience. The method of multiple hypotheses is likely not referenced as often as the hypothetico-deductive method because researchers don’t always recognize that appropriately accepting a hypothesis requires appropriately rejecting alternative hypotheses.
