falsification

is the idea that, at the heart of the scientific method, science does not proceed by the slow and uncertain process of induction (i.e. Finding confirming instances of a conjecture) but via bold, risky, sudden, and definitive falsifying conjectures, such as the discovery of one white swan which discredits the inductive notion that all swans are white.

Consider Popper's best known claim: that science does not proceed by 'induction' that is, by finding confirming instances of a conjecture but rather by falsifying bold, risky conjectures. Conformation, he argued, is slow and never certain. By contrast, a falsification can be sudden and definitive. Moreover, it lies at the heart of the scientific method.' (Martin Gardner : net)

falsification, n.All

falsification