Scientific explanation

A scientific explanation accounts for how or why a phenomenon occurs by connecting evidence to principles, mechanisms, or models that can be assessed and tested.

Scientific theory: A well-supported, broad account of natural phenomena that integrates evidence and generates testable predictions. Theories provide organized principles that explanations use to account for particular phenomena.
Deductive-nomological model: An account of explanation in which a phenomenon follows logically from general laws and specific conditions. It treats explanation as deriving the event from laws and initial circumstances.
Scientific description: A systematic characterization of observed features or patterns without necessarily accounting for their causes. Description states what occurs; explanation also addresses how or why it occurs.
Medical diagnosis: The identification of a disease or condition from symptoms, tests, and clinical knowledge. A diagnosis explains signs by linking them to an underlying condition.
Explanatory power: The capacity of a theory or hypothesis to account for evidence, phenomena, and their relationships. Assessing explanatory power helps compare accounts that fit the same observations.
Causal inference: The process of determining whether and how one factor produces changes in another. Causal claims often distinguish explanations from descriptions of mere association.
Causal-mechanical explanation: An explanation that identifies causal processes and organized components producing a phenomenon. It answers how an outcome is generated rather than merely showing that it follows from a rule.
Scientific prediction: A claim about an observation or event not yet made, derived from scientific knowledge or a model. A successful prediction need not reveal why the predicted event occurs.
Forensic science: The application of scientific methods to evidence relevant to legal investigations. Forensic accounts reconstruct how evidence and events may have been produced.
Causal pluralism: The view that causation may take different forms that cannot be captured by a single account. Different sciences may require distinct standards for causal explanation.

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