Observation and the Sequence of Scientific Understanding

This conceptual paper examines the sequence by which scientific understanding moves from a physical phenomenon through observation, description and analysis, reasoning, hypothesis or proposed explanation, testing, and revision. It distinguishes the observed event from its description and explanation, and distinguishes deduction, hypothesis, experiment, and mathematical description. The paper proposes this sequence as a methodological discipline for the Conceptual Papers on Matter, Motion, and Physical Nature series. It does not propose a new physical law or claim that every historical scientific investigation follows the sequence identically.