As a researcher, you could make a prediction about how people might act, think or feel in a given situation. You would be basing this on prior knowledge and observation. You would state this question as a problem. You could then formulate a hypothesis which is a possible solution or outcome to the stated problem. You could then set up an experiment to test your hypothesis. It should contain a large sample of people, to get more valid results. One group, the experimental group will be given the variable you are testing. The other group, the control group will not get the variable. You will collect your data and analyze it. You will come to a conclusion regarding your hypothesis and then, you can share your findings with others. The experiment must be able to be replicated several times, to prove its validity. An example of how you can use this method to test how well people think and perform during an exam. Your hypothesis could be that people who eat breakfast before an exam, will perform better than people who don't. This could easily be tested and data could be collected. This is one simple way to test how people think, using a scientific approach.