Francis Bacon is best known for introducing which methodological approach?

• A. Randomized controlled trials
• B. Inductive logic leading to general laws
• C. Germ theory of disease
• D. Molecular epidemiology

Answer: (B)

Francis Bacon popularized empiricism and induction as the way to build scientific knowledge. He argued that reliable understanding comes from careful observation and systematic experimentation, gathering many specific observations, and then drawing general conclusions or laws from those data. This approach—moving from particular instances to broader generalizations—became the foundation of the modern scientific method. That’s why inductive logic leading to general laws is the best fit.

By contrast, randomized controlled trials are a formal experimental design that developed later; germ theory and molecular epidemiology are later scientific advances focused on disease causation and modern genomic approaches, not Bacon’s method.