Researchers produced three sonograms from male zebra finches: a father and two sons. One of the sons had been deafened early in life. The intact young male's song exactly matched that of his father; the deafened male produced a rudimentary sub-song. Outline the complete scientific process for which the sonograms are only one part.

The experiment must have been initially imagined as part of a prediction: "If we do an experiment in which we deafen a young male, it will not be able to hear itself sing and thus should not be able to acquire a good copy of its father's song." This prediction must have been derived from a hypothesis: "Zebra finch males must be able to hear themselves sing (or hear their fathers sing) if they are to eventually come to sing their father's song." This hypothesis must have been developed in response to a causal question: "In the zebra finch, why do sons tend to sing like their fathers?"