Knowledge is arrived at through the gathering of facts that provide the basis for laws. This refers to the principle of:

Inductivism holds that knowledge is built by gathering facts that then furnish the basis for laws.

It moves from specific observations upward to general theory.

Deductivism reverses this, starting from theory to derive testable hypotheses.

Phenomenalism restricts knowledge to what can be sensed or observed.

Constructionism treats social phenomena as produced through social interaction rather than given.

Francis Bacon is historically linked with the inductive method of science.