practices

Practices are established methods, procedures, or customary ways of doing things within a profession, organization, culture, or activity. They include routines people follow, techniques they apply, and norms they observe in work and daily life. Practices can be formalized in standards, guidelines, or protocols and often balance efficiency, safety, ethics, and context.

Professional practices include codes of ethics, standard operating procedures, and clinical guidelines in medicine or law. Cultural practices cover rituals and etiquette; scientific and educational practices emphasize experimental methods, quality control, and reproducibility; artistic practices involve techniques in music, theatre, visual arts, and design; sports practices include training schedules and coaching methods.

Practices evolve with new evidence, technology, and social expectations. Organizations publish standards and accreditation processes to promote safety and accountability, while critique or new findings can revise or replace existing practices.

Note on language: practice can be a noun (the customary way of doing something; a place of business) or a verb (to perform or train). In American English, the verb form is "practices" in the third person; in British English, it is "practises." The noun forms are "practice" (singular) and "practices" (plural) in both variants.