The phrase "a method of discerning" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing a technique or approach for identifying or understanding something.
Example: "The researchers developed a method of discerning the differences between the two species based on their genetic markers."
Alternatives: "a way to identify" or "a technique for recognizing".
In some stories, kitsune have difficulty hiding their tails when they take human form; looking for the tail, perhaps when the fox gets drunk or careless, is a common method of discerning the creature's true nature.
Self inquiry is an ancient method of discerning true thoughts from untrue ones.
Because natural selection preserves functional elements and processes, we know that conservation is an effective method of discerning functional and non-functional cellular processes.
Therefore, the optimal method of discerning a predictive marker from a prognostic marker is within a randomized clinical trial.
This may seem self-explanatory but for a number of stories this clear and direct method of discerning the type of innovation was necessary as some cases included both.
It is also noteworthy that the surgeons had no established method of discerning, before the surgery, whether patients had actually received preoperative PFMT.
The refugees' stress and PTSD symptoms were assessed using the PCL checklist, a method for discerning the impact of high-pressure life events.
Scientists' ability to identify distinct genetic subspecies or strains of the microbe Bacillus anthracis improved tremendously last year when several anthrax experts published a method for discerning telltale patterns in certain segments of the bacterial DNA.
We here present a method for discerning selection from a population history that accounts for interference between mutations.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04346.026 Performance was evaluated using an accuracy metric, which reflects the ability of a method to discern the correct subset of traits sharing the same transcripts (e.g., traits p 1,..., p k but not p k + 1 and p k + 2 in Figure 5A and Figure 5 figure supplement 1B for details).
