Scientific Method is a term that denotes the principles that guide scientific research and experimentation and the philosophical bases of those principles.
 
The scientific Method concerns itself with how things work, in a scrupulously rigorous manner. This rigour is based on observation, theory, experimentation, documentation, repeatability, and review. Many famous scientific careers have been helped as much by exposing scientific fraud as by creating stunning theories.

It was the Greeks who introduced rigorous reasoning, as well as speculations about the nature of the universe. The Renaissance is considered to be the start of the era of modern science, but the rudiments of the scientific approach to knowledge can be observed through human history.

You only have to watch a small child trying to make sense of the world to appreciate our need to know and the application of the Scientific Method.
 
Observation is the start of the Scientific Method. A keen mind may wonder about anything from the fall of an apple to the puzzle of the yearly salmon migration.

Creating a theory is the process of reasoning based on specific observations to a more general hypothesis.
 
Experimentation is the creation of fixed conditions in an attempt to prove, or more commonly disprove, a theory. Rigorous documentation of the experiment and results is essential.

At this point, the scientist will normally have to consider modifying or discarding the theory.

Repeatability is the degree to which observations and experimentation can be reproduced. This aspect should be considered the cornerstone of the Scientific Method.
 
Peer review is where the theory will be tested by the scientific community. Any and all theories will be subject to critical, exhaustive examination and duplication of experiments.
 
All aspects of the Scientific Method require objectivity which is the attempt to observe things as they are without falsifying observations to accord with some preconceived world view.
 
Science has tremendous scope and its many separate disciplines can differ greatly in terms of subject matter and the possible ways of studying that subject matter. No single path to discovery exists in science, and no one clear-cut description can be given that accounts for all the ways in which scientific truth is pursued.

Agreement of the theory with actual observation does not by itself prove the correctness and truth of the hypothesis from which the conclusion is derived. It improves the plausibility of the theory a little. The ultimate test of the validity of a scientific hypothesis is its consistency with the sum of all other aspects of the total scientific framework.
 
Some scientists may be swayed by some prevailing world view to look for certain experimental results, or to follow a pet theory that they then seek to prove, or even to falsify evidence. The scientific community as a whole, however, judges the work of its members by the objectivity and rigor with which that work has been conducted; in this way the scientific method prevails.
 
As you can tell, the Scientific Method of accumulating knowledge is methodical, thorough, and ruthless at exposing fraud. Many frauds have been knowingly and accidentally perpetrated on the scientific community, but this tends to be self-correcting over time, as the theory is tested and retested and tested again.

Be ware of the zealot who says, "They conspired against Galileo", or "No-one will listen to me, it's a conspiracy". In the experience of the Skeptics, there is no general anti-science conspiracy and this is a ploy by a frustrated few to gain publicity.

Science	Pseudo-Science
Non-dogmatic	Dogmatic
Ability and willingness to change	Fixed ideas
Absorbs all new discoveries	Selected favourable discoveries
Ruthless peer review	No review
Impersonal	Cultic, depends on personalities
Limited claims of usefulness	Claims of widespread usefulness
International / Worldwide	Narrow, constrained and bigoted
Invites criticism	Criticism viewed as conspiracy
Beneficial to humanity	Mainly egotistical benefits
Falsifiable	Arranged to be non-falsifiable
Occam's razor	Cherished ideas
Confers authority	Appeals to authority
Usually accurate measurements	Measurements at the limit of detection
Verifiable by others	Non repeatable (trust me)
Ability to predict	Inability to predict
Little income	A nice little earner