Editing Pseudoscience (section)

===Scientific method===
{{Main|Scientific method}}
[[File:The Scientific Method (simple).png|thumb|The scientific method is a continuous cycle of observation, questioning, hypothesis, experimentation, analysis and conclusion.]]

A number of basic principles are accepted by scientists as standards for determining whether a body of knowledge, method, or practice is scientific. Experimental results should be [[reproducibility|reproducible]] and [[intersubjective verifiability|verified]] by other researchers.{{sfnp|Gauch|2003|pp=3–5 ff}} These principles are intended to ensure experiments can be reproduced measurably given the same conditions, allowing further investigation to determine whether a [[hypothesis]] or [[theory]] related to given [[phenomena]] is [[validity (statistics)|valid]] and reliable. Standards require the scientific method to be applied throughout, and [[bias]] to be controlled for or eliminated through [[Randomized experiment|randomization]], fair sampling procedures, [[double blind|blinding]] of studies, and other methods. All gathered data, including the experimental or environmental conditions, are expected to be documented for scrutiny and made available for [[peer review]], allowing further experiments or studies to be conducted to confirm or falsify results. Statistical quantification of [[statistical significance|significance]], [[confidence interval|confidence]], and [[margin of error|error]]<ref>{{harvp|Gauch|2003|pp=191 ''ff''}}, especially Chapter 6, "Probability", and Chapter 7, "inductive Logic and Statistics"</ref> are also important tools for the scientific method.