>And to answer Andrew's comments, I expect archaeologists to >try to follow this methodology too. Obviously, devising >experiments is very difficult for them (and control groups >are out of the question; you get what you dig up), but that >just places more importance on the other steps (analysing >other's data, both before and after). My point was that there is not such thing as a *single* Scientific Method... that there are variations between the specific methodologies used between different researchers and, most especially, between different disciplines. No, this doesn't mean that scientists work entirely outside the constraints of mehodology, only that the supposition that there is a general and universal method employed by working scientists is manifestly incorrect. Rather than reinventing the wheel, let me point you to, what I consider, a site that does an excellent overview on the subject. I don't agree with all of the author's conclusions, but I think that his general thrust in unimpeachable: http://dharma-haven.org/science/myth-of-scientific-method.htm _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail