1. Empirical Testing: Scientists design and conduct experiments or observations to gather data that can either support or refute the proposed explanation. This data must be reproducible and reliable.
2. Peer Review: After conducting research, scientists submit their findings to peer-reviewed journals. Other experts in the field critically evaluate the methodology, analysis, and conclusions of the study. This helps ensure the quality and validity of the research.
3. Falsifiability: A scientific explanation must be falsifiable, meaning there must be a potential experiment or observation that could disprove it. If an explanation cannot be tested or potentially disproven, it's not considered scientific. This principle helps to ensure that scientific explanations are grounded in evidence and not just speculation.
