Conducting an Experiment: General Principles

When scientists speak of experiments, in the strictest sense of the word, they mean a true experiment [1], where the scientist controls [2] all of the factors and conditions. Real world observations, and case studies [3], should be referred to as observational research [4], rather than experiments. For example, observing animals in the wild is not a true experiment, because it does not isolate and manipulate an independent variable [5].