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Scientific Method: Observations
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Control is perhaps the single most important element in the scientific methodology. Control is important because it enable the scientist to identify the causes of his or her observations. The above described experiment with the tea is a controlled experiment. The factors which might have affected the outcome have been isolated and studied separately. The cup without the sugar in these experiments is described as the control, and it is always advisable, if it is possible, to arrange for a control or "blank " experiment as a check. In any case, only one thing should be studied at a time, and if there are several factors which can be altered, observations and measurements on one of them must be completed while the others are held constant; only then may another factor (variable) be selected for alteration, the same precautions being observed.
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One school of thought asserts that the scientific method (and science in general) relies upon basic axioms or "self-evident truths" such as realism and consistency. While it is true that many scientists believe these things and do assume them in their everyday work, the method itself does not rely on them: all such assumptions are just part of the hypotheses being tested, and many are subject to tests as well. For example, one of the "common sense" ideas that scientists believed for a long time is that any measurable property of an object is something that exists in the object before it is measured, and our measurements are merely observations of that pre-existing condition; Quantum mechanics rejects this idea, because experiments have contradicted it.
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There is no single scientific method. Some of the methods of science involve logic, e.g., drawing inferences or deductions from hypotheses, or thinking out the logical implications of causal relationships in terms of necessary or sufficient conditions. Some of the methods are empirical, such as making observations, designing controlled experiments, or designing instruments to use in collecting data.
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