As a scientist, I don’t think there is any specific scientific method or protocol - other than something really general like “think of all the ways people have

As a scientist, I don’t think there is any specific scientific method or protocol - other than something really general like “think of all the ways people have been deceived in the past and carefully avoid them.” Almost no modern research follows anything like the “scientific method” I was taught in public school. The way I do research is roughly Bayesian- I try to see what the aggregate of published experiments, anecdotes, intuition, etc. suggests are likely explanations for a phenomenon. Then I try to identify what realistic experiment is likely to provide the most evidence distinguishing between the top possibilities. There are usually many theories or hypotheses in play, and none are ever formally confirmed or rejected- only seen as more or less likely in the light of new evidence.