For a career in scienti€c research, it is important to acquire an understanding of what constitutes the scienti€c method. Unfortunately, many scientists devote little time to thinking about the philosophy of science, and even in science courses at many universities, the subject is not given high prominence. Of course, there is no rigid formula for what constitutes the scienti€c method, and how it is applied will vary in response to the nature of the research being undertaken. Nevertheless, there are certain principles that govern how a problem should be tackled scienti€cally.