[musingsole]

A lot of this perspective depends on what point in time you choose as the start of the process. You can start with the hypothesis, or you can start with what gave rise to the hypothesis: exploration.

But, it's a layman's mistake to confuse the two and use it as a critique of the formalized scientific method.

Science bodies (like the NIH) explicitly forbid reuse or reinterpretation of data. An individual may use exploration as inspiration for a hypothesis...but for it grow into science out of curiosity requires new data generation from a carefully considered framework for the hypothesis.

[jpeloquin]

> Science bodies (like the NIH) explicitly forbid reuse or reinterpretation of data.

I think your main point is that collecting new data is necessary to test existing ideas. But reuse and reinterpretation of data is routine, e.g., in meta-analyses. It's not forbidden. You do have to disclose where the data came from.