12. Research is judged to be scientific by 12 characteristics: its empirical nature, its ability to be tested, the extent to which it can be falsified or disproved, the ability to replicate or repeat findings, the public nature of findings, its self-correcting nature, the ability to measure or observe the phenomenon of interest, the ability to minimize error through the control of procedures, its level of objectivity, the skepticism it raises, the generalizability of findings, and its heuristic nature.