Real research can be messy. Therefore, when I talk about the scientific method, or the general research process, I use the word stages rather than steps. The word step suggests each step is an equal distance from each other, and that once you have reached the top step, you should be embarrassed to have to go back to the first step. But in real science, this is exactly what happens. Learning, by its very nature, can lead us in many directions, and often, it is in the moments when we have to go back and rethink or retest something we previously studied that the best discoveries can be made.