And, to elaborate a bit more, there can be 4 very distinct "operations" in this "game":
Observations: something is seen to happen which is interesting, which indicates (key word!) that there is some underlying "truth", which is as yet not fully comprehended.
Hypothesis: a theory is devised which attempts to explain the observations as being the result of some underlying mechanism, or as a phenomenon, in a meaningful and rational way (no magic!)
Testing: a carefully controlled set of procedures is devised which
should provide data and thus, evidence, one way or the other, about the hypothesis. This is where the ABX lives, and nowhere else!!
Analysis: you digest the experimental results from the testing, and apply statistical procedures to this process so that you end up with a certain level of certainty as to whether the hypothesis is right or not. Technically, nothing is 100% "true" or not, you just have a certain level of confidence in your conclusion. In other words, you never really "know" the Truth, that's God's domain!!
Frank