Great question. Not quite. Before that theory production is possible we require

Great question.
Not quite. Before that theory production is possible we require discovery to collect information, ensuring only it has as little bias in it as possible.
Science = Testimony production.
It’s just where in the spectrum of precision are we from curiosity, given our lack of understanding, to research to satisfy that curiosity, the hypothesis formation, to theory formation, to theory testing and survive.
Conversely, the earlier you structure your hypothesis or theory the more deterministic bias you insert into your theory.
This is one of the reasons for stagnation in so many sciences. It’s also the reason for the total failure of the behavioral sciences.

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