A few words about research. Unexpectedly, the problem is with the word 'scientific,' which suggests not only a specific method and reliable results but a process of open discovery and public sharing of those results. As is often the case with government-sponsored research, in the corporate world, the world of trade secrets, very little scientific openness exists. Knowledge is owned exclusively by the sponsor of the research, the corporation. Corporate knowledge is often compartmentalized and made available even within the corporation on a strict need to know basis.
Involved employees sign non-disclosure agreements.
Violation of contract by revealing secrets is a career killer and law-suit trigger. When the research has been contracted out to a firm that specializes in that kind work, the knowledge is further compartmentalized. The specialists keep the specialized methods to themselves while the corporate contacts who hired them get access only to the more generalized results. The methods of the corporation's research department or of the specialized research firm may or may not be strictly scientific. And it's no secret that there is a voodoo element in much corporate research and a faddishness in much of policy-making.