1) Experiment 2) Testing 3) Trial 4) Tryout 
• (n.) The act of experimenting; practice by experiment.
(from the article `Western literature`) ...make the question of literary value easier to answer. Given the extraordinary conditions in which a modern writer works, it was not surprising ...(from the article `hypothetico-deductive method`) procedure for the construction of a scientific theory that will account for results obtained through direct observation and experimentation and that ... [15 related articles]
One process by which scientists attempt to understand nature. A phenomenon is observed and/or manipulated so that changes in the phenomenon's state can be seen. The resulting data can be used to derive new models of a process or to confirm an existing model. Experimentation is the complement of theorization. See also simulation. 
Ex·per`i·men·ta'tion noun The act of experimenting; practice by experiment. J. S. Mill. 
the act, process, practice, or an instance of making experiments.
the testing of an idea