OBSERVATION is first step, so that you know how you want to go about your research. HYPOTHESIS is the answer you think you'll find. PREDICTION is your specific belief about the scientific idea: If my hypothesis is true, then I predict we will discover this. CONCLUSION is the answer that the experiment gives.
The scientific method is an empirical method of acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries). It involves careful observation, applying rigorous skepticism about what is observed, given that cognitive assumptions can distort how one interprets the observation. It involves formulating hypotheses, via induction, based on such observations; experimental and measurement-based testing of deductions drawn from the hypotheses; and refinement (or elimination) of the hypotheses based on the experimental findings. These are principles of the scientific method, as distinguished from a definitive series of steps applicable to all scientific enterprises.
