This does not have to be restricted to 'hard' science, because political researchers are the worst habitual offenders. Archaeology, economics and market research are other areas where cause and effect is important, so should provide some excellent examples of how to establish cause and effect.
Fiddling while Rome burns. Meaning. To occupy oneself with unimportant matters and neglect priorities during a crisis. Origin. The source of this phrase is the story that Nero played the fiddle (violin) while Rome burned, during the great fire in AD 64. There are two major flaws with the story. Firstly, there was no such instrument as the fiddle (violin) in first century Rome.
A religious healing system, the cult of Asklepios (a Greek god of healing), had begun in Greece by at least the eighth century BCE, and by the third century BCE it had spread to Rome, then throughout the Roman empire, as the cult of Aesculapius.