Ben Franklin was an example of a citizen scientist.  In history there are many examples of independent “citizen” scientist and they have made many out of the box discoveries and practical innovations.  Most “professional” trained scientists are imbued with institutional biases and they owe their livelihood to a corporate or government interest which is going to create a bias. I would consider many on here independent citizen scientist.
Much of modern “science” is deductive in nature because many “professional” scientists are working for special interests and are trying to make their data fit a favorable outcome.  True science is inductive and the conclusions flow from the data no matter where it leads.  

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