How to interpret the phrase "experimental approach"? I'm writing the introduction for a research proposal and am trying to express that our approach is "experimental" in the sense that it uses more exploratory and alternative methods rather than that it uses a controlled experiment.

Is the phrase "experimental approach" appropriate in this context? If not, what are alternatives? (Words like "novel" and "exploratory" aren't quite right.) Which way should that phrase be interpreted in general?
I use the term "discovery" when I am using approaches where I don't really have a "control," but am trying to investigate phenomena to determine the underlying causes. (I use a simulation technique which is essentially "deterministic" in its results, so it's a matter of trying to find a model which explains the phenomenon in question, or determining results for a new system).

So this would perhaps be an example of "experimental discovery."