I think the study of philosophy, if done intelligently, in indistinguishable from its practice. If you study a philosopher and his or her thoughts, and draw your own conclusion from those thoughts rather than taking them at face value, then are you not practicing philosophy?

I think it’s also worth noting that philosophy, in a sense, is inherently un-scientific. Abstract concepts do not lend themselves to objective quantification and therefore cannot be measured in a way that fits the scientific method, at least in my opinion.

Edit: typos