Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

My point is that trolling's goal is to obtain a particular outcome. An experiment doesn't set out to to obtain a particular outcome. It is [or should be] unbiased.
So, for example, if that woman was experimenting, then she really didn't know that people react a particular way to conceited women, and was therefore not trolling.
On the other hand, if she was trolling, then she already knew that people would react in a particular way, and therefore was not performing an experiment.

I say all that to say the distinction between trolling and experimenting lies in motive.