Chapter 1- Scientific Investigation Flashcards
examples of useful methodologies
case studies, classification and identification, a literature review, modelling, simulations and controlled experiments
what is the scientific method
an accepted procedure for conducting investigations
what is a hypothesis
a possible explanation for a set of observations that can be used to make predictions, which can then be tested experimentally
what do controlled experiments allow us
to examine one factor at a time: they are a commonly used methodology for testing hypotheses
what is a research question
a statement that broadly defines what is being investigated
what is the aim
a statement describing in detail what will be investigated
what is the IV
variable is manipulated by the researcher
what is the DV
measured variable
what is the controlled variable
kept constant during the investigation because they may affect the DV
what are primary sources of information
created by a person directly involved in an investigation
what are secondary sources of information
a synthesis, review, or interpretation of primary sources
what is raw data
the data you collect in your logbook
what is processed data
raw data that has been mathematically analysed
what is qualitative data
observed and relates to a type or category, such as colour
what is quantitative data
measured numeric values and have units included
what is discrete data
values that can be counted or measured, but which can only have certain values
what is continuous data
may be any number value within a given range that can be measured
what is validity
whether your results measure what the investigation set out to measure
what is repeatability
the consistency of your results when they are repeated many times as trials under the exact same set of experimental conditions
what is reproducibility
the ability to obtain the same results if an experiment is replicated
what is accuracy
how close a measurement is to the true value
what is precision
how closely a set of measurements agree with each other
what is resolution
the smallest change in the measured quantity that causes a perceptible change in the value shown by the measuring instrument
what do systematic errors result in
errors in the same direction for every measurement- either too high or too low
what is the mean
average of quantitative data
