key science skills Flashcards
aim
the objective or purpose of the experiment
hypothesis
a testable, specific and achievable statement that describes how experimenters expect the dependent variable to change as the independent variable is manipulated.
if _ is dependent on _ then… and change to [independent variable] will cause …
controlled variables
variables that are kept constant throughout the experiment to ensure that changes can be attributed to the dependent variable
independent variable
the variable being manipulated
dependent variable
the variable being measured
control group
a group that is not subject to the independednt variable.
it allows us to be sure that changes in the dependent variable can be attributed to the independent variable
primary source
source providing original data, written by the experimenter
secondary source
source that has interpreted primary sources
quantitative data
numerical data collected during experiments
qualitative data
non-numerical (descriptive) data collected based on observations taken during an experiment
accuracy
how close measurements are to their true value
improving accuracy:
- try to remove any systematic errors that may be present in the experiment.
precision
how close measurements are to each other
improving precision
- reduce random errors
- conduct more trials and take averages
- follow the exact same procedure for all trials
validity
whether the experiment and its components including the results address the
aim and hypothesis of the research
improving validity
- ensure controlled variables are kept constant
- include a control group
repeatability
- closeness of the agreement between the results of successive measurements of the same quantity, carried out under the same conditions
reproducibility
- closeness of the agreement between the results of measurements of the same quantity, carried out under changed conditions
