Lecture 6 Flashcards
Science is a mechanism
a way of trying to improve your knowledge of nature, a system of testing your thoughts against the universe and seeing whether they match
deductive reasoning
ancient times, top down approach to reasoning general theory (laws) specific conclusions/predictions
deductive reasoning cons
can lead to incorrect assumptions if not paired with testing or experimentation
Inductive Reasoning
general ideas or theories arising from specific observations
observations - laws
cons of inductive reasoning
tends to confirm what we want to believe; any ‘evidence” is often anecdotal
testable hypothesis
make observation, propose a testable hypothesis, design an experiment and collect observable data to test if the hypothesis is supported
Karl Popper
Modern testable hypotheses argued that science progresses by falsifying hypotheses, rather than confirming them
pre popper scientists
sought to support their data not proving them wrong
Use testable hypotheses
use inductive reasoning to develop a hypotheses based on observations of natural phenomena then use deductive reasoning to test the hypotheses through an experimental study
competing hypothese
prioritize with parsimony, scientits develop multiple competing hypotheses to explain their observation
Parsimony
among competing hypotheses, the simplest should be prioritized, simpler hypotheses are more probable and easier to test with an experiment
Hypothesis
an idea or explanation based on known facts but yet to be proven, a testable explanation
prediction
a specific statement about what will happen in a particular experiment or situation if the hypothesis is correct
Independent variable
the variable that you anticipate causing an effect
dependent variable
the variable that you will measure which you expect to change in response to the independent variable
How to test a scientific hypotheses
- define an objective - a question
- based on an observation,formulate a testable hypothesis
- make predictions extending fro hypothesis
- design an experiment to determine which of the predicted outcomes is supported by data
- Do a statistical test and decide whether the results falsify the hypothesis
Null hypothesis
experimental outcome that supports no difference or relationship, if the null hypothesis is true then there is no difference between groups or any relationship between variables, designed to be falsifiable
Alternative hypothesis
experimental outcome that supports a difference or relationship, if the Ha is true there is a significant difference between groups or a significant relationship between variables
