RMT General

Question 1

What is meant by a null hypothesis?

Answer 1

The null hypothesis H0 is that any observed changes in behaviour are due to chance

Question 2

What is Occam’s razor?

Answer 2

Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected.
“Entities should not be multiplied without cause”

Question 3

What is the theoretical justification for Occam’s razor?

Answer 3

Select the simplest hypothesis which is compatible with observations
the preference for simplicity in the scientific method is based on the falsifiability criterion. For each accepted explanation of a phenomenon, there may be an extremely large, perhaps even incomprehensible, number of possible and more complex alternatives, because one can always burden failing explanations with ad hoc hypotheses to prevent them from being falsified; therefore, simpler theories are preferable to more complex ones because they are more testable.

Question 4

What is the definition of the Scientific method?

Answer 4

The scientific method is the process by which scientists, collectively and over time, endeavor to construct an accurate (that is, reliable, consistent and non-arbitrary) representation of the world.

Question 5

What are the four steps of the Scientific method?

Answer 5

1. Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena.
2. Formulation of a hypothesis to explain the phenomena. In physics, the hypothesis often takes the form of a causal mechanism or a mathematical relation.
3. Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations.
4. Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments.

Question 6

Name 3 Common Mistakes in Applying the Scientific Method

Answer 6

1. Bias - the scientist may have a preference for one outcome or another.
2. Ignore or rule out data which do not support the hypothesis
3. failure to estimate quantitatively systematic errors (and all errors)

Question 7

Name the 3 types of experimental variable

Answer 7

Independent Variables
Dependant Variables
Confounding Variables
Extraneous Variables
Control Variables

Question 8

give a definition and an example of an epistemological break

Answer 8

The moment of rupture separating science from its non-scientific past. After the rupture the non-scientific past comes to be seen as so much superstition. In this way, the history of science is understood not so much a process of discovery as the overcoming of the obstacles to thought posed by knowledge itself. It thus entails not simply the addition of new knowledge, but the reorganization of the very possibility of knowledge. It changes the conditions of what is and can be known.

Physics /Astronomy - Galileo

Question 9

give a definition and an example of a paradigm shift

Answer 9

a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline. Kuhn contrasted these shifts, which characterize a scientific revolution, to the activity of normal science, which he described as scientific work done within a prevailing framework (or paradigm)

example: Mercury deviates from the precession predicted from Newtonian effects. This anomalous rate of precession of the perihelion of Mercury’s orbit was first recognized in 1859 as a problem in celestial mechanics.

In general relativity, this remaining precession, or change of orientation of the orbital ellipse within its orbital plane, is explained by gravitation being mediated by the curvature of spacetime. Einstein showed that general relativity[2] agrees closely with the observed amount of perihelion shift. This was a powerful factor motivating the adoption of general relativity.

Question 10

Define Independent Variable

Answer 10

An independent variable is a variable that is manipulated to determine the value of a dependent variable s

Question 11

Define Dependant Variable

Answer 11

the dependent variable is changed in response to changes in the independent variables.

Question 12

Confounding Variable

Answer 12

Experimental Variables which effect the Independent Variables and Dependant Variables and make it impossible to discern the effect of the Independent Variables.

Question 13

Extraneous Variable

Answer 13

Extraneous variable are undesirable variables that you are not intentionally studying in your experiment or test.

Question 14

Control Variables

Answer 14

A control variable is the one element that is not changed throughout an experiment, because its unchanging state allows the relationship between the other variables being tested to be better understood.

Question 15

What are the three main aspects of the scientific method?

Answer 15

investigating phenomena
acquiring new knowledge
correcting and integrating previous knowledge

Question 16

What makes are the properties of a good Hypothesis?

Answer 16

• is the simplest, while being
• consistent with prior observations
• consistent with subsequent experimental
  outcomes.

Question 17

What are the limits of the Scientific Method?

Answer 17

The scientific method works best in situations
where one can isolate the phenomenon of
interest. Not working in circumstances, such as:
when one cannot isolate the phenomena; or
when one cannot repeat the measurement over
and over again;

Question 18

Define modelling

Answer 18

A scientific model is a way for predicting

how part of reality will behave.

Question 19

What are the Key Principals of Modelling?

Answer 19

Generation of testable predictions

Elegance or simplicity

Question 20

Define what is meant by logico-deductive

Answer 20

Because a model is logico-deductive, you can
deduce that situations could exist in the world
which have never been observed.