Science and features of science Flashcards
What is meant by the term cause and. effect?
when on thing causes another, then they have a cause and effect relationship.
what are the 5 stages of the scientific process, in order?
- aim
- hypothesis
- method
- result
- conclusion.
What is the aim?
The reason to carry out the experiment.
Aims will always start with to determine, or to investigate.
what is the hypothesis?
when someone makes a prediction about how an experiment is going to turn out.
What are the dependant and independant variable in an experiment?
IV: The thing we change.
DV: The thing we measure.
what is an experiment?
An experiment has at least two levels of the IV, which help us establish a cause and effect relationship.
what is operationalisation?
all of the variables need to be operationalised, which means how the variable is going to be measured.
something that can be measured in numbers.
what is the method?
Detailed description of what the researcher actually did in a study.
The exact procedure.
what is the results?
changes observed in the experiment.
what is the conclusion?
interpretation of the results( weather the results match the hypothesis or not, if foesnt match, hypothesis can be adjusted)
What are the 7 key features of science?
Hypothesis testing, empirical evidence, falsifiability, replicability, control, and objectivity.
what is hypothesis testing?
Test if the hypothesis matched our conclusion, if not, we might need to adjust it.
what is empirical evidence?
when information is collected through direct observation, we call it empirical evidence
The hypothesis is tested using empirical evidence.
What is falsifiability?
When it is possible to proove the hypothesis wrong, we say it is falsifiable.
clarifier: If I say that i live in a simulation, then then the hypothesis canniot be prooven wrong, therefore, it is non-falsifiable.
What is replicability?
when a researcher repeats the same study, we say they are replicating the study
What is a replicable study?
When a study gets the same results again, we say it is replicable.
what do we mean by replicating a study?
repeating a study, in order to re-test the hypothesis, even after a conclusion has been made.
what is the control group?
The level of the IV, where the researcher isnt manipulating anything.
What is the experimental group?
The level of the IV, which the researcher has manipulated.
what is an extraneous variable?
Something else apart from the IV, which affects the DV.
What do we mean by control over extraneous variables?
When a researcher prevent extranoeus variables from affecting the studies results.
What is a confounding variable?
it is a form of the extraneous variable, and it means that it varies acording to the level of the IV.
What is objectivity?
Researchers should always be objective, and not allow personal bias to affect the experiment.
What is meant by the term personal bias?
when researchers have preferances about which results they want, we say they have personal bias.
