science inquiry

Question 1

what are the ethics of planning an investigation?

Answer 1

• Voluntary participation
• Informed consent
• Risk of harm
• Confidentiality
• Anonymity

Question 2

what is the safety of planning an investigation

Answer 2

• Risks involved
• safety equipment required
• physical and emotional

Question 3

what is a placebo

Answer 3

• used to test the effectiveness of medical treatments

- Inactive substance that looks like the real treatment and is administered in the same manner

Question 4

what group is the placebo given to

Answer 4

the controlled group

Question 5

what is a single-blind experiment

Answer 5

• occurs when information is withheld from the participant

the researcher knows all the facts

Question 6

what is a double-blind experiment?

Answer 6

• neither the participants nor researchers know who belongs to which group.

Researchers identify each group by analysing the results

high standard if scientific accuracy

easily achieved in drug studies by formulating placebo to have identical appearance to test drug

Question 7

what is a hypothesis?

Answer 7

• it is an “if-then” statement
• it includes the dependent and independent variable
  a single idea that must be able to be tested
  precise an concise
  definite statement-no question

Question 8

what are the different variables

Answer 8

• independent: variable you change
• dependent: variable you measure
• controlled: variable you keep the same

Question 9

what is validity

Answer 9

• an experiment is considered valid if it tests what is it meant to test.
• for an experiment to be considered valid it must control all variables, excluding the independent variable
• to have a valid experiment you must have reliable and accurate data

Question 10

what is reliability

Answer 10

• refers to whether an experiment can be repeated by you or any other person who tries the experiment
• an experiment is reliable if it can be repeated with similar outcomes

Question 11

how is accuracy improved

Answer 11

• by using the correct equipment

- ensuring the experiment is conducted by an individual with past experience

Question 12

what are the different types of errors

Answer 12

• systematic error
• random error
• human error

Question 13

what is a human error

Answer 13

is a mistake made during an experiment due to a lack of human ability or carelessness

Question 14

what are random errors

Answer 14

are unpredictable errors and occur because no measurement is perfect

Question 15

what is a systematic error

Answer 15

occurs because of the way in which an experiment is designed.

Question 16

what is the percentage change formula

Answer 16

new value - old value/old value x 100%

Question 17

what is the percentage increase formula

Answer 17

final valve-initial valvue/initial valvue x100

Question 18

what is extrapolate

Answer 18

extending the graph along the same slope

Question 19

what is interpolate

Answer 19

predicting data between 2 points

Question 20

what are the different types of investigations

Answer 20

observations 
controlled experiments 
surveys 
trail and error 
case studies 
longitudinal studies

Question 21

describe observations

Answer 21

all investigations use observations

scientists look for trends or patterns

Question 22

describe controlled experiments

Answer 22

a fair test designed to look for relationships between variables

change only one variable, results should be reflective of that change

Question 23

describe surveys

Answer 23

collect data from a large number of participants

questionnaires or interviews

Question 24

trial and error

Answer 24

systematic

make one change at a time until the problem has been solved

each trial is recorded-process of elimination

Question 25

describe case studies

Answer 25

focus on one person or situation following a group/individual with a certain demographic or disease

Question 26

describe longitudinal studies

Answer 26

conducted over a few years a more prolonged case study build up a picture of change over time

Question 27

what is the literature review

Answer 27

help define the problem find out what is already known assess research methods allow researcher to relate findings

Question 28

what is qualitative data

Answer 28

observations that do not involve numbers

Question 29

what is quantitative data

Answer 29

data that is expressed in numbers

Question 30

what group receives the real substance

Answer 30

the experimental group

Question 31

what is the scientific method

Answer 31

``` observation inferences hypothesis experimental design record and present data discussion conclusion ```

Question 32

what are the steps in an experimental design

Answer 32

aim- summerise experiment statement introduction- expand on aim hypothesis equipment- including quantity and how much diagram procedure/ method- always do procedure first, show how much you are going to do it, the method is the write up after result- in a form of a table and then put into a graph discussion- identify patterns and trends in the experiment conclusion- restate the hypothesis, does the data support the hypothesis, using data

Question 33

what is repetition

Answer 33

doing the same experiment many times

Question 34

what is replication

Answer 34

a number if identical experiments running together or at the same time performing the experiment on a large number of subjects at the same time

Question 35

what do repetition and replication help to do

Answer 35

helpt to demonstrate that the results are constant minimise the effects of uncontrolled variables

Question 36

what is secondary data

Answer 36

is data that is collected by someone else who is not the user of the data

Question 37

what does secondary data often contain

Answer 37

confidence intervals

Question 38

what are confidence intervals

Answer 38

confident intervals indicate the reliability of the data and are expressed as a range of values above and below the results

Question 39

what are the benefits of a blind experiment

Answer 39

people involved do not know certain details of experiment | prevents conscious or unconscious bias

Question 40

how should experiments be designed

Answer 40

so that where possible experiments should be designed so that quantitative data can be collected

Question 41

can qualitative be given numerical valvues

Answer 41

yes

Question 42

how can you minimize random errors

Answer 42

take more data. random errors can be evaluated through statistical analysis and can be reduced by repetition

Question 43

how can you minimize systematic errors

Answer 43

systematic errors are difficult to detect and cannot be analyzed statistically, because all of the data is off in the same direction. Spotting and correcting for systematic error takes a lot of care

Question 44

what is an example of a random error

Answer 44

You measure the mass of a ring three times using the same balance and get slightly different values: 17.46 g, 17.42 g, 17.44 g

Question 45

what is an example of a systematic error

Answer 45

The electric scale you use read 0.05 g too high for all your maths measurements (because it is improperly tared throughout your experiment).