scientific inquiry

Question 1

what is the scientific method ?

Answer 1

the systematic collection and classification of data, and the making and testing of hypotheses based on a the data.

Question 2

what is the process of a scientific method?

Answer 2

1. recognition of a problem
2. collection of information related to the problem
3. making a hypothesis
4. testing the hypothesis or a prediction made from it
5. collection of data from the experiment - new questions to be answered.
   6.if hypothesis is supported, make a conclusion
   7 if hypothesis is disproved - make another hypothesis

Question 3

what is a theory?

Answer 3

a hypothesis becomes a theory when there is overwhelming evidence in support of it.

Question 4

give egs. of variables that are controlled?

Answer 4

sex of rats, type and quantity of the food, the length and time for which the rats were observed and the temp under which the rats were kept.

Question 5

what is a fair test ?

Answer 5

an experiment that involves experimental and control groups

Question 6

what is the independent variable ?

Answer 6

factor that is being investigated - it is deliberately changed to determine its effect.
it is deliberately different between the control and experimental groups in an experiment
may also be called the experimental or manipulated variable.

Question 7

what is the dependent variable ?

Answer 7

the factor that changes in response to the changes made to the independent variable
also called the responding variable

Question 8

what are the controlled variables?

Answer 8

factors that are kept the same for both the control and experimental groups in an experiment

Question 9

what makes reliability

Answer 9

repetition and replication

Question 10

what are experimental errors ?

Answer 10

errors that are involved in the experiment . one of the reasons why experimental results cannot prove a hypothesis.

Question 11

what are the 3 types of error?

Answer 11

human
random
systematic

Question 12

what is a human error?

Answer 12

simply a mistake- not part of experimental error. eg. incorrectly reading the scales wrong.

Question 13

what is a random error?

Answer 13

an error in the experiment due to the limits to the precision of the measurements. unpredictable errors.
they occur because no measurement can be made with absolute precision. eg. when using stopwatch, you will stop the watch a little too early or too late. to reduce this error, take several measurements and avg them.

Question 14

what is systematic error?

Answer 14

an error that occurs in an experiment due to the way that the experiment was designed. - reduced by changing the procedure of experiment. important that the design is examined to eliminate as much error as possible eg. method not specifying where to place scales on.

Question 15

what are ethics?

Answer 15

moral principles or values

Question 16

what is ethical behaviour ?

Answer 16

behaviour that conforms to the set of moral principles or values.

Question 17

what are the ethical principles?

Answer 17

1. voluntary participation - people shot not be pressured to taking part in the research
2. informed consent - the participants should be fully informed about the objetives of the research, the method to be followed, any possible risks and benefits
3. risk of harm - possibility of harm should be minimised and the relationship between the risks and the benefits should be carefully assessed.
4. confidentiality - identities of participants will nt be revealed except to people directly involved in the study.
5. anonymity - stronger guarantee of privacy. the participants remain anonymous even the researchers because of the nature of some research anonymity may not be possible.

Question 18

what is an ethical dilemma?

Answer 18

may arise when the affects of the trail on the experimental group of subjects is so advantageous that it seems unfair to withhold it form the control group. eg. if a new medical treatment for a disease was tested on an experimental group which shoed remarkable improvement compared to the control gourd . why should the control group be denied access to the treatment. testing of the producer has been so successful that the trial abandoned and the producer made available to the control and experimental subjects.

Question 19

what is a placebo

Answer 19

an inactive substance that look like real medication used in medical experiments. experimental group takes the drug being tested, while the control group takes the placebo. can be tablet, dummy treatment, injection skin patch, nasal spray special diet, physics therapy or nock surgery. the subject must believe that receiving the same treatment as everyone else.

Question 20

what is a placebo effect ?

Answer 20

a change or improvement patients who are given a placebo or dummy treatment.

Question 21

what is a blind experiment ?

Answer 21

placebos in which the subjects d not know whether they are receiving the placebo or the treatment.

Question 22

what is a double blind experiment ?

Answer 22

neither the researcher nor the subjects know if they are receiving the treatments or the placebo. reduced the risk of bias

Question 23

what are the types of graphs ?

Answer 23

line
bar
column
histogram

Question 24

what is a line graph

Answer 24

used in continuous data

Question 25

column graph

Answer 25

rectangles are vertical

Question 26

bar graphs

Answer 26

rectangles are horizontal

Question 27

bar and column graphs

Answer 27

used in discrete data

Question 28

histograms

Answer 28

used to show frequencies - how often a particular value or a characters occurs. column are of equal width . data is grouped into categories

Question 29

what is a scientific model?

Answer 29

a simplified representation of a complex idea or a process.