Scientific Key Terms

Question 1

Independent variable

Answer 1

The variable(s) in a practical that the scientist/person conducting it can change.

E.G - The volume of water in a bottle.

Question 2

A prediction

Answer 2

When you state what you think will happen in an experiment before it takes place.

Question 3

A risk assessment

Answer 3

Where you highlight certain hazards in an experiment, what risk they make and a way to prevent it.

Question 4

Repeatability

Answer 4

Whether your are able to repeat this test again or not. If a practical is repeatable it is good as it means if another person were to follow the same method, they would get similar results.

Question 5

Reproducibility

Answer 5

If a practical is reproducable it means that the results of it stay consistent even if other people were to do the practical.

Question 6

Accurate

Answer 6

If your results are accurate, it means that they are close to its true value

Question 7

Precision

Answer 7

How consistent the results are when the measurements are repeated.

Question 8

Validity

Answer 8

How well a test measures what it is supposed to measure.

Question 9

Anomaly

Answer 9

An anomaly/anomalous result is a result that does not fit a certain pattern. When you find anomalies, your circle them and ignore them. You do not include the in the mean.

Question 10

Confidence

Answer 10

You must be sure that all results, variables and methods are correct. This can be by how accurate, repeatable, valid, precise and reproducible they are.

Question 11

Conclusion

Answer 11

A summary of what the practical was. It usually begins with what your aim is with the experiment. You can make a conclusion from data and make it into a graph.

Question 12

Line of best fit

Answer 12

When making a graph, you should usually draw a free-hand line through as many points as possible. Try to make it as accurate as possible. It shouldn’t be straight lines to each point.

You should note that if all the points increase or decrease by the same amount each time, you can use a ruler to draw a straight line through all of them.

Question 13

Representative Data

Answer 13

It is data which generalises your results. For example, data of an entire population.

Question 14

Control variable

Answer 14

It is the variable that you keep the same throughout a practical to ensure that it is a fair test

Question 15

Dependent variable

Answer 15

It is what is observed or measured in a practical.

Question 16

Systematic Error

Answer 16

It is an error that causes there to be the same difference between a measurement and the true value of a result.

Question 17

Random Error

Answer 17

An error that causes there to be a random difference between a measurement and the true value.

Question 18

Data

Answer 18

Words or numbers that you obtain after making and observation or a measurement.

Question 19

Investigstion

Answer 19

An experiment which is designed to find data which answers a scientific question.

Question 20

Continuous data

Answer 20

It can have any value, such as length or temperature.

Question 21

Discrete data

Answer 21

It can only have whole-number values.

Question 22

Categoric data

Answer 22

Data which has the values in the form of words.

Question 23

Mean

Answer 23

The average amount of data. It is found by adding all values together then dividing by the number of values given.

Question 24

Analyse

Answer 24

To analyse data means to write about what you have found out.

Question 25

Bar chart

Answer 25

It is a method/way to represent data when one of the variables is discrete or categoric whilst the other is continuous.

Question 26

Line graph

Answer 26

A way to represent data when both variables are a numerical value.

Question 27

Range

Answer 27

It is the difference between the lowest and highest value a variable can have.

Question 28

A risk

Answer 28

It is the chance of damage or injury occurring from a hazard.

Question 29

A hazard

Answer 29

It is the source of danger

Question 30

Uncertainty

Answer 30

Having doubt with a result because of the way the measurement was made.

Question 31

Variable

Answer 31

It is anything that could affect the outcome of an investigation. There are 3 types:

• Independent
• Dependent
• Control

Question 32

What does accuracy depend on?

Answer 32

It can depend on the quality of the apparatus used and most importantly, the skill of the scientist.