Unit 3 - Reporting and critical evaluation of biological research Flashcards
What must scientific reports contain?
- an abstract including aims and findings,
- an introduction explaining the purpose and context of the study including:
-the use of several sources,
-supporting statements,
-citations, and references
What should the background information be?
should be clear,
relevant and unambiguous
What should an abstract outline?
outline the aims and
findings of the study
What does the method section contain?
A method section should contain sufficient
information to allow another investigator to
repeat the work
What must the experimental design address?
Experimental design should address the
intended aim and test the hypothesis
What should be evaluated?
The validity and reliability of the experimental
design should be evaluated. An experimental
design that does not address the intended
aim or test the hypothesis is invalid.
What should be compared to the control?
Treatment effects should be compared to
controls
What is selection bias?
Selection bias is the selection of a sample in
a non-random way, so that the sample is not
representative of the whole population.
Selection bias may have prevented a
representative sample being selected.
What might the sample size not be sufficient enough to do?
to decide without bias whether the change to the
independent variable has caused an effect in
the dependent variable.
What are statistical tests used to?
determine whether the differences between the means
are likely or unlikely to have occurred by chance
What is a statistical significant result?
one that is
unlikely to be due to chance alone
What do error bars indicate?
indicate the variability of data
around a mean
When are the results significant?
If the treatment mean differs from the control
mean sufficiently for their error bars not to
overlap, this indicates that the difference may
be significant
What should conclusions do?
Conclusions should refer to the aim, the
results and the hypothesis
