Unit 4 AOS 3: Glossary Flashcards
What does title mean?
the research question under investigation; includes information about what is being tested
What is a introduction?
a detailed but succinct explanation of the reason for undertaking an investigation; includes key biological concepts, aim and hypothesis
What does Aim meam?
the main purpose of an investigation and what you hope to achieve
What is a hypothesis?
a prediction of the outcomes, which are testable experimentally and form the basis of the methodology
What is the independent variable?
the variable for which quantities are changed by the experimenter
What is the dependent variable?
The variable that changes in response to changes in the independent variable; the experimenter measures these changes
What is the controlled variable?
anything kept constant, or monitored, so it does not affect the independent and dependent variable, and therefore the validity of experimental results
What is the controlled group?
the set-up or group in an experiment that does not receive treatment; it is used as the ‘standard of compassion’
What is a placebo?
a substance that has no therapeutic effect but may have a psychological effect
What is positive control?
a control group receive a treatment with a known response that can then be compared to the experiment group(s)
What is the negative control?
a control group that isn’t expected to produce a result
What is a method?
a series of numbered steps describing the procedure
What does repeatability mean?
recording of results produced when the experiment is repeated in one lab by one operator under the same conditions
What does reproducibility mean?
when the same results are obtained for the same experiment by different operators using different equipment
What does reliability mean?
the extent to which an experiment always yields the same results under the same conditions
What does validity mean?
the extent to which all variables in the experiment have been controlled, so that the independent variable is the only factor that changes
What does single-variable exploration mean?
an investigation that contains only one independent and one dependent variable
What does Qualitative data mean?
data that is descriptive (not numeric)
What does Quantitative data mean?
data that is measured and represented numerically
What does continuous data mean?
data that is measurable and continuous, with infinite possible values; best represented by a line graph
What does discrete data mean?
data that is countable and in discrete categories; contains distinct or separate values; best represented by a bar graph
What does Accuracy mean?
how close the measurements are to the ‘true’ value of the quantity being measured
What does True value mean?
the value or range of values that would be obtained if the quantity could be measured perfectly
What does Systematic error?
when the readings obtained from measurements differ from the ‘true’ value consistently in one direction every time
What does random error mean?
an unpredictable variation in the readings obtained, due to variables not all being controlled (extraneous variables), and resulting in the readings being higher or lower than expected
What is an outlier?
a reading that is very different from other results obtained for the same measurement
What does precision mean?
how close all the measurements are to each other
What does conclusion mean?
a summary of what you can deduce from the results of the investigation, including whether the tested hypothesis was supported
What does the line that best fits mean?
a line on the graph that shows the general trend of the data points; the distance to the points above the line should equal the distance to the point below the line
