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| Tentative explanation for an observation that requires testing to validate. |
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| A logical process that argues from specific instances to a general conclusion. |
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| Making a prediction about the outcome of a test; “if / then” statements. |
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| Result expected from a particular test of a hypothesis if the hypothesis were true. |
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| Body of scientifically accepted general principles that explain natural phenomena. |
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| Contrived situation designed to test specific hypotheses. |
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| Information collected by scientists during hypothesis testing. |
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is the formal, explicit, and regular adherence to the following procedure:
Devise alternative hypotheses;
Devise a crucial experiment (or several of them), with alternative possible outcomes, each of which will, as nearly as possible, exclude one or more of the hypotheses;
Carry out the experiment so as to get a clean result;
(Goto 1) - Recycle the procedure, making subhypotheses or sequential hypotheses to refine the problems that remain; and so on. |
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| What is the process of science? |
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Science is not a giant collection of facts to be memorized.
Process, using the scientific method:
Observing
Proposing ideas
Testing
Discarding those ideas that fail |
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| What is the difference between a hypothesis and a prediction? |
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| Simply put, a hypothesis is similar to a prediction, but not identical. A prediction is basically an attempt to "guess" what will happen next. A hypothesis, on the other hand, establishes a relationship, which helps explain what happens. Example of a hypothesis: "If salt is added to water, then it will affect the temperature at which the water boils." This statement is testable, using the amount of salt as the independent variable (or the variable that you change) to find out how it affects the dependent variable (the variable you observe). An example of a prediction is as follows: "If I bet on Secretariat today, I'm going to win a million dollars." |
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| Can hypotheses ever be proven correct or disproven? |
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| Testable and potentially falsifiable |
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| What is a controlled experiment? |
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| tests the effect of a single variable |
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| Sham treatments in experiments. Ex. Control group drinks “sham” Echinacea tea (placebo). |
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| What is a blind experiment? |
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| subjects don’t know what kind of treatment they have received |
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| What is a double-blind experiment? |
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| the person administering the treatments also doesn’t know until after the experiment is over |
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It is not always possible or ethical to experiment on humans.
Describes a relationship between two factors. |
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| Does correlation prove cause-and-effect? |
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Caution! Correlation does not imply causation.
The correlation might be due to other reasons. |
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| What is the difference between primary, secondary, and anecdotal sources of information? |
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Primary Sources
Researchers can submit a paper about their results to a professional journal (primary source).
Secondary sources:
books, news reports, the internet, and advertisements
Anecdotal evidence
is based on one person’s experience, not on experimental data.
Example: a testimonial from a celebrity |
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| What role does peer review play in the process of scientific publications? |
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evaluation of submitted papers by other experts
The process by which reports of scientific research are examined and critiqued by other researchers before they are published in scholarly journals. |
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