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14 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Scientific Method |
1. Observations 2. Hypothesis 3. Predictions 4. Test 5. Analysis of Results |
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Observations |
Record your own observations. Then ask an answerable question: "why do woodbugs spend more time under wood than on bare soil?". List probable preferences for many variables. |
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Null Hypothesis |
that there is no preference for one environmental condition over another. No matter what experimental conditions you show the woodbugs, they will show no preference. |
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Alternate Hypothesis |
that there is a preference that may offer a plausible explanation for the results. |
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Making a prediction |
stated in an "If x, then y" way. Example: "If woodbugs are given a choice between a cool area and a warm area, then they will choose the cool area." |
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Control Test |
done to make sure that there are no unknown variables at play and no contamination in setup. |
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Experimental Test |
is done to evaluate whether the variable chosen for the experiment significantly affects woodbug behaviour. Design the tests so that only one variable is tested at a time. |
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Number of Woodbugs tested |
increases the validity of your data. |
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Replication |
tests should be done at least twice to increase the reliability of the outcomes. |
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Statistics |
the science of collecting, organizing, and interpreting numerical data. Used to calculate the probability of an event occurring randomly. |
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Chi-squared test |
χ2 --> tells us whether or not we can reject the null hypothesis. |
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χ2 calculation |
expected = total of both variables divided by the number of variables. The E symbol means we add the results from both variables to give us the χ2. |
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Critical Value |
a predetermined value that tells us if we can reject the null hypothesis or not. |
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Degrees of Freedom and Probability |
(df) = n - 1 = number of conditions - 1. Probability = p-values = the probability that all values are due to chance. Experimental results are considered meaningful when p-value is 0.05. |
