AP Bio Unit 0: Scientific Processes

claim

A statement or assertion that reflects a scientific hypothesis or conclusion, which can be tested and evaluated through experiment and observation.

constant

A factor in an experiment that remains unchanged to ensure that the results are due to the variable being tested.

control group

A group in an experiment that is kept under standard conditions and not exposed to the experimental treatment, used for comparison against the experimental group.

dependent variable

The variable in an experiment that is measured or observed to assess the effect of the independent variable.

independent variable

The variable in an experiment that is manipulated or changed to test its effect on the dependent variable.

evidence

Data or observations that support a scientific claim or hypothesis, often collected through experiments and observations.

experimental group

A group in an experiment that receives the treatment or intervention being tested, allowing comparison with a control group.

hypothesis

A testable prediction about the relationship between variables, often formed based on prior knowledge and observation.

negative hypothesis

A type of hypothesis that predicts no effect or no relationship between the variables being tested, often serving as the basis for statistical testing in experiments.

null hypothesis

A specific type of negative hypothesis that states there is no significant effect or relationship between the variables, serving as a foundation for hypothesis testing in statistics.

negative control

A group in an experiment that is not exposed to the treatment or experimental condition, used to compare against the experimental group to ensure that results are due to the treatment.

positive control

A group in an experiment that is exposed to a treatment known to produce a positive result, used for comparison against the experimental group to validate the experiment's effectiveness.

reasoning

A logical process of thinking that involves drawing conclusions from premises or evidence, often used to support hypotheses or theories in scientific inquiry.

confidence interval

A range of values that is used to estimate the uncertainty around a sample statistic, indicating the degree of confidence that the true population parameter lies within that range.

error bars

Graphical representation of variability in data, indicating the range of uncertainty around a measurement or estimate, often used in scientific graphs.

mean

The average value of a set of numbers, calculated by summing all values and dividing by the count of values.

sample size

The number of individual observations or data points collected in a study, which influences the reliability and validity of statistical inferences.

standard size

The value that represents the average of a data set, used in statistical analysis to assess variability and consistency within a sample.

standard deviation

A measure of the amount of variation or dispersion in a set of values, indicating how much individual data points differ from the mean.

standard error

A statistical measure that estimates the accuracy with which a sample represents a population, calculated as the standard deviation divided by the square root of the sample size.

chi-square test

A statistical test used to determine if there is a significant difference between the expected and observed frequencies in categorical data.

critical value

The threshold that a test statistic must exceed in order to reject the null hypothesis, determined by the desired significance level and the degrees of freedom.

degree of freedom

The number of independent values or quantities that can vary in a statistical analysis, often used in determining critical values in hypothesis testing.

p-value

A measure that helps determine the significance of results in hypothesis testing, representing the probability of observing the data, or something more extreme, if the null hypothesis is true.