0.5 Vocab: biology review and intro to stats

Central Tendencies

Tendency of observations to center around a particular value/category rather than spread evenly across the range/categories; mean, median, mode

Chi-Square

Form of statistical analysis used to compare the actual results (observed) with the expected results.

Constants

Controlled variables; factors kept consistent for all groups to ensure only the independent variable affects the outcome.

Control Group

A group not exposed to the independent variable in an experiment to act as a baseline for comparison.

Negative Control Group

A group not exposed to any treatment OR exposed to a treatment known to have NO effect.

Positive Control Group

Group not exposed to the independent variable but is exposed to a treatment known to have an expected effect.

Dependent Variable

Factor that is measured and affected by the independent variable; typically graphed on the y-axis.

Descriptive Statistics

Methods used to summarize or describe observations/samples, including measures of central tendencies and variability.

Experimental Group

Group exposed to the independent variable.

Hypothesis

Prediction that can be tested by recording more observations and experiments; often phrased as “if…then…because.”

Null Hypothesis

Hypothesis which the researcher attempts to disprove, reject, or nullify.

Alternative Hypothesis

Hypothesis that states there is a relationship between two variables.

Independent Variable

Factor that is changed between groups; what is being manipulated; variable that is graphed on the x-axis.

Inferential Statistics

Using observations to make estimates or predictions; generalizing from a sample to a wider population.

EX: SEM, hypotheses tests (t-test, chi-square, etc.)

Mean

Average of a data set.

Median

Middle number in a range of data points.

Mode

Value that appears the most often in a data set.

Range

Difference between the largest and smallest value in the data set.

Scientific Method

Step-by-step process used by scientists to investigate questions, gather evidence, and draw conclusions based on experiments and observations.

Standard Deviation

Measure of how spread out the data is from the mean.

Standard Error of the Mean

Used to determine the precision of and confidence in the mean value.

Statistics

Methods used to collect, process, or interpret quantitative data.

Variability

Measure of how spread out or dispersed the values in a data set are.