U0 - Scientific Processes

Claim

a statement or assertion that can be tested and investigated through scientific methods.

Constant

a factor that remains unchanged throughout an experiment to ensure valid results.

Control group

a group in an experiment that does not receive the treatment or intervention and is used as a benchmark to measure how effects of the treatment compare.

Dependent variable

a variable that is measured in an experiment and is expected to change in response to the manipulation of the independent variable.

Independent Variable

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

Evidence

any data or observations collected in support of a hypothesis or theory, used to validate or refute scientific claims.

Experimental group

a group in an experiment that receives the treatment or manipulation being tested, allowing comparisons with a control group.

Hypothesis

a proposed explanation or prediction that can be tested through experimentation and observation.

Negative hypothesis

a statement suggesting that there is no effect or relationship between variables, often used as a basis for statistical testing.

Negative control

a group in an experiment that does not receive the treatment, used to establish a baseline for comparison.

Positive control

a group in an experiment that receives a treatment known to produce an effect, used to validate the experimental setup.

Reasoning

The process of drawing conclusions based on evidence and logic, often used in scientific methods to form hypotheses and interpret data.

Confidence interval

A range of values that is used to estimate the uncertainty around a sample statistic, providing a measure of how well the sample represents the population.

Error bars

graphical representations of data variability, often used to indicate the error or uncertainty in a reported measurement.

Mean

The average value of a set of numbers, calculated by dividing the sum of all values by the number of values.

Sample size

The number of observations or data points in a statistical sample, which impacts the accuracy and reliability of estimates and conclusions.

Standard Deviation

A statistical measure that quantifies the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values, indicating how spread out the numbers are around the mean.

Standard Error

A statistical measure that estimates the accuracy of a sample mean by indicating the variability of the sample means around the population mean.

Chi-square test

A statistical method used to determine if there is a significant association between categorical variables by comparing observed frequencies to expected frequencies.

Critical value

The threshold value in statistical hypothesis testing that determines whether to reject the null hypothesis. It is based on the significance level and the distribution of the test statistic.

Degree of Freedom

The number of independent values or quantities which can be assigned to a statistical distribution. It is used in various statistical tests to determine critical values.

P-Value

The probability of obtaining test results at least as extreme as the observed results, under the assumption that the null hypothesis is true. It helps in determining the significance of the results.