Scientific Investigations, Technologies, and Science in Society

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering scientific inquiry, experimental errors, historical case studies, and the intersection of science and society from the provided notes.

Validity

The degree to which a study accurately reflects or assesses the specific concept that the researcher is attempting to measure.

Reliability

How many times you repeat the experiment and come to similar results.

Accuracy

The closeness of a measured value to a standard or known value.

Placebo

Any treatment that has no active properties, such as a sugar pill used in clinical trials.

Quantitative data

Any information that can be quantified, measured, and given a numerical value.

Qualitative data

Descriptive information expressed in terms of language rather than numerical values.

Primary Data

Data generated by the researcher specifically for understanding and solving the research problem at hand, such as through surveys or experiments.

Secondary Data

Data collected by someone else earlier, such as government publications, websites, or journal articles.

Parallax

A displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight.

Pareidolia

The human ability to see shapes or make pictures out of randomness.

Outlier

An extremely high or extremely low data point relative to the nearest data point which may indicate bad data or experimental error.

Helicobacter pylori

The bacterium discovered by Marshall and Warren as the likely cause of peptic ulcers.

Magnetrons

Vacuum tubes that generate microwaves and are the basis for radar and microwave ovens.

Activation energy

The minimum level of energy needed to start particles colliding and produce chemical products in a reaction.

$$Charles’ Law$$

A mathematical equation expressing the relationship between temperature and volume of gas as $\frac{T_1}{V_1} = \frac{T_2}{V_2}$.

$$Boyle's Law$$

A mathematical equation expressing the relationship between pressure and volume of gas as $P_1V_1 = P_2V_2$.

Resolution

The level by which equipment is graded, such as $\text{mm/cm}$ or $\text{mL}$.

Instrumental Error

An error occurring because of a fault in the measuring device.

X-ray diffraction

The spreading out of X-rays as they pass through and bend around a space within a medium.

X-ray crystallography

Targeting an X-ray at a substance in crystal form to provide information about the arrangement of atoms based on the shape and density of dots on an image plane.

Gold-Leaf Electroscope

A device used to detect ionising radiation by measuring the movement of charged particles.

Geiger-Müller Counter

A device used for the detection and measurement of radioactivity through pulses.

Standard Model

A theory describing fundamental particles (matter and force-carrying) and their interactions.

Higgs Boson

A particle discovered in 2012 that interacts with other particles to give mass to objects.

Law of Reflection

States that light hitting a smooth surface reflects back at an equal angle.

Law of Refraction

The changing of a light ray's direction when it passes through variations in matter.

Nuclear fission

The process where a neutron collides with an atom and splits it into two, releasing energy.

Bioharvesting

The process of identifying, collecting, and processing plants known to have medicinal properties.

Sample Bias

When the data collected doesn’t reflect the intended study population.

Double Blind Trials

A trial where both the participants and the researchers are unaware of who is in the experimental group to prevents observer bias.

Correlation Coefficient

A decimal or whole number from a scale of $-1$ to $+1$ that mathematically measures the extent to which two variables are related.

Hawthorne effect

A phenomenon where people change their behaviour because they are aware they are being observed.

Mozart Effect

A 1993 claim suggesting that listening to classical music improves spatial reasoning skills and IQ test performance.

Peer Review

A process where experts in the same field assess research to ensure it meets rigorous scientific standards before publication.

Herd Immunity

Occurs when a sufficient proportion of the population becomes immune to a disease, protecting immunocompromised members.

Bioprospecting

Research based on the knowledge about medicinal uses of plants to discover new compounds for pharmaceuticals or agriculture.