The Scientific Method
C0L1P2 aka: Scientific Inquiry

What is Science?
The goal of science is to investigate and understand the natural world, to explain events in the natural world, and to use those explanations to make useful predictions.
1. Science deals only with the natural world .
2. Scientists: collect and organize information in a careful, orderly way, looking for patterns and connections between events.
3. Scientists propose explanations that can be tested by examining evidence.
4. Science is an organized way of using evidence to learn about the natural world.

How does the process of scientific investigation work?
Science begins with an observation.
This is the process of gathering information about events or processes in a careful, orderly way.

How does the process of scientific investigation work?
SCIENTISTS USE
A SERIES OF
PROCEDURES
CALLED THE
SCIENTIFIC
METHOD (ALSO
REFERRED TO AS
SCIENTIFIC
INQUIRY).

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
A SERIES OF
STEPS USED
BY
SCIENTISTS
TO SOLVE A
PROBLEM
OR ANSWER
A QUESTION

Steps of the Scientific
Method
2.
3.
4.
1.
5.
6.
ESTABLISH THE
PROBLEM (QUESTION)
FORM A HYPOTHESIS
TEST THE HYPOTHESIS
CLASSIFY AND ANALYZE
THE DATA
CHOOSE AND VERIFY THE
ANSWER
COMMUNICATE RESULTS

(1) Establish the problem
This process often begins with a problem or question about an observation.

Questions
Questions come from experiences that you have and from observations and inferences that you make.

Some questions cannot be investigated by science.
Does my dog eat more food than my cat?
Which makes a better pet – a cat or a dog?

(1) Establish the problem
problem: a question that may be answered by the use of the scientific method
The problem must:
• fall within the limitations of science
• be observable
• be measurable
• be repeatable

(1) Establish the problem
Establishing the problem involves background research and limiting
(defining) the problem.

reading books and talking to qualified people about the topic or the problem

(2) Form a hypothesis

A scientist will then gather evidence that will either support or disprove the hypothesis.
This is done one of two ways:
• by conducting an experiment
• by conducting a survey

This information (evidence) is called data. data: pieces of information; the information gathered from making observations.
(facts, figures, and other evidence gathered through observations)
Data must be measured and recorded accurately.

Quantitative data are: numbers - obtained by counting or measuring.
Qualitative data are: descriptions and involve characteristics that cannot be counted.

What’s in an Experiment?




INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
CONSTANTS
CONTROL GROUP

YOU WONDER IF USING
MIRACLE GROW ON A
PLANT REALLY CAUSES
IT TO GROW BETTER.

YOU WOULD SET UP A CONTROL
GROUP AND AN EXPERIMENTAL
GROUP TO PERFORM THE
EXPERIMENT AND GATHER DATA.

A FACTOR THAT AFFECTS THE
RESULT OF AN EXPERIMENT
(ALSO KNOWN AS
EXPERIMENTAL VARIABLE OR
MANIPULATED VARIABLE)
A VARIABLE IS SOMETHING IN
AN EXPERIMENT THAT CAN
CHANGE.
EACH EXPERIMENT SHOULD
HAVE ONLY ONE VARIABLE.

THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE
IS THE ONE OBSERVED
DURING THE EXPERIMENT.
THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE
IS THE DATA WE COLLECT
DURING THE EXPERIMENT.

Examples of the two types of variables:
Independent Variable
Hours Worked
Total Calories Consumed
Number of Assignments Completed
Dependent Variable
Amount of Money Earned
Total Weight Gain
Homework Grade

A S I MP LE AND EF F ECTI VE WAY TO
REP RES ENT DATA US I NG AN I NDEP ENDENT
AND DEP ENDENT VARI ABLE WOULD BE A
TWO - DI MENS I ONAL GRAP H. WHEN
GRAP HI NG I NF ORMATI ON, TRADI TI ONALLY
THE I NDEP ENDENT VARI ABLE I S P LACED
ON THE Y AXI S AND THE DEP ENDENT
VARI ABLE I S P LACED ON THE X AXI S .

Types of Groups in a Controlled Experiment
 Experimental
 Control

THE GROUP THAT IS
EXPOSED TO THE
EXPERIMENTAL
VARIABLE
The experimental group shows the effect of the variable that is being tested.

THE GROUP, IN AN EXPERIMENT,
THAT IS NOT EXPOSED TO THE
EXPERIMENTAL VARIABLE
A control is the standard to which the outcome of a test is compared.
The control group serves as the comparison. It is the same as the experiment group, except that the one variable that is being tested is removed.

How to Prevent Bias in an Investigation
•
Sampling
•
Repetition
•
Blind studies

A SET OF
OBSERVATIONS
THAT ARE MADE
TO DETERMINE
WHAT IS A
COMMON
PRACTICE IN A
PARTICULAR
AREA

(4) Classify and analyze the data

Classify often involves grouping or sorting the data (making a chart or table) which makes answers easier to find
Graphs can reveal patterns or trends in data.

(4) Classify and analyze the data analyzing : determining whether a set of data supports a hypothesis

(5) Choose and Verify the Answer

How do you verify and answer?
By gathering additional data through experiments or surveys.
The more data that is found to support the answer, the more likely it is that the answer is valid.

Proving vs Verifying
Proving and verifying are NOT the same. A scientist can never completely prove an answer.
Why? Because it is based on observations done by humans who make mistakes.