Lab Exercise
The Scientific Method
Anthropology 1100 Section 005 Name Ayshia Terry
The following scenarios describe observed phenomena. Pick one (AND CIRCLE YOUR
SELCTION) of the scenarios and answer the questions that follow.
Scenario A (Human Biology)
Some human populations living at extremely high altitudes have larger lungs. At high elevations,
the oxygen concentration in the air is lower, and people in these areas are at risk of not getting
enough oxygen.
Scenario B (Forensic Anthropology)
In humans, the pelvic opening tends to be wider in females than it is in males.
Scenario C (Primatology)
Chimpanzee males from stronger alliances with one another than do chimpanzee females.
Research also shows that adult chimpanzee females often split up and go to different areas to
feed during the day while adult male chimpanzees spend more time together during the day.
Scenario D (Paleoanthropology)
Neanderthals successfully lived in extremely cold environments during the Ice Age in Europe.
Toward the end of the Ice Age and around the time that humans (Homo sapiens) moved into
Europe, Neanderthals quickly became extinct.
Answer each of the following questions regarding the Scenario above you selected:
1. Generate a hypothesis about what causes the observed phenomena in the scenario.
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Scenario B ( Forensic Anthropology)
Females tend to have wider pelvic openings than males because they have to birth offspring.
2. Describe the types or types of data (variable you need to test) you would ideally collect to test
this hypothesis.
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Pelvic size of females and males
Pelvic size of females during pregnancy, birth, and lifetime.
Pelvic size of men during their lifetime.
3. Describe what hypothetical data might support the hypothesis – for example, “The hypothesis
would be supported if we found data that indicated ___.”
The hypothesis would be supported if we found data that indicates females have wider pelvic
openings than males.
4. Describe what hypothetical data might cause you to reject the hypothesis – for example, “The
hypothesis would be rejected if we found data that indicated __.”
The hypothesis would be rejected if we found data that indicates males have wider pelvic
openings than females.
5. If you rejected the hypothesis, how would you refine and rewrite your hypothesis to account
for your findings and begin again?
If my hypothesis was rejected, I would rewrite my hypothesis to say males tend to have wider
pelvic openings than females.
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