Name:________________________________ Date:______________ Block:_________
Chapter 1, Lesson 2 Notes
What attitudes help you scientifically?
 An attitude is a state of mind. Scientists possess certain important attitudes:
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Curiosity
Honesty
Creativity
Open-mindedness
Skepticism
Ethics
Awareness of Bias
Curiosity, Honesty, and Creativity
 Curiosity makes scientists want to
learn more about the topics they
study.
 Good scientists always report their
observations and results truthfully,
especially when a scientist’s results
go against old ideas or predictions.
 Creativity means coming up with
inventive ways to solve problems
or produce new things.
Open-mindedness and Skepticism
 Scientists need to be openminded, or capable of accepting
new and different ideas.
 Scientists should also have
skepticism.
 Skepticism: having an attitude of
doubt.
 Skepticism keeps scientists from
accepting ideas that may be false.
Name:________________________________ Date:______________ Block:_________
Ethics
Awareness of Bias
 Scientists need a strong sense of
ethics.
 Ethics: the rules that enable
people to know right and wrong.
 Scientists must consider all the
effects their research may have on
people and the environment.
 They make decisions only after
considering the risks and benefits
to living things or the
environment.
 What scientists expect to find can
influence, or bias, what they
observe and how they interpret
observations.
 There are THREE types of bias:
1. Personal bias: comes from a
person’s like and dislikes
2. Cultural bias: comes from
the culture where the
person grew up
3. Experimental bias: a mistake
in the design of an
experiment that makes a
particular result more likely.
Name:________________________________ Date:______________ Block:_________
Chapter 1, Lesson 2 (cont’d)
What is scientific reasoning?
 Scientific reasoning requires a logical way of thinking based on gathering and
evaluating evidence.
 There are two types of scientific reasoning:
1. Deductive reasoning
2. Inductive reasoning
Objective
 Scientific reasoning relies on gathering and evaluating evidence, which means it is
objective reasoning.
 Objective: Describes the act of decision-making or drawing conclusions based on
available evidence.
VS.
Subjective
 The opposite is being subjective.
 Subjective: means that personal feelings have entered into a decision or
conclusion.
 Personal opinions, values, and tastes are subjective because they are based on
feelings.
Name:________________________________ Date:______________ Block:_________
Chapter 1, Lesson 2 Notes (cont’d)
Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
Deductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
 Deductive reasoning: a way to
explain things by starting with a
general idea and then applying the
idea to a specific observation.
 Example:
1. Earthquakes should happen
mostly where the plates meet.
2. California has many
earthquakes.
3. California must be near a
place where plates meet.
 The opposite of deductive
reasoning.
 Inductive reasoning: uses specific
observations to make
generalizations.
 Scientists frequently use inductive
reasoning. They collect data and
then reach a conclusion based on
the data.
Faulty Reasoning
 Scientists must be careful not to use
faulty reasoning, because it can lead
to faulty conclusions
 Drawing conclusions based on too
little data might lead to a wrong
general idea.