principles of scientific inquiry Flashcards
What are the types of scientific inquiry?
- Falsification
- deduction
- induction
What is falsification?
When a theory is tested by attempting to prove it false, therefore, if it survives the testing then it has been falsified
What is falsification in terms of peer review?
Someone has manipulated findings to suit their own aims
What is deduction?
Beginning with a theory and then conducting an experiment based on the theory
What is induction?
Having data already and then analysing it and after conducting further research to compose a theory
What is the order of deduction?
theory –> evidence
What is the order of induction?
evidence –> theory
What is a finding?
a result from a study
What are key characteristics of a finding?
- past tense
- quantitative data
- state what was generally found with supporting data
How are findings typically displayed in an exam?
- values from a table
- descriptive statistics
- mean, mode, median, range
- an outlier
- lowest and highest values
- correlation ( + or - )
What is an example finding?
It was found that participants recalled more words than images - mean words recalled = 10 ; mean images recalled = 9
What is a conclusion?
what we can infer from the findings (what findings mean in relation to the aim of the study)
What are key characteristics of a conclusion?
- present tense
- “which suggests”
What is an example of a conclusion?
It can be concluded that people generally have a better memory for words than images, which suggests that words are easier to remember than images.
