BIO_SC 1010: Exam 1
16 Cards in this Set
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Science
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a process of acquiring knowledge about the natural world
-causes are based on the laws of chem and physics, which are uniform in space and time
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Scientific norms
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-skeptical --> require a lot of evidence
-work in the open and publish their findings
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Peer Review
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occurs where interpretation of the evidence can been challenged
-collaborative effort - new evidence--> scientists revise and update their conclusions
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Scientific Theory
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a general explanatory idea
-testable -allows predictions about future observations -open to revision does not imply that evidence is weak or tentative -explanations vs laws which are descriptions ex: theory of evolution- pairs of chromosomes separate during meiosis
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Broadranging
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pulls together diverse observations
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Scientific facts
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discrete bits of information based on consistency replicated observations
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Theory
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Scientific Law
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describes how nature acts under certain conditions without explaining why.
ex: Law of segregation - pairs of chromosomes separate during meiosis
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Ways of Knowing About the World (8)
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science
religion mathematics arts and culture philosophy intuition law politics
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Characteristics of Scientific Explanations
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-limited to questions about the physical world
-require evidence -must be testable -cumulative: build on prior knowledge -tentative: may be revised in light of new evidence
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Limits of Science
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-no "absolute truths"
-science deals only with natural, testable phenomena
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Science does not deal with...
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-supernatural
-subjective experience: philosophical, aesthetic issues
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How is scientific knowledge acquired?
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1.) An observation leads to a question
2.) Formulate a hypothesis 3.) Make predictions based that the hypothesis is correct -if then statement 4.) Test the predictions 5.) determine whether it supports or refutes the hypothesis 6.) Publish the results
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Hypothesis
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possible cause of a phenomenon
-phrased as an explanatory statement
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Critical Thinking Skills
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controlled experiments groups: that receive the same treatment as the experimental group
control groups: groups that receive the same treatment -enable to isolate the effects of individual variables
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Confounding variables
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In statistics, a confounding variable (also confounding factor, lurking variable, a confound, or confounder) is an extraneous variable in a statistical model that correlates (positively or negatively) with both the dependent variable and the independent variable.
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Study Guide: Final Exam