Scientific Method Vocabulary

A study
 of
 the
 data collected during an experiment, 

looking
 for 
patterns,
 errors
 and 
meaning.

A

A type of experiment in which information which may influence the participants of the experiment is withheld until after the experiment is complete.

B

A summary of the results of an experiment and a judgment stating whether the data collected during the experiment do or do not support the hypothesis. Also states the significance of the study and identifies future research.

C

The tendency to interpret new evidence as corroboration of one's existing beliefs or theories.

C

A collection of facts.

D

Any display of information in tabular form, with rows and/or columns named.

D

A variable whose value depends on that of another.

D

An experiment whose outcome may be predicted with certainty beforehand.

D

The theoretical mean value of a numerical experiment over many repetitions of the experiment; a measure of central tendency.

E

A reasoned, sensible, knowledge-informed explanation for why some phenomenon exists or occurs.

H

The variable that is changed or manipulated in a series of experiments, and whose value is not dependent on that of another.

I

A conclusion or judgment based on data.

I

A hypothesis that assumes the independent variable does not have an effect on the dependent variable in a scientific experiment.

N

The act of noting and recording some event; or the record of such noting.

O

The original notes of observations made during an experiment; also, the precise method for carrying out or reproducing a given experiment.

P

A research method where non-numerical characteristics or qualities of a phenomenon are noted and recorded.

Q

The noting and recording of data based on numbers and values.

Q

An interrogative identifying the problem to be solved, supplemented with an explanation of its purpose and the goal to be served.

Q

An experiment with more than one possible outcome.

R

A form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control.

R

The set of all possible outcomes of an experiment.

S

A method of discovering knowledge about the natural world based in making falsifiable predictions, testing them empirically, and developing theories that match known data from repeatable physical experimentation.

S

A statement about the nature of a population, often stated in terms of a population parameter.

S

One of a fixed number of repetitions of a test within an experiment.

T

A factor that changes or that can be changed in an experiment.

V