- "An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried."
The process of testing and refining scientific hypotheses through experimentation.
Hypothesis: A testable explanation for a phenomenon, often based on observations and prior knowledge.
Variables: The factors that are being manipulated, observed, or measured in an experiment.
Control group: The group that is not subjected to the experimental treatment, used as a basis of comparison with the experimental group.
Experimental group: The group that is subjected to the variable being tested.
Independent variable: The variable that is manipulated in the experiment.
Dependent variable: The variable that is being observed or measured in response to the independent variable.
Randomization: The use of chance to allocate participants to the control and experimental groups to minimize the effects of bias.
Double-blind studies: An experiment in which neither the participants nor the researchers know which group is receiving the treatment.
Placebo effect: The phenomenon where subjects' expectations about the treatment cause them to experience a perceived improvement or outcome.
Replication: The idea that an experiment should be repeated to ensure its validity and reliability.
Sampling: The selection of a representative group of participants from a larger population.
Ethics: The principles of good conduct that govern scientific research, including informed consent, confidentiality, and minimizing harm to participants.
Statistical analysis: The use of mathematical tools to analyze and interpret the data collected in a study.
Peer review: The process of submitting research to other experts in the field for critique and validation.
Theory: An explanation or model that describes the relationships between variables in an experiment or phenomenon.
Blind study: This method involves both the experimenter and participants not knowing which group is receiving the treatment and which is receiving the placebo.
Double-blind study: Similar to blind study, but even the experimenter does not know which group is receiving the treatment and which is receiving the placebo.
Randomized controlled trial: Participants are randomly assigned to either the treatment or control group, and their outcomes are compared.
Case-control study: This method involves comparing cases with a particular outcome to those who do not have that outcome, then determine the factors that may have contributed to the outcome.
Cross-sectional study: A study done at one point in time, where the relationship between variables is evaluated.
Longitudinal study: A study done over a long period of time to analyze the changes in variables over time.
Natural experiment: This study involves comparing naturally occurring events, rather than adjusting variables in a lab setting.
Quasi-experimental study: A study that involves participants who are not randomly assigned to groups, but still have similar characteristics.
Field experiment: A study conducted in a natural setting, rather than a lab setting.
Animal experimentation: Using animals to test hypotheses in a scientific experiment.
- "Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated."
- "Experiments vary greatly in goal and scale but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results."
- "Experiments and other types of hands-on activities are very important to student learning in the science classroom. Experiments can raise test scores and help a student become more engaged and interested in the material they are learning, especially when used over time."
- "A child may carry out basic experiments to understand how things fall to the ground, while teams of scientists may take years of systematic investigation to advance their understanding of a phenomenon."
- "Uses of experiments vary considerably between the natural and human sciences."
- "Experiments typically include controls, which are designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the single independent variable."
- "This increases the reliability of the results, often through a comparison between control measurements and the other measurements."
- "Scientific controls are a part of the scientific method."
- "In such an experiment, if all controls work as expected, it is possible to conclude that the experiment works as intended, and that results are due to the effect of the tested variables."
- "Experiments can vary from personal and informal natural comparisons (e.g. tasting a range of chocolates to find a favorite) to highly controlled (e.g. tests requiring complex apparatus overseen by many scientists that hope to discover information about subatomic particles)."
- "Teams of scientists may take years of systematic investigation to advance their understanding of a phenomenon."
- "An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis."
- "Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated."
- "Experiments can raise test scores and help a student become more engaged and interested in the material they are learning, especially when used over time."
- "Ideally, all variables in an experiment are controlled (accounted for by the control measurements) and none are uncontrolled."
- "Tests requiring complex apparatus overseen by many scientists that hope to discover information about subatomic particles."
- "Experiments typically include controls, which are designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the single independent variable."
- "Scientific controls are a part of the scientific method."
- "Ideally, all variables in an experiment are controlled (accounted for by the control measurements) and none are uncontrolled."