Scientific Method

GNED 1101-Fall 2017

 Scientific method
 organized process that scientists use to investigate
scenarios/problems and to find solutions
 Steps of the scientific method:
1. Purpose/ Question
2. Observation
3. Hypothesis
4. Design an experiment
5. Examining and interpreting
 Conclusion
6. Evaluating the results
7. Peer review (evaluation, publication): a process by which a
scholarly work is checked by a group of experts in the same
field before it is published
 Scientific Method Example:
 scenario: need to find whether the colour of a light bulb affect
the growth of grass seeds

 Question or problem: Does the colour of a light bulb affect the

growth of grass seeds?

 Observation
 Find out information, collecting data
 ask questions like: how or why?

adapted from sciencebob.com

 Hypothesis or “educated guess”: try to predict the answer to
the problem
 e.g. “if I grow grass seeds under green light bulbs, then
they should grow faster than grass seeds growing under
red lights bulbs”
 Grass seeds under green light grow faster than under
red light

 Designing an experiment: Design an experiment to test your

hypothesis / to find out if your hypothesis is correct
 e.g. experiment: set up grass seeds under green light and
red light and observe each for a couple of weeks

 Control experiment: set up grass seeds under white light

adapted from sciencebob.com
 Examining and interpreting
 record the observations / collecting data
 review the data and drawing a conclusion from the results:
 e.g.whether the grass under green light grew faster or
slower than under red light

 Evaluating the results: check to see if your hypothesis is

correct
 e.g if the grass under green light bulb grew faster you
proved your hypothesis, if not your hypothesis is wrong
 Independent variable: variable that is changed in a scientific
experiment or a variable whose variation does not depend on
that of another
 e.g. different colours of light bulbs

 Dependent variable: A dependent variable is the variable being

tested in a scientific experiment or this is what occurs in
response to the changing independent variable
 e.g. how much grass seeds grow
 Control experiment: control experiment where you do not
include the independent variable
 e.g. grass growing under regular white light bulb
a control allows you to compare your results
 A confounding variable is a variable, other than the
independent variable that you're interested in, that may
affect the dependent variable.

 If we are researching whether lack of exercise leads to weight

gain

 Independent variable: lack of exercise

 Dependent variable: weight gain
 Confounding variables : how much people eat, age, sex
etc.
 Positive control: A positive control is not exposed to the experimental
treatment but that is exposed to some other treatment that is known
to produce the desired effect of the experiment
 Negative control: A negative control is not exposed to the
experimental treatment or to any other treatment that is expected to
have the desired effect of the experiment
Problem: to find whether lettuce carry a certain type bacteria
 Set up an experiment: wipe lettuce leaves with a swab, wipe the
swab on a bacterial growth plate, incubate the plate, and see
what grows on the plate
 Negative control: wipe a sterile swab on the growth plate
 You would not expect to see any growth on the plate
 Positive control: wipe an existing colony of bacteria on the
growth plate
 You would expect to see bacterial growth on the plate
http://undsci.berkeley.edu/faqs.php
EXAMPLE:
Experiment to determine if a new drug has an impact on
lowering blood pressure. Test subjects with high blood pressure
are given a pill and percentage of patients whose blood
pressure decreased is measured.

EXPERIMENTAL GROUP: new drug is given to the test subjects

NEGATIVE CONTROL GROUP:

Test subjects are untreated (not given the new drug) or given a
placebo pill.

POSTIVE CONTROL GROUP:

Test subjects are given a drug that is already in the
market and known to reduce blood pressure.
Scientific study:

Research: Prevalence of cancer-causing radon gas in Calgary