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Scientific Method and Experimental Design

The scientific method involves asking a question, researching background information, constructing a hypothesis, designing and conducting an experiment to test the hypothesis, analyzing the results, and reporting conclusions. Key components of an experimental design include treatment and control groups, identifying independent and dependent variables, and minimizing sources of variability through randomization and replication. The goal is to determine whether manipulating an independent variable causes a change in the dependent variable.

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39 views

Scientific Method and Experimental Design

The scientific method involves asking a question, researching background information, constructing a hypothesis, designing and conducting an experiment to test the hypothesis, analyzing the results, and reporting conclusions. Key components of an experimental design include treatment and control groups, identifying independent and dependent variables, and minimizing sources of variability through randomization and replication. The goal is to determine whether manipulating an independent variable causes a change in the dependent variable.

Uploaded by

AnnRubyAlcaideBlando
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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On as Sheet of Paper Define:

Control Group
Treatment Group
Variable
Independent Variable
Dependent Variable
Treatments
What are the step in the Scientific Process?
Scientific Method &
Experimental Design
Introduction to Scientific Processing
What is the Scientific
Method?
What is the Scientific Method?
 The process by which scientists try to construct an accurate
representation world
 It’s a PROCESS

 It has 6 steps
What are the steps?
What are the steps?
Ask a question
State the problem that you are
trying to find an answer to
What are the steps?
Ask a question
Research
Do your background research
Figure out what specifically you want to
test
What is your independent variable
What are the steps?
Ask a question
Research
Construct a Hypothesis
Formulate a hypothesis to explain the phenomena,
If the ...IV... is modified in this way, then this will
happen to the ...DV...
Used to predict the existence of other phenomena,
or predict the results of new observations
What are the steps?
 Ask a question
 Research
 Construct a Hypothesis
 Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment
 Experimental Design
 Leads to either the confirmation of the hypothesis or ruling out
of the hypothesis
What are the steps?
 Ask a question
 Research
 Construct a Hypothesis
 Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment
 Analyze your data and Draw conclusions
 Data can be presented graphically, through lab reports, mini-
posters, or power point presentations
What are the steps?
 Ask a question
 Research
 Construct a Hypothesis
 Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment
 Analyze your data and Draw conclusions
 Report your results
 Participate in a poster session
 Give a presentation at a conference
 Submit your findings to an established journal
What are the steps?
 Ask a question
 Research
 Construct a Hypothesis
 Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment
 Analyze your data and Draw conclusions
 Report your results
What are the steps?
 Ask a question
 Research
 Construct a Hypothesis
 Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment
 Analyze your data and Draw conclusions
 Report your results
Experimental Design
 Ask a question
 Research
 Construct a Hypothesis

Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment


 Analyze your data and Draw conclusions
 Report your results
What is a experimental Design?
What is a Experimental
Design?
An EXPERIMENT deliberately
imposes a treatment on a group of
objects or subjects in the interest of
observing the response
What is the difference between
Experimental Design and Observational
Study?
What is the difference between
experimental Design and observational
Study?
Observational Study
Involves collecting and analyzing data without
changing existing conditions
An EXPERIMENT deliberately imposes a
treatment on a group of objects or subjects
in the interest of observing the response
Experimental Design
 We are concerned with the analysis of data generated from
an experiment. It is wise to take time and effort to organize
the experiment properly to ensure that the right type of data,
and enough of it, is available to answer the questions of
interest as clearly and efficiently as possible. This process is
called experimental design.
What is a treatment
What is a treatment
 Treatment is something that researchers administer to
experimental units. For example, a corn field is divided into
four, each part is 'treated' with a different fertilizer to see
which produces the most corn
 Example:
 a corn field is divided into four, each part is 'treated' with a
different fertilizer to see which produces the most corn
 The specific questions that the experiment is intended to
answer must be clearly identified before carrying out the
experiment.
 We should also attempt to identify known or expected
sources of variability in the experimental units since one of
the main aims of a designed experiment is to reduce the
effect of these sources of variability on the answers to
questions of interest.
 That is, we design the experiment in order to improve the
precision of our answers.
What are sources of
variability?
What are sources of variability?
Bias
 EXPERIMENTAL BIAS
 the favoring of certain outcomes over others.
 PLACEBO EFFECT.
 Since many patients are confident that a treatment will
positively affect them, they react to a control treatment which
actually has no physical affect at all, such as a sugar pill.
What are ways to eliminate sources
of variability?
 DOUBLE-BLIND experiments
 are generally preferable. In this case, neither the experimenters
nor the subjects are aware of the subjects' group status. This
eliminates the possibility that the experimenters will treat the
placebo group differently from the treatment group, further
reducing experimental bias.

 PLACEBO EFFECT.
 it is important to include control, or placebo, groups in
experiments to evaluate the difference between the placebo
effect and the actual effect of the treatment.
What are ways to eliminate sources
of variability?
 RANDOMIZATION
 objects or individuals are randomly assigned (by chance) to an
experimental group. Using randomization is the most reliable
method of creating homogeneous treatment groups, without
involving any potential biases or judgments.

 REPLICATION
 the repetition of an experiment on a large group of subjects, is
required. If a treatment is truly effective, the long-term
averaging effect of replication will reflect its experimental
worth.
What are the Groups in an
Experiment?
What are the Groups in an
Experiment?
 Control
What are the Groups in an
Experiment?
 Control
 used as a baseline measure.
 identical to all other items or subjects that you are examining
with the exception that it does not receive the treatment or the
experimental manipulation that the treatment group receives.
 Example: when examining test tubes for catalytic reactions of
enzymes when added to a specific substrate, the control test
tube would be identical to all other test tubes with the exception
of lacking the enzyme.
What are the Groups in an
Experiment?
 Control
 Treatment Groups
What are the Groups in an
Experiment?
Control
Treatment Groups
The treatment group is the item or subject that is
manipulated. In our example, all other test tubes
containing enzyme would be part of the treatment
group.
What are
Variables?
What are Variables?
An element, feature, or factor that
is liable to vary or change.
What Types of
Variables are there?
What types of Variables are
there?
 Three Categories of Variables:
What types of Variables are
there?
Three Categories of Variables:
Independent
Dependent
Control
What types of Variables are
there?
Three Categories of Variables:
Independent
is what is varied during the experiment; it is what the
investigator thinks will affect the dependent variable.
For example, the investigator may want to study coffee
bean growth. possible independent variables include:
amount of fertilizer, type of fertilizer, temperature,
amount of H2O, day length, all of these may affect the
number of beans, weight of the plant, leaf area, etc.
What types of Variables are
there?
Three Categories of Variables:
Independent
Dependent
is what will be measured; it's what the investigator
thinks will be affected during the experiment.
For example, the investigator may want to study coffee
bean growth. Possible dependent variables include:
number of beans, weight of the plant, leaf surface area,
time to maturation, height of stem.
What types of Variables are
there?
 Three Categories of Variables:
 Independent
 Dependent

 Key : Since you need to know which factor is affecting the


dependent variable(s), there may be only one independent
variable. The investigator must choose the one that he/she
thinks is most important. But the scientist can measure as
many dependent variables as he/she thinks are important
indicators of coffee bean growth.
What types of Variables are
there?
 Three Categories of Variables:
 Independent
 Dependent
 Control
the variables held constant. Since the investigator wants to study
the effect of one particular independent variable, the possibility
that other factors are affecting the outcome must be eliminated.
For example, the above scientist must ascertain that no differences
in the type of fertilizer used exists, or amount of H2O, variations of
temperature, or day length exist.

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