Scientific Method

1. Scientific Method Biotechnology II

2. Scientific Method • Process by which scientists have collectively agreed to conduct research • Tries to remove personal bias and prejudice • The conclusion should hold up irrespective of state of mind, religious persuasion, or personal bias

3. Scientific Inquiry • Purpose: why the experiment is being done or what have you observed • Research • Hypothesis: your educated guess about what the outcome will be • Experiment: design with variables • Analysis • Conclusion

4. Flow Diagram

5. Testing your Hypothesis • Testing is done to prove or disprove the hypothesis • Experiments may test the theory directly or they may test for consequences derived from the theory using math and logic • Example: rate of radioactive decay • They can observational or experimental • All theories must be able to be tested or they do not qualify as scientific theories

6. Errors in Experiments • Random Errors: errors which have equal probability of producing a higher or lower result • Instrument error is an example • Non Random Errors: systematic error which causes a bias in one direction in the results • Operator error such as not using a blank in a spectrophotometer will skew all of your data in one direction • Sources of Error go in your Results section of your research paper.

7. Procedure for Scientific Experiment • Plan • Write a step by step plan of what you will do • Start with your research question, hypothesis and material list • Visualize yourself doing it while you write • Research Question: write it using independent and dependent variables. • What effect does (independent) have on (dependent)

8. Procedure for Scientific Experiment • Hypothesis • Guess what you think the result will be. WRITE it down. Explain why. • Materials: describe in detail all the materials required including quantities

9. Procedure for Scientific Experiment • Detailed Experimental Plan • Setup of materials and equipment • Independent variable – explain exactly what you will change and how you will change it • Constant – explain exactly how you kept all other variables constant • Controls – what standard or control will you use to determine if changes have occurred. Control groups are untreated if this is a drug experiment. • Dependent variable – explain exactly what will probably change because you changed the independent variable • Trials – explain how many times you will conduct this experiment

10. Procedure for Scientific Experiment • Detailed Experimental Plan • Data Chart – create a chart to record results. You need at least 3 trials for each change of the independent variable. • Do the Experiment – EXACTLY as planned. You MUST record any changes and REWRITE your plan so others can follow what you did EXACTLY • Repeated Trials – repeat your work to verify results • Log – record everything in your lab notebook • Pictures – draw pictures or take pictures where possible

11. Procedure for Scientific Experiment • Conclusion • Results with Explanation and Evidence Summary – summarize your data; do you accept or reject your hypothesis and why? • Possible Errors – what could have affected your results? • Practical Applications – how can your conclusion apply to the real world?

12. Writing a Scientific Paper • Sections in a scientific paper • Introduction • Materials and Methods • Results • Discussions • Literature cited

13. Scientific Method Lab • Sunshine.chpc.utah.edu/labs/scientificmethod/sci_method_main.html • This is an online interactive lab which is a good overview and would be worthwhile reviewing as a class after the basic lecture material. • www.brightminds.uq.edu.au/thelab/scientific_method.html • Fermentation lab could be done