USU 1350

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Goals of Science (4)
- Understand variation
- Understand cause and effect
- Predict future events (based on the above)
- Reproducible results
Scientific Method (8)
- Observations
- Inductive and Deductive
- Hypothesis
- Experiments
- Results
- Conclusion
- Models
- More questions
Who invented Scientific Method and why

Sir Francis Bacon - protocols to eliminate biases
Observation (3)
- Patterns exist
- Breaks in patterns exist
- Questions arise
Inductive Approach
- Empirical data leads to generalization
- (ex. the more I water grass the greener it becomes - more water equals greener...only correlation not cause and effect)
Deductive Approach
- General idea leads to prediction leads to experiment
- (ex. More water equals greener grass - prediction: different amounts of watter affect how green grass becomes. - experiment: Vary amount of water)
Experiment (2)
- attempts to control variables
- deliberately imposes some manipulation to observe a response (treatment)
Model (4)
- abstract representation of real
- simplify
- develop predictions
- must be validated
Types of Models
- Statistical
- Nonstatistical
Statistical

Mechanism and relationship between variables known
Nonstatistical (Analytical)

Mechanism and relationship between variables not known
Nonstatistical (simulation)
- Complex
- much computing
- focus on individuals
- takes into account variablity
Noise (6)
- sampling
- accuracy
- precision
- bias
- sampling error
- fineness
Sampling
- Census - true population
- Impossible to achieve
- estimate
- sample and then extrapolated to whole population
accuracy
- How close to true sample?
- Closer equals more accurate
Precision

How repeatable is sample
bias
- systematic distortion from truth
- can be identified
- can be corrected
sampling error
- random distortion from true
- cannot be identified
- cannot be corrected
fineness

appropriateness of technique

Author

Anonymous

24048

Card Set

USU 1350

Description

Scientific Method

Updated

2010-06-18T21:14:40Z

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