BIOL 1510 Lecture Notes - Dependent And Independent Variables
Document Summary
Biology 1510 aug. 22 scientific method8/22/2012 11:12:00 am. Can only say that the data supports your hypothesis. Can"t say that your hypothesis is correct: refutable. Experiment needs to have 2 or more outcomes. Predication leads to: if/then experiment, ex: if brightly colored snakes warn predators, then less will be mauled. This is known as the alternative hypothesis. One is brightly colored the other is not. Dependent variable: what you measure (response variable) Ex: model color (independent) vs number of attacks (dependent) Null expectation: you don"t find any differences. Ex: brightly colored snakes don"t deter predators. Controls: whatever the non-treated independent variable is, ex: the brown snake. Replication: by chance the opposite of your hypothesis could happen so: Repeat the experiment a lot (10,20,50 times) to show that the predator attacked colored models more often than by chance. Average results and show error bars to indicate variation in results. Ex: colds and flu are caused by viruses.
