NATS 1840 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Inductive Reasoning, Rigour, Deductive Reasoning
29 Oct 2018
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A hypothesis is an untested statement proposed in answer to a scientific question, science: the systematic study of how and why nature works the way it does. Relies upon empirical methods to test possible explanations of observations. A rational process drawing upon two forms of reasoning: Deductive: logic, self-consistency, rigour, mathematic: the scientific method: To be a useful test of a hypothesis, an experiment must be: Many variables may influence the outcome of an experiment. Outcome of a controlled experiment depends on only one variable. Any difference in response between subject and control must be due to the single different variable: experimental uncertainty: The outcome of any measurement is characterized by: Accuracy: how close the outcome is to true value. Precision: the degree to which repeated measurements yield the same value. If error bar is smaller, sample is liable. Increasing sample size tends to reduce uncertainties random errors tend to cancel.
