Prep-U Chapter 1: Scientific Thinking – Flashcards

Which of the following statements cannot be evaluated by the scientific method?

If you toss a coin and it comes up tails on eight consecutive tosses, what is the likelihood it will come up tails on the ninth toss?

Which of the following is usually employed before the others by an investigator using the scientific method?

During an experiment to determine if people with more symmetrical body features have a lower incidence of disease, a researcher first measures the length of several bones in the subject's hands and arms. The device used to measure length does not display a readout of the measurement taken. Instead, a wire connects the measuring device to a computer that records the data. The computer monitor is kept out of sight of the subject and the researcher. Why is such an elaborate device used?

A useful scientific hypothesis is one that is_______________.

If your hypothesis is "Estrogens in sewage runoff turn fish into hermaphrodites," what is your null hypothesis?

A scientific theory is one that:

By applying scientific thinking, one should be able to:

Statistical methods make it possible to:

The set of analytical and mathematical tools designed to help researchers gain understanding from the data they gather is called:

Biology is to science as ________ is to ________.

Many would argue that both the theory of evolution and creationism are equally probable because, after all, they are both theories. What distinction (if any) is there between a scientific theory and a conceptual one that might lead you to disagree with this argument?

Once a scientist has formulated a hypothesis that generates a testable prediction, she will:

Which of the following questions is NOT one that can be answered by practicing biological literacy?

Which of the following factors would be important in testing whether robins liked to eat worms?

The purpose of the experimentation phase of the scientific method is to:

In the steps of the scientific method, what is the process where a scientist writes down tentative explanations or statements about what he/she expects might happen under certain conditions?

In a randomized, controlled, double-blind study:

A well-constructed hypothesis will:

In science, theories tend to be ______________________ than hypotheses.

Statistics are used by scientists mainly to determine:

"Engaging in aerobic activity three times each week will reduce cholesterol levels" is a:

Which of the following is the BEST description of a control group in an experiment? a) The control group and the test groups may have several differences between them. b) There can be more than one difference between the control group and test groups, but not several differences or else the experiment is invalid. c) Most experiments only require test groups. d) The control group is identical to each test group except for one variable. e) There should be more than one control group in any experiment.

Biological literacy is the ability to: a) use the process of scientific inquiry to think creatively about real-world issues that have a biological component. b) Assume that bacteria can infect you because your mother told you so. c) integrate ideas about biology into your decision making. d) All of the above are components of biological literacy. e) Only b) and c) are components of biological literacy.

A "controlled" experiment occurs when:

Empirical results:

What comes next in the scientific method after the completion of experimentation?

Science is self-correcting. This means that:

If you were to propose one additional step in the scientific method beyond the common last step of "conclusion," which of the following choices is a reasonable selection?

Using the graphic above as a guide, what is Step 3 in the scientific process?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT? a) Common sense is usually a good substitute for the scientific method when trying to understand the world. b) The scientific method can be used only to understand scientific phenomena. c) A hypothesis that does not generate a testable prediction is not useful. d) It is okay to use someone else's research if they have done work similar to what your hypothesis is. e) All of the above are correct.

Which of the following questions CANNOT be answered by the scientific method? a) Does hair that is shaved grow back coarser? b) Did the United States act appropriately when it invaded Iraq? c) Does chemical runoff give rise to hermaphrodite fish? d) Is eyewitness testimony in criminal proceedings reliable? e) All of the above can be answered by the scientific method.

If your hypothesis is rejected, then:

In controlled experiments: a) one variable is manipulated while others are held constant. b) all variables are independent of each other. c) all critical variables are manipulated. d) the independent variable is dependent on the dependent variable. e) all variables are held constant.

http://prep-u.com/view.php?i=190 From the graph shown above, the STRONGEST statement we can reasonably make is: a) there is a statistically significant negative correlation between having access to a textbook and scoring well on the exam. b) having access to a textbook caused students to scoring better on the exam. c) if we give textbooks to all the students who did not have textbooks, they all would score between 95% and 100% on the next exam. d) there is a positive correlation between having access to a textbook and scoring well on the exam. e) there is a statistically significant positive correlation between having access to a textbook and scoring well on the exam.

The scientific method is:

Which of the following commonly used terms comes closest to the meaning of what scientists call a "hypothesis"?

Which of the following statements is INCORRECT? a) Evolution explains the unity among organisms. b) Biology is of increasing relevance to our lives in a multitude of areas. c) Modern biology is in the midst of an explosion of new and exciting developments. d) Evolution accounts for the diversity of organisms. e) None of the above statements is INCORRECT.

Thinking scientifically relies on which of the following?

______________________ makes scientific-sounding claims that are not supported by trustworthy, methodical scientific studies.

To be useful in the scientific method, an observation must be:

http://prep-u.com/view.php?i=707 The pie charts above are related to the following analysis: In 2001, the journal Behavioral Ecology changed its policy for reviewing manuscripts submitted for publication. They changed their policy from a single-blind to a double-blind process. In an analysis of papers published between 1997 and 2005, it turned out that after 2001, when the double-blind policy took effect, there was a significant increase in the number of published papers in which the first author was a female. What does the green portion of the pie-chart represent?

Applying your knowledge of the scientific method, which of the following BEST explains the correct contrast between a hypothesis and theory? a) A hypothesis is made based on limited initial observations; a theory is made based on limited observations made later. b) A hypothesis is easy to make; theories are difficult to make. c) A hypothesis attempts to explain natural phenomenon and can be tested through experimentation; a theory attempts to summarize a large expanse of natural phenomenon and has already been tested thoroughly without contradictory results. d) A hypothesis leads scientists to develop experiments; a theory leads scientists to form opinions. e) A hypothesis can not be disproven through experiment; a theory can be disproven through experiments.

Drug companies sometimes hire independent research laboratories to evaluate whether a drug they've discovered is effective or not in treating an illness. Companies MOST LIKELY do this to:

In a well-designed experiment: a) the prediction will be highly probable if the explanation is correct. b) the prediction will be highly improbable if the explanation is incorrect. c) two researchers must participate, one to make it a blind study and the other to make it a double-blind study. d) the prediction will most likely be true. e) both a) and b) are correct.

Which of the following questions would be LEAST helped by application of the scientific method? a) comparing the effectiveness of two potential antibiotics b) evaluating the relationship between violence in videogames and criminal behavior in teens c) developing more effective high school curricula d) formulating public policy on euthanasia e) none of the above would be helped.

In blind experimental design: a) a placebo is used. b) the experimental subjects do not know which (if any) treatment they are receiving. c) the experimenter does not influence the experiment's outcome. d) the experimenter does not know which (if any) treatment the subjects are receiving. e) the subjects are randomly assigned into experimental and control groups.

Which of the following qualifies as a randomized, double-blind, controlled experimental study? a) 50 men and women of various ages are given a candy bar with real sugar; 50 men and women of various ages are given a candy bar with artificial sweetener; 50 men and women of various ages get no candy bar; the people are then observed for signs of sleepiness; the subjects know which type of candy they ate but the observing scientist does not. b) 50 men and women of various ages are given a candy bar with real sugar; 50 men and women of various ages are given a candy bar with artificial sweetener; 50 men and women of various ages get no candy bar; the people are then observed for signs of sleepiness; neither the scientist nor the observer nor the subjects know what type of candy bar was eaten, if any. c) 50 men (who are 35 years old) are given a candy bar with real sugar; 50 women (who are 35 years old) are given a candy bar with artificial sweetener; 50 men and women (who are 35 years old) get no candy bar; the people are then observed for signs of sleepiness; neither the scientist nor the observer knows what type of candy bar the subjects ate, if any. d) 50 men and women of various ages are given a candy bar with real sugar; the people are then observed for signs of sleepiness; the scientist knows which candy bar type the people ate, but the subjects don't know this. e) 50 men and women of various ages are given a candy bar with real sugar; 50 men and women of various ages are given a candy bar with artificial sweetener; 50 men and women of various ages get no candy bar; the people are then observed for signs of sleepiness; the scientist knows which people ate what but the subjects don't know this.

What is meant by the phrase "hierarchical organization of life"? a) The "hierarchical organization of life" means that the chemical, cellular, and energetic aspects of life are most important. b) The "hierarchical organization of life" refers to the fact that life is organized on many levels within individual organisms, including atoms, cells, tissues, and organs. c) The "hierarchical organization of life" means that in the larger world, organisms themselves are organized into many levels: populations, communities, and the ecosystems within the biosphere. d) The "hierarchical organization of life" means the same thing as "the scientific method." e) Together, b) and c) combine to describe what is meant by the phrase "hierarchical organization of life."

Empirical knowledge is knowledge that is based on experience and observation. Which of the following are characteristics of reliable empirical data? a) It is rational. b) It is testable. c) It is repeatable. d) All of the above are correct. e) Only b) and c) are correct.

The placebo effect: a) demonstrates that most scientific studies cannot be replicated. b) reveals that sugar pills are generally as effective as actual medications in fighting illness. c) is the frequently observed, poorly understood, phenomenon that people tend to respond favorably to any treatment. d) reveals that experimental treatments cannot be proven as effective. e) is when the control group is isolated from other people.

Which of the following questions is NOT one that can be answered by practicing biological literacy? a) What does it mean to say a person is allergic to bee stings? b) Is a diet without any carbohydrates (sugars and starches) healthy for you? c) What causes global climate change? d) Should you take an aspirin when you have a fever? e) All of the questions above can be answered through practicing biological literacy.

http://prep-u.com/view.php?i=770 The pie charts above are related to the following analysis: In 2001, the journal Behavioral Ecology changed its policy for reviewing manuscripts submitted for publication. They changed their policy from a single-blind to a double-blind process. In an analysis of papers published between 1997 and 2005, it turned out that after 2001, when the double-blind policy took effect, there was a significant increase in the number of published papers in which the first author was a female. What can you conclude from this figure?

Which of the following is NOT an example of a theory? a) evolution b) relativity c) electromagnetism d) gravity e) All of the above are considered to be theories.

Statistics are used by scientists mainly to determine: a) whether differences in results between control and treatment groups is significant and important. b) whether or not there was a bias in the study. c) whether two numbers are the same or not. d) whether differences in results between control and treatment groups is theoretical. e) whether a study needs to be repeated.

One of your classmates is convinced that a certain herbal remedy effectively treats the common cold. He assures you that it has always worked for him. You have recently contracted a cold and you figure that it couldn't hurt to try this remedy. After one week of taking the herbal remedy, you find that it has not lessened your symptoms or helped you recover faster. What is the likely reason you did not experience the same effectiveness as your classmate?

Anecdotal evidence: a) is a necessary part of the scientific method. b) is a more efficient method for understanding the world becuase people tell what they saw. c) can appear to reveal links between two phenomena that do not actually exist. d) is often the only way to prove important causal links between two phenomena. e) tends to be more reliable than data based on observations of large numbers of diverse individuals.

Which of the following is a limitation on scientific research? a) Scientists have to reduce complex phenomena to simple testable hypotheses. b) Scientific researchers have ethical and legal responsibilities that can constrain their work. c) It is difficult for scientists to fully understand their own motivations and subjective biases given the complexity of human behavior. d) Scientific research cannot answer value-based problems. e) All of the above are limitations on scientific research.

Scientific data: a) cannot be collected in a completely unbiased way. b) are used to support or refute a hypothesis. c) can be generalized to a much larger population. d) are always true. e) All of the above are true.

A "controlled" experiment occurs when: a) participants are randomly distributed into treatment or control groups. b) the control group receives nothing. c) participants are randomly sampled from various socio-demographic backgrounds, increasing the generalizability of the results. d) groups are kept as similar as possible and are treated identically, except for the variable of interest. e) neither the researcher nor the participant know whether the participant is in the treatment or control group.

Which of the following statements could NOT arise from making scientific observations? a) Human twins have exactly the same DNA. b) The hair on my legs grew to a length of 1 cm in 3 days after shaving if off. c) The quartz crystal I had in my pocket today increased the likelihood of life being discovered on other planets by ten times. d) There are tiny creatures visible under a microscope that can't be seen by the naked eye. e) I sneezed two separate times today, and both times I sneezed three sneezes in a row.

Two important unifying themes in biology are that 1) life is organized on many levels, and that 2): a) animals with bigger brains are capable of greater thought. b) living things can die. c) the genetic characteristics of individuals in a population change over time. d) humans are more evolved and superior than bacteria. e) all living things can move, breathe, and communicate.

Superstitions are: a) proof that the scientific method is not perfect. b) true beliefs that have yet to be fully understood. c) valuable during the observation phase of the scientific method but tend to impede the data gathering and quantitative analysis phases of the scientific method. d) held by some humans but not by any non-human species. e) irrational beliefs that actions not logically related to a course of events influence its outcome.

When a chewing gum manufacturer makes the claim, "Four out of five dentists surveyed recommend sugarless gum for their patients that chew gum," how many dentists need have been surveyed for the statement to be factually accurate?

Dr. Foster is studying the effectiveness of a new memory-boosting diet supplement. He posts an ad for subjects at two local colleges. He assigns 55 students from college A to the treatment group (daily doses of the diet supplement) and 60 students from college B (no supplement) to the control group. After 6 months of the study, Dr. Foster gives all of the students in each group a memory test. The treatment group scores an average of 20 points higher than the control group (a significant difference). Based on these findings Dr. Foster declares that the memory-boosting supplement helps increase your memory. Which of the following would improve the design of the Dr. Foster's study? a) Administer the supplement for a longer period of time. b) Randomly assign students to one of the two conditions (treatment or control). c) Make the number of students in both groups the same. d) Give the control group a placebo supplement. e) Both b) and d) would improve the study.

If a researcher uses the same experimental setup as another study to collect data, but uses different research subjects, it is considered: a) a two-tailed test of the hypothesis. b) extrapolation. c) confounded. d) exploration. e) replication.

What is the meaning of the phrase "correlation does not imply causation"? a) When a change in one variable causes a change in another variable, the two variables are not necessarily related to each other in any way. b) Just because two variables vary in a similar pattern does not mean that changing one variable causes a change in the other. c) Just because two variables vary in a similar pattern does not mean that they have any relationship to each other. d) It is not possible to prove the cause of any naturally occurring phenomenon. e) It is not possible to demonstrate a correlation between two variables.

Which of the following techniques is used to help reduce experimenter bias? a) keep the experimenter blind to the conditions in an experiment or its purpose b) be aware of potential placebo effects c) create experiments that are reproducible and repeatable d) control extraneous variables as much as possible e) include a control group in your experiment

Some have claimed that the herb echinacea reduces the likelihood of catching the common cold. In many hundreds of studies, this claim has been refuted. Assuming these studies were properly conducted, which of the following is a scientifically responsible claim that an echinacea advocate could make in support of further research on this subject. a) The effective dosage of echinacea was outside the range of the dosages given in the scientific studies. b) The investigators were growing echinacea and reported reduced colds in their customers. c) The effective length of time needed for taking echinacea is longer than that provided in any of the scientific studies. d) All of the above are scientifically responsible claims that an echinacea advocate could make in support of further research on this subject. e) Only a) and c) scientifically responsible claims that an echinacea advocate could make in support of further research on this subject.

If your hypothesis is "Hair that is shaved grows back coarser and darker," what is your null hypothesis? a) There is no difference in the color of hair that is shaved relative to hair that is not shaved. b) Hair that is taken off with a cream depilatory grows back coarser and darker. c) There is no difference in the coarseness or color of hair that is shaved relative to hair that is not shaved. d) Hair that is shaved grows back finer and lighter. e) There is no difference in the coarseness of hair that is shaved relative to hair that is not shaved.

A relationship that has been established based on a large amount of observational and experimental data is: a) a theory. b) a conjecture. c) an assumption. d) a fact. e) a hypothesis.

A group of individuals in a scientific study have lemon juice sprayed in their armpits, rather than "NoSweat" antiperspirant, in an experimental study to determine whether the brand "NoSweat" is more effective than other brands. This group is a ________________ group in this study.

In an experimental study to determine whether the brand "NoSweat" is more effective than other brands, a group of individuals have lemon juice sprayed in their armpits, rather than "NoSweat" antiperspirant. The lemon juice group is also known as: a) the test group. b) the blind group. c) the experimental group. d) the control group. e) the independent group.

The raw materials of science are: a) atoms. b) predictions. c) theories. d) observations. e) hypotheses.

Which of the following studies has the LEAST to do with legitimate scientific investigation? a) a study to examine the relationship between the number of hours spent studying and student test scores b) a study to examine the effect of using seventh grade reading material on fifth grade students' reading comprehension c) a study to determine whether air quality in a school effects student performance d) a study to understand what the effect of being a part of a high school championship baseball team has on college academic performance e) a study to determine whether evolutionary biology should be taught in elementary parochial schools

Which of the following statements is NOT a scientific theory? a) All living things are made of cells. b) Life on earth developed from simple biological compounds. c) Objects fall to the ground when dropped from a height. d) The genetic characteristics of individuals in a population change over time, over several generations e) If you talk about biology to your friends, you will probably do better on a biology test.

Scientific theories do not represent speculations or guesses about the natural world. Rather they are hypotheses—proposed explanations for natural phenomena—that have been: a) validated by the International Board of Scientific Theories. b) so strongly and persuasively supported by empirical observation that the scientific community views them as unlikely to be altered by new evidence. c) found to be statistically significant. d) verified by at least one critical experiment. e) None of the above

All of the following are elements of biological literacy EXCEPT: a) the ability to communicate with others about issues having a biological component. b) the ability to integrate thoughts about issues having a biological component into your decision-making. c) the ability to use the process of scientific inquiry to think creatively about real-world issues having a biological component. d) All of the above are elements of biological literacy. e) Only a) and b) are correct

All of the following are branches of science EXCEPT: a) zoology. b) logic. c) astronomy. d) physics. e) All of the above are branches of science.

Empirical results: a) must support the tested hypothesis. b) are based on observation. c) are generated by theories. d) rely on deductive reasoning. e) cannot be replicated.

You notice that over the past month, many students have started to carry a new style of backpack. You think to yourself, "maybe the bookstore recently started selling this new style of backpack." The statement in quotation marks is: a) an experiment. b) an example of an experimental question. c) a type of control. d) an example of a hypothesis. e) a type of observation.

After generating a hypothesis, a scientist next: a) does an experiment. b) collects data. c) formulates a theory. d) makes a prediction. e) designs a series of tests.

Which of the following constitutes the BEST reason for using control groups in experimental design? a) Including a control group makes it easier to demonstrate the steps of the experiment that were performed incorrectly. b) Including a control group ensures that an experiment will be repeatable. c) Including a control group makes it easier to test the effects of multiple variables. d) Including a control group makes it more likely that the results obtained in the experiment are due to differences in only one variable. e) Including a control group makes it easier for the investigator to perform statistical analyses.