Module 5
The independent, dependent, and controlled variables.
What are the three types of variables that must be identified in a valid scientific investigation?
X-ray diffraction.
What technology was used by Rosalind Franklin to reveal the structure of DNA?
Iridology.
What is an example of a pseudoscience that claims health can be diagnosed by patterns in the iris of the eye?
Vaccination programs.
What is an example of a scientific advancement that has greatly improved world health?
Repeating the experiment under the same conditions.
What ensures the reliability of scientific results?
Spencer observed that a chocolate bar melted in his pocket while working with radar equipment.
What observation led to the development of the microwave oven?
Peer review.
What process helps ensure that scientific claims are scrutinised for validity before being published?
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ knowledge of medicinal plants.
What is an example of cultural knowledge that has contributed to scientific understanding and the development of new medicines?
Accuracy refers to how close results are to the true value, while validity refers to whether the investigation actually tests the hypothesis.
What is the difference between accuracy and validity in a scientific investigation?
Doppler used sound wave observations to explain the change in pitch of moving sources, now called the Doppler effect.
Which scientist collected data that became fundamental to medical imaging technologies such as ultrasound?
The Hawthorne effect.
What is the name for the phenomenon where people change their behaviour because they know they are being observed?
Scientific research has led to major public health improvements but also caused problems such as environmental damage and nuclear accidents.
What is an example of how scientific research can have both positive and negative impacts on human progress?
Anomalous results should be identified, explained, and either repeated or excluded if justified.
What should scientists do when they encounter outliers in their data?
Technology and science are interdependent—new technologies allow new scientific discoveries, and new science leads to the invention of new technologies.
What is the relationship between science and technology in the context of scientific investigations?
McBride’s falsified research linking the drug Debendox to birth defects.
What is a well-known example of fraudulent research uncovered through re-examination of original data?
Public trust in science can decline when research is misrepresented in the media or when unethical practices occur.
What factor can reduce the public image of science?
A well-structured scientific report includes an abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, and conclusion.
What are the essential sections of a scientific report that allow replication and peer evaluation of an investigation?
Technologies can introduce limitations such as systematic errors, detection limits, or data misinterpretation, but also improve accuracy, sensitivity, and reliability.
How can technology both enhance and limit the outcomes of scientific investigations?
A scientific claim must be based on empirical evidence, be testable and reproducible, and be free from bias or conflicts of interest.
What criteria must be met for a claim to be considered scientific rather than pseudoscientific?
Governments, ethics committees, and international agreements regulate scientific research to ensure ethical practice and public safety.
What systems are in place to regulate the use and application of scientific research?