Morales, John Precious Rodmel
PREPARATION:
1. What are the steps in the Scientific Method?
Steps of the Scientific Method
1. Ask a Question
The scientific method starts when you ask a question about something that you observe:
How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where?
For a science fair project some teachers require that the question be something you can
measure, preferably with a number.
2. Do Background Research
Rather than starting from scratch in putting together a plan for answering your question, you
want to be a savvy scientist using library and Internet research to help you find the best way to
do things and ensure that you don't repeat mistakes from the past.
3. Construct a Hypothesis
A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work. It is an attempt to answer your
question with an explanation that can be tested. A good hypothesis allows you to then make a
prediction:
"If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen."
State both your hypothesis and the resulting prediction you will be testing. Predictions must be
easy to measure.
4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
Your experiment tests whether your prediction is accurate and thus your hypothesis is
supported or not. It is important for your experiment to be a fair test. You conduct a fair test by
making sure that you change only one factor at a time while keeping all other conditions the
same.
You should also repeat your experiments several times to make sure that the first results
weren't just an accident.
5. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Once your experiment is complete, you collect your measurements and analyze them to see if
they support your hypothesis or not.
Scientists often find that their predictions were not accurate and their hypothesis was not
supported, and in such cases they will communicate the results of their experiment and then go
back and construct a new hypothesis and prediction based on the information they learned
during their experiment. This starts much of the process of the scientific method over again.
Even if they find that their hypothesis was supported, they may want to test it again in a new
way.
6. Communicate Your Results
To complete your science fair project you will communicate your results to others in a final
report and/or a display board. Professional scientists do almost exactly the same thing by
publishing their final report in a scientific journal or by presenting their results on a poster or
during a talk at a scientific meeting. In a science fair, judges are interested in your findings
regardless of whether or not they support your original hypothesis.
2. What is the difference between observation and inference?
BASIS FOR OBSERVATION INFERENCE
COMPARISON
Meaning Observation means the act of carefully Inference is termed as an act of deriving
watching or examining a person or rational conclusion from known facts or
object when something is happening. circumstances.
Nature Objective Subjective
What is it? It is what one perceives. It is an explanation or assumption of
what one has perceived
Based on Hands-on experience Second hand information
Involves Collection of information without Taking decision about the collected
questioning respondents information.
Implies Attentively monitoring of the subject Logically deducing a conclusion by
under study. reasoning.
3. Give 5 examples of observations.
· A scientist looking at a chemical reaction in an experiment
· A doctor watching a patient after administering an injection
· An astronomer looking at the night sky and recording data regarding the movement
and brightness of the objects he sees
· A zoologist watching lions in a den after prey is introduced to determine the swiftness
of the animals' response
· Air flight controllers watching their monitors for airplane movements and locations
4. Give 5 examples of inferences.
· Sally arrives at home at 4:30 and knows that her mother does not get off of work until
5. Sally also sees that the lights are off in their house. Sally can infer that her mother
is not yet home.
· Sherry's toddler is in bed upstairs. She hears a bang and crying. Sherry can infer
that her toddler is hurt or scared.
· John hears a smoke alarm next door and smells burnt bacon. John can infer that his
neighbor burnt her breakfast.
· Jennifer hears her mailbox close and her dog is barking. Jennifer can infer that the
postal carrier has delivered her mail.
· Norman sees cookie crumbs on the floor and chocolate around his son's mouth.
Norman can infer that his son ate a cookie.
5. Differentiate qualitative observation from quantitative observation.
Ø Qualitative observation is a subjective gathering of information which focuses more
on differences in quality rather than differences in quantity. It involves fewer
participants because it is more concerned on bringing out and knowing details about
each participant which is more easily done on fewer subjects. It is done through
interviews and passive or in-depth observations. It is conducted on a more personal
level requiring the researcher to build the confidence of the participants in him so that
they will readily provide him with the information he needs. Participants are
encouraged to answer questions in their own words and in a natural setting,
particularly in public places. This is usually done by psychologists, sociologists, and
social scientists to help them understand animal and human behavior.
Ø Quantitative observation, on the other hand, is an objective gathering of
information which focuses on numbers or measurements while basing results on
statistics and numeric analyses. Except for the social sciences, it is the most
commonly used observation method in research. It involves the observation of
anything that can be measured such as the differences in shapes, sizes, color,
volume, and numbers. It includes taking a sample which best represents the
population.
A large number of participants or subjects are needed in a quantitative observation.
This is done to give the observation more strength and make the results of the
research more credible. It does not provide any in-depth knowledge about the
participants but allows for a general statistical analysis on the population which is
done after all data have been gathered unlike qualitative observation wherein
observations are constantly analyzed as they are being gathered.
6. Give 5 examples of quantitative observation.
· 30 survey respondents in the age group of 30-40 were of the opinion that the age of
Donald Trump is 72.
· This auditorium can accommodate 1000 people at once.
· Only 25% of people in the US are considered to be Native Americans.
· There are 15 marketing campaigns scheduled for the last 3 months of the year in an
effort to increase sign-ups from the website by 30%.
· The automobile company launched 5 new car models in the last year and observed a
45% rise in their sales.
7. Give 5 examples of qualitative observation.
· The skin on her hand was smooth and silky.
· The cake was black with orange frosting.
· The room was bright and airy with blue curtains.
· The man has brown hair and blue eyes.
· The boy was a track runner.
