Inductive reasoning begins with specific observations and builds toward broad generalizations.
Missing Word
Inductive
Inductive reasoning moves from particular observations to general conclusions, which may or may not turn out to be correct and therefore must be tested.
Category: Scientific Reasoning
Question 2
Unlike a single hypothesis, a scientific theory is a well-developed set of ideas that explains many observed phenomena, can be used to make predictions, and is the source from which researchers derive specific testable hypotheses.
Missing Word
theory
A theory is a broad explanation built from and supported by many observations. Researchers derive specific, testable hypotheses from a theory, and the results of those tests can support or revise it.
Category: Scientific Reasoning
Question 3
A longitudinal study tests the same individuals repeatedly over an extended period, such as surveying their diets at ages 20, 30 and 40.
Missing Word
longitudinal
Longitudinal research tracks one group over time, which reveals how individuals change but is costly and suffers from participants dropping out.
Category: Descriptive Methods
Question 4
Large, diverse samples improve generalizability, the extent to which a study's findings apply to the wider population.
Missing Word
generalizability
Generalizability describes how far results can be extended beyond the people studied, and it depends heavily on how representative the sample is.
Category: Descriptive Methods
Question 5
The median is the middle score when all of the scores in a data set are arranged in order.
Missing Word
median
The median is a measure of central tendency that splits the ordered data in half, and unlike the average it is not pulled far by extreme scores.
Category: Descriptive Methods
Question 6
An outlier is an extreme score that lies far from the rest of the data and can pull the average strongly toward it.
Missing Word
outlier
An outlier is an unusual value at the edge of a distribution, and the arithmetic average is especially sensitive to it.
Category: Descriptive Methods
Question 7
The sign of a correlation coefficient shows the direction of the relationship, while its distance from zero shows the strength.
Missing Word
direction
A plus sign means the variables move the same way and a minus sign means they move in opposite ways, so the sign reveals direction rather than strength.
Category: Correlation
Question 8
Only an experiment, in which the researcher manipulates a variable and controls other factors, can establish a cause-and-effect relationship.
Missing Word
experiment
An experiment is the one research method that tests causation, because random assignment and manipulation of the independent variable rule out other explanations.
Category: Experiments
Question 9
A placebo is an inactive treatment, such as a sugar pill, given to the control group in a drug study.
Missing Word
placebo
A placebo looks like the real treatment but has no active ingredient, so comparing it with the real drug separates the drug's effect from participants' expectations.
Category: Experiments
Question 10
Replication means repeating a study, often with a different sample, to see whether its findings hold up.
Missing Word
Replication
Replication is how science checks whether a result is dependable, and findings that cannot be reproduced lose credibility.
Category: Evaluating Research
Question 11
Falling vaccination rates driven by the false vaccine-autism claim contributed to outbreaks of measles in the United States in 2019.
Missing Word
measles
Measles is a highly contagious disease prevented by vaccination, and its return shows the real-world harm when flawed research spreads widely.
Category: Evaluating Research
Question 12
Researchers sometimes use deception, purposely misleading participants without harming them, so that knowing the true research question does not change their responses.
Missing Word
deception
Deception is allowed only when it is necessary and harmless, and it must be followed by a full explanation once the study ends.
Category: Research Ethics
Question 13
After a study in which participants were misled, researchers must provide a full debriefing that explains the study's real purpose and how the data will be used.
Missing Word
debriefing
A debriefing is the honest explanation given to participants after a study, covering its purpose, the reason any information was withheld and how to learn more.
Category: Research Ethics
Question 14
Men in the Tuskegee study who had syphilis were never given penicillin, even after it was recognized as an effective treatment by 1947.
Missing Word
penicillin
Penicillin is the antibiotic that cures syphilis, and withholding it from participants who did not even know their diagnosis made the study a landmark case of unethical research.
Category: Research Ethics
Question 15
Committees that review animal research proposals include veterinarians, professionals trained in the medical care of animals.
Missing Word
veterinarians
Veterinarians serve on these committees alongside scientists, administrators and community members to help ensure animal subjects experience as little pain and distress as possible.
Category: Research Ethics