THE METHODS BEHIND BIOLOGY

The science of nature Critical thinking: judging information before accepting it. Model: system used for testing hypotheses. Inductive reasoning: drawing conclusions based on observation. Hypothesis. Deductive reasoning: using a general idea to make a conclusion about an specific case. Hypothesis to Prediction.

Analyzing experimental results Sampling error: difference between results derived from testing and entire group. Probability: the chance that a particular outcome of an event will occur; depends on the total number of outcomes possible. Statistically significant: refers to a result that is statistically unlikely to have occured by chance.

Role of critical thinking in science Scientist expect one another to recognize and put aside bias in order to test their hypotheses in ways that may prove them wrong. If a scientists does not, then others will, because exposing errors is just as useful as applauding insights. The scientific community consists of critically thinking people trying to poke holes in one another´s ideas.

Practice Fifteen randomly selected students are found to be taller than 6 feet. The researchers concluded that the average height of a student is greater than 6 feet. This is an example of: Experimental error Sampling error Sampling bias Experimental bias

In 2005, researcher Woo-suk Hwang reported that he had made immortal stem cells from human patients. His research was hailed a s breakthrough for people affected by degenerative diseases, because stem cells may be used to repair a person´s own damaged tissues. Hwang published his results in a peer reviewed journal. In 2006, the journal retracted his paper after other scientists discovered that Hwang´s group had faked their data. Does the incident show that results of scientific studies cannot be trusted? Or does it confirm the usefulness of a scientific approach, because other scientists discovered and exposed the fraud?