Scientific Method

Ms. Ma. José Espinoza A.

 Steps of the Scientific Method
 Observation
 Presenting the
research problem.
 Variable identification
 Inferences
 Hypothesis
 Experimentation
 Results
 Conclusion
 Scientific Publication
Observation
Attitude is detected through the senses and wit the
environment and environmental phenomena
around us.
 Statement of the scientific
problem
 Noting an event or phenomenon, we generated
doubts and wonder:
 Why does this happen?,
 How does it occur?,
 What happens depends on factors?

 A problem should lead to the formulation of a

response, verification and relationships between
variables that are influencing.
Ask a question…
Your question must be
inquisitive. This
means that it can be
answered by doing an
experiment.

Example: what
protein do cats prefer
to eat?
Research your question
The most sold flavor of a
popular cat food is “chicken ”,
sold in 40% of occasions.
Other flavors are “beef”
(25%), “fish” (20%) and
“turkey” (15%).
 Variables influencing

 Independent Variable: Is what can be

modified by the researcher (manipulated
variable)
 Dependent Variable: Is the result of the
manipulation of the independent variable.
It can be measured and observed by the
scientist.
Example:
 Manipulated Variable: Reduce the amount
of chicken meal and turkey increase in
cats.
 Independent Variable: Do cats eat
less????
Hypothesis
This is your prediction, based on your
research. It has the following structure:

IF….. THEN…

IF i offer a cat different

proteins, THEN it will
choose chicken
Hypothesis
It doesn’t matter if your hypothesis is wrong,
that’s why it’s a PREDICTION.

Now we have to test our hypothesis to see if

it is right or wrong….
Experimental design
We will feed the
cat a choice of
beef, turkey,
chicken and
fish and see
This is our rough idea. Now which bowl it
we must do some fine- chooses first.
tuning…
We must repeat our
experiment several times…

We will feed the cat a choice of beef, turkey,

chicken and fish 2 times a day for one
week and count how many times it chose
each one first.
Define your variables

Independent Dependent
variable variable

What YOU change What you MEASURE

and manipulate

Example: I measure how

Example: I change the many times the cat chooses
type of meat each bowl first
Controlled variables: fair tests
These must be the same for both groups for
it to be a fair test.
Examples:

-Same size and color bowls

-Same amount of food in each
-Given at the same time
-Same cat each time
-No salt of extra flavors on meats
-Same consistency of meats
Define control and experimental
groups
Experimental
Control group groups
Does not contain the
Groups where we
independent
manipulate the
variable, but it still
independant variable
must be a fair test

Example: water Example: 4 groups:

*An empty bowl is not Fish, chicken, turkey, beef

a fair test
Carry out your experiment
BE ORGANIZED!
Beef Turkey Chicken Fish Water
Day 1 am X
Day 1 pm X
Day 2 am X
ETC…
 Use graphs to help you
aanalyze your data
Choices
8
7
6
5
4
Choices
3
2
1
0
Beef Chicken Turkey Fish Water
Reach conclusions

Choices
8 - The cat chose
6
4
fish over other
2
0
types of meat
50% of the
times.
- The cat never
chose turkey
Is your hypothesis correct?

IF i offer a cat different

proteins, THEN it will
choose chicken

NO. My experiment proved that my

hypothesis was wrong. Cats do not prefer
chicken over other meats.
What could I have done better?
 Test more cats. Maybe
my cat is different.

 Test for a longer period

of time. Maybe it will get
tired of fish.
Future questions…
 What type of fish do
cats prefer to eat?

 How well cooked do

cats prefer fish?