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Biology Exam 1 Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Exam 1

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Scientific Method

1. Ask a question
2. Form a hypothesis
3. Make a prediciton
4. Test Hypothesis
5. Conclude
6. Reject/ Accept Hypothesis

Placebo

Placebo: harmless pill or procedure mainly for psycho­logical effect.
Placebo Effect: Response to placebo, possibly based on a person's expect­ations or body chemistry.
Example: Sugar Pills

Statistics

Why do we need statis­tics?
What is a statis­tically signif­icant result?
 
Very unlikely to be due to chance differ­ences between experi­mental and control samples. Meaning there is most likely a true difference between the groups.
 
Example: A 33% reduction in cold severity shows there is low probab­ility that the difference is purely by chance.
 

Hypothesis vs. Prediction

Hypoth­esis= possible explan­ation
Predic­tion= "­gue­ss" of outcome

Types of Studues

Blind Study
Double Blind Study
Inform­ation about the test is concealed from the tester, subject, or both, to minimize bias.
Neither partic­ipants or resear­chers know which is the control group until after the test is concluded.
 
Eliminates bias from both groups of the study.
 

Correl­ation vs. Causation

Correl­ation: Shows the relati­onship between two variables
Causation: Shows that an outcome was caused by the other variable.

Case-C­ontrol and Cohort Studies

Cohort
Case-C­ontrol
Follows a group free of an issue (ex: disease)
Begins with selection of cases (group with disease) and controls (group without the disease)
Grouped by whether or not they are exposed to a potential cause of an issue. (Ex: a specific water source causing diarrhea)
Subjects are questioned and a possible cause is determined based on gathered inform­ation.
Whole group is followed over time to see if new cases of the problem develop
Pros: Extremely detailed and larger range of possible outcomes and causes.
Pros: Cheaper, faster, and you can choose your case groups (people with the disease)
Cons: Possibly expensive, very time consuming.
Cons: Less adept at showing a relati­onship between case and cause, and can be prone to bias.
 

Experi­mental Method

Testin­g/m­ani­pul­ating one variable to determine cause of change in an experi­ment.
 

Experi­mental Method Cont.

Control Group: Group receiving no treatment.
Treatment Group: Group receiving treatment.
Dependent Variable: The variable being tested.
Indepe­ndent Variable: Variable being changed by tester.