miasma
harmful, toxic vapor supposedly exhaled by sick people or exuded by garbage or sewers into the air around them
microorganism
a living thing that cannot be seen without a microscope, such as bacteria
Scientific Method
the set of procedures scientists use in their investigates; includes four steps: observation and facts, hypothesis and predictions, testing, and evaluation and interpretation of results
Observation
what you can see, hear, smell, taste, or feel physically
fact
something that has actual existence
Hypothesis
a proposed explanation for a general set of observations
which leads to predictions that can be tested with additional
observations or experiments.
prediction
educated speculation about what an outcome will be
experiment
a scientific test conducted under controlled conditions
independent variable
The factor that is manipulated by the
researcher
dependent variable
the factor that depends on the independent
variable
controlled experiment
a test or manipulation in which a scientist keeps all variables (possible factors that could affect the outcome of the test) the same except for the one under investigation
theory
an idea, supported by evidence, which provides a bigger picture than hypothesis of how some aspect of nature works; it may weave together supporting evidence from several scientific fields
scientific theory
collection of concepts that is supported by all known
facts
cause and effect
every event or outcome in nature has a source; if a scientist sets up the correct conditions, the results can be predicated in advance
Materialism
the idea that effects in the natural world all have natural causes, rather than supernatural ones
Empiricial Evidence
information that one gets from direct observation, from experience, or from the results of experiments and other tests of hypothesis
generality
how widely a scientific investigation applies to situations other than the specific ones scientists tested
falsifiable
able to be proved wrong
Testability
a procedure for determining the evidence in support of a hypothesis
Psuedoscience
fake science
quackery
promoting the use and/or purchase of remedies even when there is no scientific evidence or plausible rationale for their effectiveness