Topic Five (1.5): Evaluating data

Objectives

By the end of this topic you should be able to:

describe the stages in evaluating data;
suggest ways to improve a practical investigation.

Introduction

Evaluating data is an important skill in science. You will need to both evaluate results you have collected yourself but also those from other researchers. You should know how to evaluate the method used and think about how it could be improved. 'Real' scientists do this all the time, refining their investigations to find out if their hypotheses are true when they repeat them with one small change.

Working through your coursebook

Read pages 10–11 in Activate 1.
Download and read the evaluation skill sheet to help you in the task below. Then file it for your later studies:

DOWNLOAD - Skill sheet: Evaluation (Kerboodle) Links to an external site.

COMPLETE - Planning Worksheet (Section 7 only) Download COMPLETE - Planning Worksheet (Section 7 only)

- Explain what you have found out.
- Did your results agree with your original hypothesis?
- How could you improve your data?
- What could you do to make your experiment more reliable?
- What could you do to make it more accurate?