Types of Investigations
What are all the different types of scientific investigations?
There are three types of investigations, and each has a different purpose.
What else goes into a descriptive investigation?
Descriptive investigations ask:
-- How many?
-- What happened?
-- How frequently?
-- What is the density of ___?
-- What is the force of ___?
Descriptive investigations are about OBSERVATION and answering HOW and WHAT questions.
What is different about comparative investigations?
Comparative investigations ask, "Is there a difference between groups, conditions, locations, times, etc?"
Then, a prediction or hypothesis is made about those differences.
Comparative investigations sort materials through COMPARISON based on their PROPERTIES.
What are some examples of experimental investigations?
Can the speed of a car be affected by the surface it is on? (You would change the surface type--> this is manipulating the independent variable)
Can I increase the speed of a car by changing the type of tires? (You would change the types of tires--> again, this is manipulating the independent variable)
In each of these scenarios, you are determining CAUSE and EFFECT.