Scientific Method Scenario
1.
It is possible that the student has a job that
always schedules him to work a shift before his lecture which causes him to be
tired which is why he is falling asleep during lecture.
2.
Test:
a.
I would test this hypothesis by asking this
student whether or not he has worked before the lecture and keep track of his
responses.
b.
If the student answers yes and falls asleep
during class then this would support my hypothesis.
c.
If the student answers no and still falls asleep
then my hypothesis would be rejected.
3.
An example of an untestable, unfalsifiable
explanation would be if a ghost came to his seat everyday at the same time and
sang him a lullaby at the beginning of lecture that puts him to sleep. This
would be undetectable because we cannot see the ghost and nor can we hear it sing the lullaby.
As explained in the guidelines, to test an hypothesis, you actually need to alter the conditions and see if the results change as you predict. That isn't what you are doing here. You are really just getting background information to determine if your hypothesis is logical or not. You still have to test it. See the example at the bottom of this comment to see how this could have been tested.
ReplyDeleteTestable Hypothesis (5/5) - So you are hypothesizing that his work schedule is preventing him from getting enough sleep... so the lack of sleep is the actual problem here.
Test (2.5/5) - You aren't testing anything because you haven't altered conditions. You are just confirming that his work schedule.
Support (2.5/5) - Again, you haven't tested anything here. You are just confirming that his work schedule MIGHT be the cause. You need to then alter the work schedule conditions to allow for more sleep to test this.
Falsify (4/5) - Well, this would rule out work as a possible cause, not because you tested this but because you are ruling this out as a possible problem... however, note that he still may not be getting enough sleep, meaning the ultimate cause still has not be falsified.
Untestable Hypothesis (10/10) - Good.
EXAMPLE:
Testable Hypothesis: The student's work schedule is preventing him from getting enough sleep and that is why he falls asleep in class.
Test: I would make sure the student is getting enough sleep at night, say 8-hours, as this is the actual problem we are testing. If this required reducing his work schedule, then that would have to happen. I am altering conditions by making sure he gets a good night sleep.
Support: If, after a full night's sleep, the student stayed awake in class, this would support my hypothesis.
Falsify: If, after a full night's sleep, the student still fell asleep in class, this would falsify my hypothesis.
Keep it simple. Make sure you are testing the actual problem (in this case, lack of sleep). Alter the conditions and predict what the results would be if the hypothesis is supported or falsified.