Interpreting Scientific Data Flashcards

A food scientist measures bacterial colony counts at different storage temperatures and creates a line graph. The line shows exponential growth above 4°C. What practical conclusion can be drawn for food safety?

Answer: Refrigeration below 4°C is effective at limiting bacterial growth

The data shows exponential bacterial growth above 4°C, supporting the conclusion that keeping food below this temperature limits bacterial proliferation.

A study reports that cities with more ice cream sales also have higher rates of drowning. A journalist concludes that ice cream causes drowning. What error is the journalist making?

Answer: Confusing correlation with causation without accounting for a confounding variable (hot weather)

Both ice cream sales and drowning increase in hot weather; hot weather is the confounding variable, and correlation alone does not establish causation.

A table shows experimental data with mean = 50 and standard deviation = 2. Another dataset has mean = 50 and standard deviation = 10. What does the larger standard deviation indicate?

Answer: The second dataset has greater variability around the mean

Standard deviation measures how spread out data points are from the mean; a larger value indicates greater variability, not accuracy or sample size.

A scientist publishes a study showing that a new alloy is 15% stronger than steel. A replication study finds only a 3% improvement. What is the most scientifically appropriate response?

Answer: Conduct additional independent studies to resolve the discrepancy

Scientific consensus requires reproducibility; conflicting findings call for additional independent replication rather than arbitrary selection of one result.

A flow diagram traces the energy transfer through a food chain: Sun → Grass → Rabbit → Fox. If grass captures 10,000 kJ of energy and approximately 10% is transferred at each step, how much energy is available to the fox?

Answer: 10 kJ

Applying 10% transfer twice: 10,000 × 0.10 = 1,000 kJ to rabbit, then 1,000 × 0.10 = 100 kJ to fox — wait, that's two steps from grass, so fox gets 100 kJ.

A graph shows that as altitude increases, atmospheric pressure decreases exponentially. A hiker at sea level experiences 101 kPa. At a point where pressure is roughly 50 kPa, approximately what percentage of sea-level pressure remains?

Answer: 50%

50 kPa is approximately 50% of 101 kPa (sea level pressure), so about 50% of sea-level atmospheric pressure remains.

A researcher uses a sample of 30 participants to estimate average reaction time for a population of 10,000. The 95% confidence interval is 250–310 ms. What does this interval mean?

Answer: The true population mean falls between 250 and 310 ms with 95% confidence

A 95% confidence interval means that if the study were repeated many times, 95% of the resulting intervals would contain the true population mean.