Every scientist should evaluate an experiment once it’s completed. This evaluation will help a scientist find mistakes in their methods, data, or even in their conclusion. A common mistake happens when an experiment tests more than one variable. This usually happens when the experiment design does not control all the variables that it needs to control. When this is the case, the conclusions of the experiment are not reliable. You cannot make claims that the results support your hypothesis, or that the variables that were not controlled made a difference in the results. Good experiments also have multiple trials. Did the experiment do enough? Were you able to replicate the results? It is also possible that there were errors while measuring. Human error is a major factor in experiments. Scientists must take care to reduce human error as much as possible.
It is also possible that the results of your experiment bring up more questions than you started with. This can lead to more experiments, which can lead to even more questions! Asking questions and performing experiments is critical to science.
Question
Which flaws in an experiment would result in an incorrect conclusion?
