Describe why it
is important to keep clear, thorough, and accurate records.
In scientific
investigation it is imperative to keep clear, thorough, and
accurate records. To describe why, let's discuss the 3
words, "clear, thorough, and accurate."
Clear...
For our purposes, we will define "clear" as easy
to understand. It's not only important for your records to
be easy to understand so that you can look back and review them,
but it's important so that other people are able to benefit from
them. Keeping clear records will allow others to follow
what you have done, and possibly even test what you've done to
make sure your conclusion is correct.
Accurate...
We will define "accurate" as being without
error. For example, if you wrote in your records that it
took 5 seconds for a ball to hit the ground when dropped from
the roof when actually you counted wrong, and it really only
took 3 seconds, your records would not be accurate.
Accurate records are taken with care and precision.
Inaccurate records can cause one to draw wrong
conclusions. Also, other scientists wishing to test your
conclusion would find that your records were wrong. This
could look very bad for you as a scientist. Accurate
records lead to accurate conclusions.
Thorough...
We will define "thorough" as "very detailed
and in-depth." Keeping thorough notes enables you and
other scientists to easily review and retest experiments.
For example, if one's conclusion happens to be wrong, a
scientist can simply review his/her thorough records to find out
where he/she may have gone wrong. It's possible that
he/she may have even skipped a step in the experiment.
With very detailed and in-depth records of what he/she has done,
a scientist is better able to quickly solve any problems to lead
to the accurate conclusions.
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