A researcher reports he has conducted many experiments where a galvanometer (lie detector) was hooked up to detect a plant's responses. He reports that when a spider was released near the plant, the spider's decision to escape was picked up by the plant, "causing a reaction in the leaf." When other researchers repeated the experiment, they could not get any galvanometer responses. The researcher then concluded that plants could be put into a faint by humans.
A) This is a justified conclusion from a research design that appears to follow the scientific method.
B) The only problem with this general research plan is that it lacks a control.
C) Results must be somewhat repeatable and these results that only work for this researcher do not qualify as science.
D) The design is scientific; it just lacks a hypothesis.
E) If the researcher has actual numerical counts, this must be accepted as valid science.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The researcher's conclusion is not supported by repeatable results from other researchers, which is a key aspect of the scientific method. The lack of a control and a hypothesis are also issues, but the main problem is that the results are not reproducible. Numerical counts alone do not make the research valid.

A Researcher Reports He Has Conducted Many Experiments Where a Galvanometer