In presenting data that result from an experiment, a group of students show that most of their measurements fall on a straight diagonal line on their graph. However, two of their data points are "outliers" and fall far to one side of the expected relationship. What should they do?
A) Do not show these points because clearly something went wrong in the experiment.
B) Average several trials, rule out the improbable results, and do not show them in the final work.
C) Show all results obtained and then try to explore the reason(s) for these outliers.
D) Change the details of the experiment until they can obtain the expected results.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Showing all results obtained and exploring the reason(s) for outliers is important in scientific experimentation. Outliers may indicate a flaw or unexpected factor in the experiment, and investigating them can lead to valuable insights and new discoveries. Omitting this data or changing the experiment to achieve expected results could be detrimental to scientific integrity and hinder progress.

In Presenting Data That Result from an Experiment, a Group