Vocabulary
Research, evidence, funding and ethics, for writing and for Academic reading. With a practice exercise.
IELTS vocabulary for science matters in more parts of the test than almost any other topic. Academic reading passages are frequently based on research, and Task 2 asks whether governments should fund science, whether space exploration is worth the cost and how far research should be allowed to go.
You do not need scientific knowledge. What you need is the language of how research works: how it is carried out, what it shows and how confident anyone can be about it.
The words
Six groups. Learn one group at a time and write a sentence of your own for each word.
To conduct research: to carry out a study
An experiment: a test done to find something out
A hypothesis: an idea that an experiment is designed to test
Data: information collected in a study
A sample: the group of people or things studied
Findings: what a study discovers
Evidence: information that shows whether something is true
To indicate: to suggest, without proving
Conclusive: proving something beyond reasonable doubt
A breakthrough: an important new discovery
A researcher: someone who carries out research
A scientist: someone trained in a science
A peer reviewer: an expert who checks research before publication
A research institute: an organisation devoted to research
The scientific community: scientists as a group
Research and development: work done by companies to create new products
A grant: money given for research, usually by a government or foundation
Pure research: research done to increase knowledge, not for a practical use
Applied research: research aimed at solving a practical problem
To commercialise: to turn a discovery into a product
Animal testing: using animals in experiments
Genetic modification: changing the genes of a plant or animal
Informed consent: agreement given with full understanding of the risks
Unintended consequences: results nobody planned or expected
Ethical guidelines: rules setting out what research is acceptable
Research is uncountable. There is no a research or researches; say research, a study or a piece of research.
Data is plural in origin but is widely used with a singular verb: the data shows and the data show are both accepted. Be consistent.
Method
Six ways these words earn marks rather than just filling space.
Research rarely proves anything. Findings indicate, suggest or point to. Using these verbs accurately is a strong signal of Band 7 writing and matches how Academic reading passages are written.
You conduct research, carry out an experiment, test a hypothesis, collect data and make a breakthrough.
Words such as hypothesis, findings and conclusive appear constantly in Academic reading, often in True False Not Given questions that turn on how certain a claim is.
Should governments fund pure research? Is space exploration a waste of money? Should animal testing be banned? These recur, and the funding and ethics groups answer all three.
Most funding essays turn on this distinction. Research with no obvious use today has often led to the most important discoveries, which is a strong argument to have ready.
An invented percentage about a real study reads badly. Keep invented support general, such as many studies suggest.
Practice
Choose the answer that fits each sentence.
Read the whole sentence before you choose. Several options will be real words, and often more than one will nearly fit.
The test is precision: which word, or which pairing, means exactly what the sentence needs?
1An idea that an experiment is designed to test is a ______.
Hypothesis. Findings are what the study discovers afterwards.
2Which is the natural pairing?
Conduct research. Research is uncountable, so a research and researches are both errors.
3The results ______ that exercise may improve memory, but more work is needed.
Indicate. The second half of the sentence shows the result is not certain, so prove, confirm and establish are too strong.
4Evidence that proves something beyond reasonable doubt is ______.
Conclusive. Peer-reviewed means checked by experts, which does not guarantee certainty.
5Research done to increase knowledge rather than for a practical use is ______ research.
Pure research. Applied research is the opposite: aimed at a practical problem.
6Money given to a scientist to carry out research is a ______.
Grant. It does not have to be paid back, unlike a loan.
7Agreement to take part in a study, given with full understanding of the risks, is ______.
Informed consent. It is the key term in any discussion of research ethics.
8Which sentence is more precise?
B. Precise nouns, the correct collocation and appropriately cautious language.
That is the commonest vocabulary problem at Band 6, and it is very hard to see in your own writing because each word looks correct on its own.
The complete IELTS course on IELTStestONLINE has video lessons on every question type, many more exercises like this one, and your own support tutor you can ask when an answer does not make sense. Take a look at the complete course
Recognising a word in a multiple choice is not the same as producing it accurately under time.
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Yes. It is very common in Academic reading and appears regularly in Task 2 as a question about funding, space exploration or research ethics.
No. The test assesses your English. Knowing how to talk about research, evidence and funding is enough.
No. Research is uncountable. Say research, a study or a piece of research, never a research or researches.
Both are accepted. The data shows and the data show are both correct, but use one consistently.
Because research rarely proves anything, and overstating a claim is a precision error. Verbs such as suggest and indicate are more accurate than prove.
Full membership
Technique takes most candidates to about Band 6.5. Past that, the limit is usually the range of language you can use accurately, and knowing where you stand is the first step.
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