The most common and obvious fossils are the preserved skeletal remains of animals. Other fossils, which are also evidence of past organisms, include leaf impressions, tracks and trails, burrows, droppings, and root casts.
Lesson Summary. Non-experimental research does not mean nonscientific. Non-experimental research means there is a predictor variable or group of subjects that cannot be manipulated by the experimenter. Typically, this means that other routes must be used to draw conclusions, such as correlation, survey or case study.
However, research results do not have to be published or presented to qualify the experiment or data gathering as research. The intent to contribute to generalizable (scholarly) knowledge makes an experiment or data collection research, regardless of publication. Research that never is published is still research. Participants in research studies deserve protection whether or not the research is published. Examples of activities that typically are not generalizable include: 1  biographies. 2  oral histories that are designed solely to create a record of specific historical events.