Key terms & definitions

Suffering caused by natural events or processes, such as earthquakes or disease, rather than human moral choices.

An investigation of the effects of a change that occurs without the researcher deliberately producing it.

A research method that investigates a naturally occurring independent variable which the researcher does not manipulate.

An explanation of illness based on processes within the body or its physical surroundings rather than supernatural forces.

Avoiding sexual intercourse during the fertile part of the menstrual cycle to reduce the chance of pregnancy.

A textile fibre obtained from a plant or animal, such as cotton, wool or silk.

Natural frequency is a frequency at which an object tends to vibrate readily.

A fossil fuel consisting mainly of methane, with smaller quantities of other gases.

A gaseous fossil fuel, mainly methane, formed from buried organic remains.

The warming of Earth's surface and lower atmosphere caused by naturally occurring greenhouse gases absorbing and re-emitting outgoing infrared radiation.

An event caused by natural environmental processes that has the potential to harm people and their property.

Population growth caused by births outnumbering deaths, excluding migration.

The process through which a person acquires a country's nationality after birth by meeting its legal requirements.

The process through which a person acquires citizenship of a country.

To grant a person citizenship and the rights associated with it.

The representation of people, animals or plants with close attention to their actual appearance.

Writing or performance that creates the impression of ordinary life, including the rhythms and irregularities of everyday speech.

An explanation using natural causes rather than supernatural action.

An observation in which participants’ behaviour is studied in their natural environment.

An area whose character is dominated by naturally occurring features, such as mountains, rivers and coastlines, although human influence may still be present.

The belief that moral rules can be understood through reason by examining human nature and its purposes; in Catholic teaching, these purposes reflect God's design.

A raised bank of deposited sediment beside a river channel, built up through repeated flooding.

An organic compound described as natural because its source in that context is an organism or another natural process; the same compound may also be synthesised.

A group of cells in the right atrium that produces electrical signals controlling the natural resting heart rate.

The historical study of nature and its laws, covering subjects now associated with the natural sciences.

A polymer occurring in nature, such as cellulose or the proteins in wool and silk.

The difference between the number of births and deaths in a population over a period. It is positive when births exceed deaths and negative when deaths exceed births.

A material or substance obtained from nature rather than manufactured synthetically.

A naturally occurring material that people can use economically, such as coal, oil, iron ore or timber.

A feature or part of the environment that people can use to meet their needs.