doing research

The scientific method

• Start? Research question

• Guess about the awnser of this question
  
• Hypothesis

• Run experiments to test it!
  

Steps in scientific research

1. The problem definition

2. The hypothesis

3. The materials

4. The experiment

5. The results

6. The conclusion

Research question

• Research usually starts with a question: the research question
• Goal of the research is to answer the question
• What do all questions have?

They end with a question mark!

 Hypothesis

Hypothesis: What do you expect the answer to your research question will be?

"If .... (fertilizer is added to cress plants)  then... (the plants will grow two times faster) "

Hypothesis

Expected answer to the research question

Often seen formats:

-Cause and effect: If....., then...

- Correlation: ....has a positive effect on...

- Differences: comparing two or more groups

2. Make a workplan

How can I get the answer to my research question?

- By viewing or counting something

- By doing an experiment (lab-activity)

Think about....

Method

List of supplies

Method

Different types of research:

Describing : collect data by observing

Experimental : testing hypothesis with experiment

- Control group

 Experiment

1. Determine variable to be experimentally changed
2. Design multiple groups:
   - Vary the variable between the groups
   - Try to include control group (eliminate variable)
   - Keep all other variables constant
3. Explain what will be measured, when, and how

Results and conclusion

• Displaying results in tables and graphs
• Drawing conclusion from results
• Comparing conclusion with hypothesis and analyse differences: hypothesis accepted or rejected
• Conclusion = the answer to the research question

How to make a graph? A few basic rules

1. Give your graph a title.
2. Check your data to make sure it is correctly placed into your table.
3. Choose your axis - independent (x-axis) vs. dependent variable (y-axis)  ex. person (x-axis), time (y-axis)
4. Label your axis. Always start at zero!
5. Include your units.

Discussion

What went well?

Do you trust your results?

What went wrong?

What could be improved?

What will you do differently next time?

Research question

It is an open question.

You'll answer the question by doing the research.

You only vary one independent variable

You name the  dependent variable.