THE SCIENCE RESEARCH

Bureau of Secondary Education

Department of Education
May 2008
Planning the Science Research

Identifying the problem;

Identifying the variables;
Formulating the hypothesis; and
Planning the experimental procedure
Identifying the Research Problem

Finding a Research Topic

Hardest part of a science research
Need to focus on topics which are interest to
you
Select a question that is going to be interesting
to work on for at least a month or two, and;
A question that is specific enough to allow you
to find the answer with a simple experiment.
Some characteristics of a good science
fair project question:
The question should be interesting
enough to read about then work on for the
next couple months.
There should be at least 3 sources of
written information on the subject. You
want to be able to build on the experience
of others!
 Now, for something like a science fair
project, it is important to think ahead. This
will save you lots of unhappiness later.
Imagine the experiment you might perform
to answer your question. How does that
possible experiment stack up against
these issues?
The experiment should measure changes to
the important factors (variables) using a
number that represents a quantity such as a
count, percentage, length, width, etc. Or, just
as good might be an experiment that
measures a factor (variable) that is simply
present or not present.
Your must be able to control other factors that
might influence your experiment, so that you
can do a fair test. A “fair test” occurs when you
change only one factor (variable) and keep all
other conditions the same.
Is your experiment safe to perform?
Do you have all the materials and equipment
you need for your science fair project, or will you
be able to obtain them quickly and at a very low
cost?
Do you have enough time to do your experiment
before the science fair?
Does your science fair project meet all the rules
and requirements for your science fair?
Have you avoided the bad science fair projects
listed in the table? (the Slide after the next)
 Some science fair projects that involve
human subjects, vertebrate animals or
animal tissue, pathogenic agents, DNA, or
controlled or hazardous substances, need
approval from DOST before you start
experimentation.
Some examples of good science fair
project questions are the following:
How does water purify affect surface
tension?
When is the best time to plant soy beans?
How does arch curvature affect load
carrying strength?
How do different foundations stand up to
earthquakes?
 Examples of bad science research topics that you should
avoid are the ff:
Science Project Topics to Avoid Why
Any topic that boils down to a simple Such experiments don’t involve the
preference or taste comparison. For kinds of numerical measurements
ex., “Which tastes better: Coke or we want in a science fair project.
Pepsi? They are more of a survey than an
experiment.
Most consumer product testing of There projects only have scientific
the “Which is best?” type. This validity if the Investigator fully
includes comparisons of popcorn, understand the science behind why
bubblegum, make-up, detergents, the product works and applies that
etc. understanding to the experiment.
While many consumer products are
easy to use, the science behind them
is often at the level of a graduate
student in college.

Any topic that requires people to The data tends to be unreliable.

recall things they did in the past.
 Science Project Topics to Why
Avoid
Effect of colored light on plants Several people do this project
at almost every science fair.
You can be more creative!
Effect of music or talking on Difficult to measure.
plants.
Effect of running, music, video The result is either obvious (the
games, or almost anything on heart beats faster when you
blood pressure run) or difficult to measure with
proper controls (the effect of
music).
Effect of color on memory, Highly subjective and difficult to
emotion, mood, taste, strength, measure.
etc.
 Science Project Topics To Avoid Why

Any topic that requires measurements Without measurement, you can’t do

that will be extremely difficult to make or science.
repeat, given your equipment.

Graphology or handwriting analysis Questionable scientific validity

Astrology or ESP No scientific validity

Any topic that requires dangerous, hard Violates the rules of virtually any
to find, expensive, or illegal materials. science fair.

Any topic that requires drugging, pain or Violates the rules of virtually any
injury to a live vertebrate animal. science fair.

Any topic that creates unacceptable risk Violates the rules of virtually any
(physical or psychological) to a human science fair.
subject.
Any topic that involves collection of Violates the rules of virtually any
tissue samples from living humans or science fair.
vertebrate animals.
Finding Information on Your
Research Topic
You can tap several sources from your
immediate environment.
You can talk to other people with more
experience than yourself: your mentors,
parents, and teachers.
Record your sources and take good notes
as you go.
 Today, savvy researchers use their
library and Internet to do background
research to help them find the best way to
do things. You want to learn from the
experience of others rather than blunder
around and repeat their mistakes.
Library Research
One of the most valuable resources at
the library is not a book, but a person.
Public librarians, college librarians and
certified school librarians are specially
trained to teach information literacy.
Librarians are excellent sources for
organizing research, for teaching how to
search, how to read and use citations,
how to narrow down web searches, and
how to winnow out the good from the bad.
The best place to start your background
research is by looking up your keywords in an
encyclopedia, dictionary, or textbook.
Read the background information and note
any useful sources listed in the bibliography at
the end of the encyclopedia article or
dictionary entry.
You can also check the subject headings of
books and articles as you look them up in the
library catalog.
Periodicals are printed material like
magazines and newspapers. Depending
on your topic, they may also contain useful
information. You can look up your
keywords in a printed index available in
your library.
If your library is subscribed to online
resources, you can gain access to
information unattainable in any other way.
Internet Research

There are 2 primary ways to search for

information on the internet.
1.To use a search engine such as Google or
Yahoo!
2. To search using a subject portal.
 Search engines try to
index everything on the
internet.

Subject portals list just a small

portion of the information on the
Internet, but the sites listed have
been checked for relevance.
Two popular subject portals:
 Librarian’s Index to the Internet
 WWW Virtual Library

You can begin by entering your

keywords one at a time to search for
information in the search engines and
subject portals; however, this will
probably bring up too much irrelevant
information.
 If you want some advanced tips on
using the Internet to find information, here
are two good sites. There is valuable
information here even for people who think
that they are good at Internet searching.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu./TeachingLib/Guid
A tutorial offered by the Teaching Library
at the University of California at Berkeley.
Librarians’ Index to the Internet: Internet
Guide and Search Tools. Check out the
tips in “Internet Searching.”
 To do an internet search for books containing
information about a specific science fair project, the
Science Fair Project Index is a great place to start.
The Index is designed to allow the user to locate a
particular experiment by the general topic; by
keywords in the experiment title or book information;
by grade level; by the materials or equipment
employed; or by the principle demonstrated.
http://www.ascpl.lib.oh.us/scifair/
Finding Too Much or Too Little
Information
If you are finding too much information, for
example pages and pages of irrelevant hits
on Google or a periodical index, you need to
narrow your search. You can narrow your
search by borrowing some of the terms in
your research questions.
If you aren’t finding enough information, you
need to simplify your search.
Most online search engines and periodical
guides have instructions about how to narrow
and broaden searches. Just read the
instructions for help.
 In the end, never forget that your goal
is to find information to answer the
research questions you asked about your
topic. Don’t stop looking until you have
sources that will answer your questions!
Be sure to ask for help from mentors,
parents, and teachers if you’re having
trouble.
Identifying the Variables

Variable – is any factor, trait, or condition

that can exist in differing amounts or
types.
An experiment usually has three kinds
of variables: independent, dependent, and
controlled.
Independent variable – one that is
changed by the scientist. To insure a fair
test, a good experiment has only one
independent variable.
Dependent variable – one which can not
be changed in order to see how it
responds to the changed made to the
independent variable.
Controlled variable – quantity that a
scientist wants to remain constant.
 In a good experiment, the investigator
must be able to measure the values for
each variable. Weight or mass is an
example of a variable that is very easy to
measure.
 In some experiments, it is not possible
to demonstrate that a change in the
independent variable causes a change in
the dependent variable. Instead one may
only be able to show that the independent
variable is related to the dependent
variable. This relationship is called
correlation.
 One of the most common reasons to
see a correlation is that “intervening
variables are also involved which may give
rise to the appearance of a possibly direct
cause-and-effect relationship, but which
upon further investigation turn out to be
more directly caused by some other
factor” (Wikipedia, 2006).
 Examples of Variables
Question Independent Dependent Variable Controlled Variables
Variable (What I observe) (What I keep the same)
(What I change)

How much Water faucet Amount of water • The Faucet

water flows opening (closed, flowing measure in • Water pressure, or how much the
through a half open, fully liters per minute water is “pushing”
faucet at open)
different “Different water pressure might
openings? also cause different amounts of
water to flow and different faucets
may behave differently, so to
insure a fair test I want to keep the
water pressure and the faucet the
same for each faucet opening that I
test.”
 Question Independent Dependent Controlled Variables
Variable Variable (What I keep the same)
(What I (What I observe)
change)

Does Amount of • Growth of the • Same size pot for each plant
fertilizer fertilizer plant measure by • Same type of plant in each pot
make a plant measured in its height • Same type and amount of soil in each
grow bigger? grams •Growth of the plot
plant measure by • Same amount of water and light
the number of •Make measurements of growth for each
leaves plant at the same time
•See Measuring
Plant Growth for “The many variables above can each
more ways to change how fast a plant grows, so to
measure plant insure a fair test of the fertilizer, each of
growth them must be kept the same for every
pot.”
 Question Independent Dependent Variable Controlled Variables
Variable (What I observe) (What I keep the same)
(What I change)

Does an Voltage of the Speed of rotation • Same motor for every test
electric motor electricity measured in •The motor should be doing the
turn faster if measured in volts revolutions per same for each test (turning the
you increase minute (RPMs) same wheel, propeller or whatever)
the voltage?
“The work that a motor performs
has a big impact on its speed, so to
insure a fair test, I must keep that
variable the same.”
Formulating the Hypothesis
Hypothesis – educated guess about the
answer to your question.
The hypothesis must be worded so that it can
be tested in your experiment. Do this by
expressing the hypothesis using your
independent and dependent variables. In
fact, many hypotheses are stated exactly like
this: “If a particular independent variable is
changed, then there is also a change in a
certain dependent variable.”
Sample Hypotheses

“If I open the faucet [faucet opening is the

independent variable]. Then it will increase
the flow of water [flow of water is the
dependent variable].”
“If a plant receives fertilizer [having
fertilizer is the independent variable], then it
will grow to be bigger than a plant that does
not receive fertilizer [plant size is the
dependent variable].”
 Notice that in each of the example it
will be easy to measure the independent
variables. This is another important
characteristic of a good hypothesis. If we
can readily measure the variables in the
hypothesis, then we say that the
hypothesis is testable.
Planning the Experimental Procedure
The first step in designing your
experimental procedure involves planning
on how you will change your independent
variable and how you will measure the
impact that this change has on the
dependent variable.
 To guarantee a fair test when you are
conducting your experiment, you need to
make sure that the only thing you change
is the independent variable. And, all the
controlled variables must remain constant.
Only then can you be sure that the change
you make to the independent variable
actually caused the changes you observe
in the dependent variables.
 Scientists run experiments more than
once to verify that results are consistent.
In other words, you must verify that you
obtain essentially the same results every
time you repeat the experiment with the
same value for your independent variable.
This insures that the answer to your
question is not just an accident.
Each time that you perform your
experiment is called a run or a trial. So,
your experimental procedure should also
specify how many trials you intend to run.
In some experiments, you can run the trials
at once. For example, if you’re growing
plants, you can put three identical plants (or
seeds) in three separate pots and that
would count as three trials.
 In experiments that involve testing or
surveying different groups of people, you
will not need to repeat the experiment
multiple times. However, in order to insure
that your results are reliable, you need to
test or survey enough people to make
sure that your results are reliable.
Two types of trial groups

1. Experimental group – consists of the

trials where you change the independent
variable.
Ex: If your question asks whether fertilizer
makes a plant grow bigger, then the
experimental group consists of all trials in
which the plants receive fertilizer.
2. Control group – consists of all trials
where you leave the independent variable
in its natural state.
In our example, it would be important to
run some trials in which the plants get no
fertilizer at all. These trials with no fertilizer
provide a basis for comparison, and would
insure that any changes you see when you
add fertilizer are in fact caused by the
fertilizer and not something else.
However, not every experiment is like our
fertilizer example. In another kind of
experiment, many groups of trials are
performed at different values of the
independent variable.
 For example, if your question asks
whether an electric motor turns faster if
you increase the voltage, you might do an
experimental group of three trials at 1.5
volts, another group of three trials at 2.0
volts, three trials at 2.5 volts, and so on. In
such an experiment, you are comparing
the experimental groups to each other,
rather than comparing them to a single
control group.
 Whether or not your experiment has a
control group, remember that every
experiment has a number of controlled
variables. Controlled variables are those
variables that we don’t want to change
while we conduct our experiment, and
they must be the same in every trial and
every group of trials.
Key Elements of the Experimental
Procedure
Description and size of all experimental
and control groups, as applicable
A step-by-step list of everything you must
do to perform your experiment.
The experimental procedure must tell how
you will change your one and only
independent variable and how you will
measure that change.
The experimental procedure must explain
how you will measure the resulting change
in the dependent variable/s.
If applicable, the experimental procedure
should explain how the controlled
variables will be maintained at a constant
value.
The experimental procedure should
specify how many times you intend to
repeat your experiment, so that you can
verify that your results are reproducible.
A good experimental procedure enables
someone else to duplicate your
experiment exactly.
Where will you conduct your
experiment?
You may need a lot of room for your
experiment or you may not be able to
more your experiment around from place
to place. If you are working with human or
animal subjects, you may need a location
that is quiet. You will need to think about
these limitations before you start your
experiment so you can find a location in
advance that will meet your needs.
Conducting the Science Research
The second step in the science research process
is conducting the research consisting of:
1. Preparing for the conduct of the experiment;
2. Constructing the data table; and
3. Conducting the experiment.
Preparing for the Conduct of the
Experiment
Know what to do.
Get a laboratory notebook for taking notes
and collecting data.
Be prepared. Collect and organize all
materials, supplies and equipment you will
need to do the experiment.
Think ahead about safety!
Preparing the Data Table

Prepare a data table in your laboratory

notebook to help you collect your data. A
data will ensure that you are consistent in
recording your data and will make it easier
to analyze your results once you have
finished your experiment.
 Sample Data Table
Trial Faucet Opening Water Flow
(the Independent (the Dependent Variable)
Variable)
#1 ¼ open [Write your date in this column as you make
measurements during your experiment.]

#2 ¼ open

#3 ½ open

#4 ½ open

#5 Fully open

#6 Fully open
Conducting the Actual Experiment

It is very important to take very detailed

notes as you conduct your experiments. As
addition to your data, record your observations
as you perform the experiment. Write down any
problems, anything you do that is different from
planned, ideas that come to mind, or interesting
occurrences. Be on the lookout for the
unexpected. Your observations will be useful
when you analyze your data and draw
conclusions.
Keep a lab notebook so that all your
information is kept in one place. The data that
you record will be the basis for your science
research final report and your conclusions.
If possible, take pictures of your experiment
along the way.
Remember to use numerical measurement as
mush as possible. If your experiment also has
qualitative data, then take a photo or draw a
picture of what happens.
Be as exact as possible about the way
you conduct your experiment, especially in
following your experimental procedure,
taking your measurements, and note
taking.
In fact, it’s a good idea to do a quick
preliminary run of your experiment. Show
your preliminary data to your teacher, and
make revisions to your experimental
procedure if necessary.
 Stay organized and be safe. Keep your
workspace clean and organized as you
conduct your experiment. Keep your
supplies within reach. Use protective gear
and adult supervision as needed. Keep
any chemicals away from pets and
younger brothers or sisters.
Processing the Results of the
Experiment

STEPS:
1.Classifying data;
2.Calculating and summarizing data; and
3.Interpreting data.
Classifying Data

Quantitative data – based on

measurements and use a scale of equal
interval.
Qualitative data – gathered using
nonstandard scale or unequal intervals or
discrete categories.
Both quantitative and qualitative data
can further be sub-divided into 4 scales
of measurement.

1. Nominal data – data placed in discrete

categories which can not be ranked in
ascending and descending order.
2. Ordinal data – data placed into
categories that can be ranked or ordered
in the ascending or descending manner.
3. Interval data – data collected using a
scale with equal interval but no absolute
zero value.
4. Ratio data – data collected using a scale
of equal and an absolute zero value.
Calculating and Summarizing Data

A spreadsheet program such as

Microsoft Excel may be a good way to
perform calculations, and then later the
spreadsheet can be used to display the
results. Be sure to label the rows and
columns.
 You should have performed multiple
trials of your experiment. Think about the
best way to summarize your data. You
may want to calculate the average for
each group of trials, or summarize the
results in some other way such as ratios,
percentages, or error and significance.
Perform any calculations that are necessary
for you to analyze and understand the data
from your experiment.

Use calculations from known formulas that

describe the relationships you are testing.
Pay careful attention because you may need to
convert some of your units to do your calculation
correctly. All of the units for a measurement
should be of the same scale.
 Graphs are often an excellent way to
display your results.
For any type of graph:
Generally, you should place your independent
variable on the x-axis of your graph and the
dependent variable on the y-axis.
Be sure to label the axes of your graph – don’t
forget to include the units of measurement.
If you have more than one set of data, show each
series in a different color or symbol and include a
legend with clear labels.
Few of the Possible Types of Graphs

A bar graph might be appropriate for

comparing different trials or different
experimental groups. It also may be a
good choice if your independent variable
is not numerical. (In Microsoft Excel,
generate bar graphs by choosing chat
types “Column” or “Bar”.)
Example
Time-series plot – can be used if your
independent variable is numerical and
your independent variable is time.

In MS Excel, the “line graph” chart type

generates a time series. By default, Excel puts a
count on the x-axis. To generate a time series plot
with your choice of x-axis units, make a separate
data column that contains those units next to your
dependent variable. Then choose the “XY (scatter)”
chart type, with a sub-type that draws line.)
Example:
X-Y Line Graph – shows the relationship
between your dependent and independent
variables when both are numerical and the
dependent variable is a function of the
independent variable.

In MS Excel, choose the “XY (scatter)” chart

type, and then choose a sub-type that does
draw a line.
Example:
Scatter plot – might be the proper graph if
you’re trying to show how two variables
may be related to one another.

In MS Excel, choose the “XY (scatter)”

chart type, and then choose a sub-type that
does not draw a line.
Example:
Interpreting Data
Steps:
1. Write a topic sentence stating the independent
and dependent variables giving reference to
your tables and graphs.
2. Write a sentence comparing the measure of
central tendency of the collected data.
3. Write a sentence describing the variations; and
4. Write a statement on how the data support the
hypothesis.
Evaluating the Science Research

It is the last step of the science

research process which involves
drawing conclusions and formulating
recommendations.
Drawing Conclusions and
Recommendations
Your conclusions will summarize whether
or not your science research support or
contradict your original hypothesis.
If the results of your science experiment
did not support your hypothesis, don’t
change or manipulate your results to fit
your original hypothesis, simply explain
why things did not go as expected.
Scientific research is an ongoing process,
and by discovering that your hypothesis is
not true, you have already made huge
advances in your learning that will lead
you to ask more questions that lead to
new experiments. Science fair judges do
not care about whether you prove or
disprove your hypothesis; they care how
much you learned.