BIO LABS

Experiment Research and The Scientific Method

1 ©Hands-On Labs, Inc. www.HOLscience.com

Research and The Scientific Method

Margaret E. Vorndam, M.S. Version 42-0116-00-01

Lab Report Assistant

This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab Report Assistant is simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed, and data tables that should be addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate students’ writing of lab reports by providing this information in an editable file which can be sent to an instructor.

Observations

Data Table 1: Data Results

Subject # Left Thumb Dominant

Left-Handed Right Thumb Dominant Right-Handed

1

2

3

4

5

6

Etc…..50

Data Table 2: Summary of Data

Subjects Number % of Total Subjects*

Right-handed with right thumb dominant

Right-handed subjects with left thumb dominant

Left-handed subjects with right thumb dominant

Left-handed subjects with left thumb dominant

Total number of experimental subjects

Number of subjects per category divided by total subjects. Example: if 5 of 50 total subjects were found in a category, the calculation would be 5 ÷ Total number of subjects or 5 ÷ 50 = .10 x 100 = 10%

100%

Experiment Research and The Scientific Method

2 ©Hands-On Labs, Inc. www.HOLscience.com

Data Table 3: Thumb Dominance Results

Handedness and Thumb on top

Combined Percentages from Table 2

Right-handed, Right Thumb

Left-handed, Left Thumb

Right-handed, Left Thumb

Left-handed, Right Thumb

Exercise 1: The Dominant Thumb Experiment Results

A. During the background examination of the literature, what was discovered about what is already known concerning this problem?

B. If the Internet was used as a background information source, how can the researcher be sure that the information presented on the sites is correct? How could one determine whether one could safely accept the site as a good source of information?

C. What is the mathematical equivalent of the chosen hypothesis?

Experiment Research and The Scientific Method

3 ©Hands-On Labs, Inc. www.HOLscience.com

D. If 50 subjects were not interviewed, how can the number of volunteers be justified as an adequate sample size to test the hypothesis? If 50 subjects were interviewed, how does the researcher know that this sample size is large enough to effectively test the hypothesis?

E. Why is it important NOT to tell subjects what is being determined before they clasp their hands?

F. Combine the percentages for same hand/thumb (right handed/right thumb dominant + left hand/left thumb dominant) and opposite hand/thumb (right handed/left thumb dominant + left hand/right thumb dominant) in another table like Data Table 3.

G. Write a paragraph that verbally presents the data summarized in Data Tables 2 and 3.

Questions

A. What was the hypothesis? Do the experimental data results support or refute the selected hypothesis?

B. Why should the data for same handedness-thumb and different handedness-thumb be combined for purposes of analysis?

Experiment Research and The Scientific Method

4 ©Hands-On Labs, Inc. www.HOLscience.com

C. Recheck all steps, evaluate the total experiment, and draw implications from the conclusions. Is the experiment valid enough to reach a conclusion?

D. How can the conclusion be supported by using statistics?

E. Are the results meaningful?

F. Were enough subjects used to be conclusive?

G. What experimental conditions are responsible for the results that were obtained?

H. What follow-up experimentation might be of use, based on this experiment?

I. If the obtained data results do not agree with those that are provided in the example above, which set would you believe? Why?

Experiment Research and The Scientific Method

5 ©Hands-On Labs, Inc. www.HOLscience.com

Exercise 2: Writing a Laboratory Report Results

Your laboratory report will be the result for this exercise.

Questions

A. Propose a hypothesis for a hypothetical experiment and outline the experiment that would be conducted to test it. Use the steps of the scientific method to organize the outline.

B. Read a scientific research paper in a scientific journal. Identify the parts of the paper that address aspects of the scientific method. Find the parts that would be considered the abstract, background information, the hypothesis, the Procedure, the data, and the conclusion. Did the experiment include a control? Why or why not? Is a control always necessary?

C. Verify what you have learned by answering the following questions:

1. What are the essential elements of the scientific method?

Experiment Research and The Scientific Method

6 ©Hands-On Labs, Inc. www.HOLscience.com

2. What is a hypothesis?

Can more than one H 1 be tested? Can there be an H

2 ?

3. Can a hypothesis be proven? Why or why not?

4. Is it sufficient to do a single experiment to test a hypothesis? Why or why not?

5. What statistical techniques can be used to add robustness to the data results?

6. Why is it easier to test only one substance at a time or only one action at a time when

doing an experiment?

7. Is it possible to test more than one outcome at a time? What revisions in the testing

approach would need to be made to do this?

8. What is the purpose of a control in an experiment? Does every experiment require a control?

D. Do the following statements represent a hypothesis, conclusion, or theory?

1. The data show that various vaccines protect people from disease.

2. All living things are made of cells.

Experiment Research and The Scientific Method

7 ©Hands-On Labs, Inc. www.HOLscience.com

3. e = mc2

4. The instructor loves chocolate chip cookies! (Okay, just checking that you’re still awake, but you could test this! It would definitely require multiple tests!)

E. What applications might the Scientific Method have to daily life? Give an example.

Laboratory Summary

What have you learned from doing this laboratory?