Group Project: Scientific Method

For this project you will be asked to make use of what you have learned about the scientific method. Your group will be asked to design and conduct an experiment that will test a hypothesis that you develop. The experiment should make use of the CBL system, the ULI system, or the reaction time detector to acquire data. The experimental design should be one of the two basic ones we have used this semester: test for differences between two groups, or test for a relationship between two variables.

Rules for the project:

1. It really should be an experiment; don’t bother doing something you are familiar with and for which the outcome would be obvious.
2. Your hypothesis, experimental design, and methodology must be approved by your instructor
3. Though you may work together, each student must submit a report will which include:

1. Short introduction about the rationale for your hypothesis. In other words, based on what you already know about the subject, why is your hypothesis reasonable?
2. Clear statement of the hypothesis.
3. Brief description of the method of data collection.
4. Report results as descriptive statistics, graphs (if appropriate), and results of statistical tests.
5. Brief discussion: interpretation of results in light of what you may have subsequently read about the general subject. (In reality, scientists spend a good deal of time reading about their research topic before, during, and after conducting their experiments.) Check out textbooks, the Internet, and other sources of information.

The report is worth a maximum of 3 points. You will be expected to give a brief oral summary of your project during class.