Stage 2: Planning Your Investigation (student guide)

In Stage 1, you selected a topic of interest, wrote a research question, and looked for collaborators, if you did not have them already. In Stage 2, you will expand your question into a research plan. To help you write a good plan, we outline the process in six steps. As you complete these steps, please fill in Form #2: The Research Plan.

Overview

Here is some background information about steps you will need to follow in this stage.

Materials and Procedures

What materials do you need in your experiment? These materials should include:

- any instruments you use to take measurements

- any equipment that you need, and

- any supplies or materials that you use.

What procedure should you follow?

The procedure includes the steps you will go through to collect the data. Describing the procedure completely and accurately is important so that others can repeat your investigation if they want.

Here's an example:

Using a temperature probe, a student research team plans to measure how the water temperature of a stream changes at it flows past an electric power facility. The team's materials include the temperature probe, a meter stick, and a tape measure. The team's procedure explains precisely how to measure the water temperature, where in the stream to take those measurements, and when to take them.

The Data Table

The data table for your project will hold the information you collect during your investigation.

A data table consists of rows and columns. The rows contain the entries. To define a data table, label the columns that will hold the numbers and other kinds of information that you will collect. Generally, these columns are named after the categories and measurements in your investigation. Think of each row of data as an event, captured with a snapshot. The columns capture the details that make that snapshot important.

Our example continues:

In the water temperature investigation, the researchers measured water temperature at two locations at the same time of the day. temperature above the plant temperature below the plant time of day. They also record the date of the measurement, the air temperature, and the team taking the measurements. date of measurement air temperature in shade team name

Sample table:

The table for this example now has six columns. When the researchers enter data, they create a new row for each set of measurements. Filling in the row is like taking another "snapshot" of the stream at a different time to see which variables in the picture have changed.

OK! Ready?

Step 1: Identify the materials you will need.

Give your project a title and enter it on Form #2: The Research Plan. Collaborators will use the title to locate your project, so choose a title carefully. You might try to use some of your key words in the title. Rewrite your investigative question on the next line.

Make a list of materials you will probably need to carry out your investigation. Decide which materials are already available and which ones you have to find. Include the instruments and other tools in this list of materials.

Record the materials on the Research Plan form.

Step 2: Describe the procedures you will follow.

Read over your research question again and as a team decide exactly

what steps you will take to conduct your investigation to answer this question.

Read the section Research Strategies in the Resource Materials to identify the best approaches for answering your question.

What do you want to find out?

Can you measure that kind of information?

How can you make sure your measurements are accurate? How do you make them reproducible, so that others might repeat your experiment?

Remember, as you work through these steps, you may have to revise your investigative question.

Write these steps in your journal and discuss them carefully as a team.

Make sure you provide enough detail so that someone else can perform each step exactly as you have performed it.

Record your procedure on the Research Plan form.

Step 3: Define the columns in your data table.

Think about the measurements you will take and the other kinds of information you will record.

How many different kinds of measurements will you take?

What kinds of information must you record?

How many times will you take these measurements? (Remember that answering these questions may take you back to the "procedure" section to make revisions.)

Name the columns you want in your table.

For measurements, include the unit of measure in the column name. For example, the column holding the values of the temperature in the shade might be "Temp Shade (C)" for temperature in degrees Celsius.

Draw a "mockup" table. This is a good way to check your work. Draw a table and label the columns with the names you have chosen. Then fill in "mock" data in the rows. Does the result seem complete? Could you answer your research question with just that much information? Or do you need more? What is missing? Are any of the columns really unnecessary?

Now that you have evaluated the kinds of measurements you will take,

write the final column titles for your data table on Form #2.

Step 4: Review and revise your research plan.

When you are satisfied with your plan, take it through your review process. Make any changes that are necessary and have the form signed and dated.

Step 5: Communicate with your collaborators.

Check your e-mail and Web page throughout this stage for responses to your investigation idea. Are any other teams interested in collaborating? If so, send them e-mail about the project, thanking them for their interest and informing them about when you will post the project. Always respond as promptly as possible. This will keep the conversation with your collaborators alive. Make your messages as clear as possible.

Complete the collaborator guideline information:

Timeline When your investigation begins and ends.

Expectations What is required of participants; what you will expect collaborators and other participants to do.

Eligibility Any special requirements; in our example, collaborators must be near a stream.

Welcome page A brief message that welcomes them to the team.

Letter of acknowledgment A brief note that is sent to participants via e-mail.

At this point, you should also review the projects posted by other teams. If you find one that is interesting and you would like to collaborate with that team, send an e-mail. Now you are the collaborator. Be enthusiastic. Tell the team why you are interested and how you will participate. Ask the team questions about its school and its class. The more you can learn about the team the better!

Step 7: Review each other's research plans.

Scientists continually check each other's work to make sure the findings are accurate. This process is called peer review and it is one of the finest, most time-honored traditions in science. Scientists do this to support each other and to ensure that the highest standards are being met.

We would like you to try peer review by reviewing each other's research plans.

Read the sections Peer Review and Constructive Criticism in Science in the Resource Materials.

Read the research plan from another team and examines it for errors.

Criticism should always be polite, respectful, and constructive (isn't that how you want your plan reviewed?) and should also refer to the strengths of the plan.