Lauren Wilson

Inquiry Analysis
An experimental research project was designed model a natural phenomenon. The
question of this inquiry was whether the women or mens basketball locker room at the
University of Texas at Dallas contains more bacteria. Both the men and the women use their
locker rooms daily. As a college athlete, the locker room is a common location to remain before
and after a practice. The locker room houses where the athletes keep their belongings as well as
giving them a place to change, shower, and use the restroom. The constant usage of the locker
room puts them at a greater risk of collecting large amounts of bacteria. The main inquiry at
hand is whether it is the men or women who bring in more bacteria. To help standardize the
experiment, the locker rooms chosen were both used by the same type of athlete with only
gender differences, and only those athletes. Three surfaces were tested in the men and the
womens locker rooms. The tile floors, the benches in front of the lockers, and the entry door
handles. Sterile swabs were rubbed over areas outlined by a mask with the dimensions of one
centimeter by one centimeter. Each area was swabbed three times in the men and womens
locker rooms to create three testable trials. The swabs were transferred to agar plates after
swabbing. The plates were then incubated allowing the bacteria to grow. After the incubation
process, the bacteria colonies were counted and data was collected and presented. The data
showed which areas have more bacteria and whether the men or women collect more bacteria.
The results show that at the University of Texas at Dallas, the mens locker room has a
significantly less amount of bacterial growth than that of the womens locker room. Therefore,
the results imply that for unknown reasons women carry more bacteria than men. The locker
rooms for the basketball athletes are constantly used and give valid observations on the
cleanliness of men versus women.