Introduction to Science Research

 Define science research

 Explain the importance of science research in
the following contexts:
 School
 Community
 Society
 Discuss the scientific method of research
 Familiarize with the elements of a successful
project
 Research is a process by which people
discover or create new knowledge about the
world in which they live.
 Science is the study of facts about the natural
world
 Science Research, then is discovering new
facts about the natural world
 An investigatory project is usually an activity
undertaken in school in to study a particular
topic. Most investigatory projects involve the
use of the scientific method and
experimentation. The processes and results
included in the project are recorded and usually
presented as an article for review.
 An SIP is a scientific process involving the use of
scientific methods within a specific area of
investigation or inquiry.
 Students design research projects that
provide quantitative data through
experimentation followed by analysis and
application of that data.
 Research does not mean…
 Providing ‘demonstrations’ of scientific concepts
 ‘Library' research
 Informational projects about a known
phenomenon
 ‘Explanation' models or
 Kit building
 Must be taught by a trained/experienced science
teacher.
 Must be supervised by a school science adviser
 Maybe conducted through the assistance of
local experts/scientists from within the regions
who could served as consultants in the review or
evaluation of the science research
proposal/report.
 Maybe be implemented in conformity with the
rules and regulations of local science fairs
 A strategy to incorporate the methods of
science in teaching.
 Allows inquiries into questions and problems
to which the answer is not known.
 Provides activities wherein the students
probe areas that, for them, contain
unknowns.
 Involves questions, problems, or puzzling
phenomena that can be resolved only
through research methodology
 Provides an effective mode where students
learn science.
 Involves a “hands-on”/”minds-on” paradigm in
the teaching of science.
 Promotes the development in the students of
valuable skills and attitudes that characterize
the research work of scientists.
 Hones skills such as being curious, being
skeptical, insisting on evidence, being
cooperative and thinking positively about
“failures”.
 Fosters a habit of critical thinking, carefully
questioning and considering evidences prior to
the formulation of a reasoned and biasfree
conclusion.
 Develops life-long learning skills that the student
can apply in daily living and learning another
subject areas.
 It makes our life easier
 Helps us to understand more deeper
the things around us
 It satisfies our craving for
knowledge, ideas, and principles
 It hones the skills of the researcher
 Discover new facts of unknown phenomena
 Find solution to problems that are only partially
solved
 Improve or develop new products
 Discover unrecognized substances, elements, and
their uses
 Validate generalizations into systematic order
 Provide basis for decision making in any
undertaking
 Satisfy the researcher’s curiosity
 Acquire better and deeper understanding
about one phenomenon to another
 Verify existing knowledge
 Improve educational practices by raising the
quality of school products (for Teachers only)
 Promote health and prolong life
 Enhance man’s basic life
 Research follows the scientific method
 Identification of the Problem

TOPIC
PROPOSAL Review of Literature
STAGE
Research Design

Data Collection

Data Analysis & Inference

Writing-Up
first checkpoint…
 INITIAL OBSERVATION
 Originates with a question.
▪ An inquisitive mind is the beginning of research.
 You notice something – wonder why it happens
 You see something – wonder what causes it
 You want to know how or why something works
 Principal question is divided to other questions.
▪ Subquestions must be specific – answerable by yes or no
Choosing the topic determines the area on
which the research will be focused.
 Challenge is in the choice of the system (or
design) to be used in the research.
 For science laboratory class – choice is limited
by the concepts that has to be learned.
 For student projects, research problems
could –
 Arise from curiosity
 Based on necessity
 Be of practical importance
 Be of theoretical value
 Be an exploratory study
 Or application of a known concept towards a new
development.
 Research problem has to be clearly defined in
order to ensure an efficient and fruitful
investigations.
 Variables have to be clearly defined
 A clearly defined research problem manifests its
implications.
 Problem can be broken into smaller units, known as
sub-problems.
 Sub-problems could be expressed in the forms of
hypotheses, using known concepts and principles.
 These hypothesis should answer the subproblems
 Interest of the researcher is also a
determinant.
 Other factors to be considered:
 Amount of available time – size of topic has to be
commensurate with the time period for
investigation.
 Available financial resources.
 Availability of facilities required
 Available expertise
 Background Research: Review of Literature or
Literature Survey
 Gather info from other research on how to solve
the chosen problem
 Doing background research
Background Research
 INFORMATION GATHERING –
Library/Internet
 Find out about what you want to investigate.
 Keep track of where you got your information.
 Ask the “Why” or “What if”
 Look for unexplained or unexpected results.
 Talk to professionals/experts in the field.
 Literature Survey
 Reading materials related to the research topics
enriched background and broaden the perspective
of the research.
 Thorough review of published work
▪ Yield information on what investigations have been
previously conducted and eliminate “reinventing the
wheel”.
▪ Reveals gaps in the existing knowledge.
▪ Allows an analysis of the problem and an evaluation of
the validity of the study to be done.
Lit Survey…
 Provides basis for research design.
 Appropriate methodology can be guided by
previous related works.
 Choice of materials can be wisely based on the
experiences of previous investigators.
 Sources are:
 Library
 Web Pages
 Other sources (to be discussed in ideation)…
Primary
 Journals
 Present up-to-date and detailed information on work
in specialized areas of interest
 Whether conventional or electronic form, recognized
as reliable sources of recent information.
 Other Sources
 Interview, e-mail contact, discussion, debate,
community meeting, survey, observation of object
(animate and inanimate).
Secondary - Edited primary sources, second-
hand versions.
 Reference materials, Books, CD ROM,
Encyclopedia, Magazine, Newspapers, Video
Tape, Audio Tape, TV
Summary of the Goal of Lit Survey…
 New ideas/approaches for practice.
 Identify relevant studies/investigators.
 Suggest methods.
 Identify other sources of information.
 Place your own study and practice in
perspective.
 Evaluate various studies by comparison.
Deciding the appropriate procedure to solve
problem
 Literature survey revealed the methods that
have been used in earlier studies.
 If investigation involves a new methodology,
innovation has to be appraised relative to the
methods previously reported.
What to do in research design?
 Design an Experimental Procedure to Test the
Hypothesis of the Research Project
 Make a step-by-step list of what you will do to answer
your questions. This list is called an experimental
procedure.
 Controlled Experiments should be:
 Systematic in variation of parameters
 Employed to study the influence of some factors in
the behavior of a system.
 Positive and negative controls are used as reference
point of comparison.
 Select only one thing to change in each experiment.
Things that can be changed are called variables.
 Change something that will help you test your
hypothesis.
 The procedure must tell how you will change this one
thing.
 The procedure must explain how you will measure the
amount of change.
 Each type of experiment needs a "control" for
comparison so that you can see what the change
actually did.
 Positive and negative controls
 Experimental parameters determine the
soundness of the data that will be collected.
 Information gathered from literature survey
can be a guide in the selection of the
conditions to be set during the research.
 Preliminary experiment could be carried out to
screen the appropriateness of various
experimental conditions.
 List of Materials and Equipment
 Make a list of the things you need to do the
experiments, and prepare them.
 Thorough selection and organization of
information that will answer the objectives
 Valid and sound methods that ensure
reproducibility of the observations and the
data.
TITLE OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT
 Choose a title that describes the effect or thing
you are investigating.
 The title should summarize what the
investigation will deal with.
STATEMENT OF THE PURPOSE/S OF THE
RESEARCH PROJECT
 What do you want to find out?
 Write a statement that describes what you want
to do.
 Use your observations and questions to write the
statement.
HYPOTHESIS
 Make a list of answers to the questions you
have. This can be a list of statements
describing how or why you think the
observed things work.
 Hypothesis must be stated in a way that can
be tested by an experiment.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
 Use a variety of resources (primary and secondary
literature)
 Able to select information relevant to answer the
objectives
 Able to continually revise the search based on
information found
 Be focussed
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (RESEARCH DESIGN)
REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY
TIMETABLE OF ACTIVITIES
PROJECTED EXPENDITURES
 Identification of the Problem

TOPIC
PROPOSAL Review of Literature
STAGE
Research Design

Data Collection

Data Analysis & Inference

Writing-Up
gathering the raw materials to solve the problem
Do the experiment and record data
 Do the experiment and record all numerical
measurements made.
 Data can be amounts of chemicals used,
conditions, parameters, the time something
took, etc. If you are not making any
measurements, you probably are not doing an
experimental science project.
Proper methods for record keeping and
electronic data collection and storage in
scientific research.
 Includes defining what constitutes data;
 keeping data notebooks;
 data selection, retention, sharing, ownership,
and analysis;
 data as legal documents and intellectual
property, including copyright laws.
 Qualitative data consists of literal statements
that describe the observation seen in the
system under study.
 Quantitative data involves numerical figures
that are the results of measurements carried
out during the investigation.
Observation statements are used to describe
the facts collected during the experiment.
 Details should be relevant to the objectives.
 Observation statements are influenced by the
conditions under which they are prepared.
 Condition of the instrument system being used
and the ambient conditions
Numerical Data are results of measurement
procedures.
 Results are recorded with accuracy.
 Objectives have to be considered to avoid
collection of unnecessary data.
 If possible, Instrumentation system must be
computerized to facilitate the automatic and
unambiguous recording of data.
 On-the-spot recording of data
 Notebook has to be well-bound and its pages
numbered in order to discourage tearing off of
pages.
 Habit of recording data regularly, faithfully and
without delay must be developed.
 Print-outs of instrumentation output should be
pasted well, or better stapled on the proper
pages in the notebook.
 Ideas, comments and reflections can also be
written in the notebook to provide a guide in the
latter phase of the work.
 Record of Observations
 Qualitative and quantitative
 Problems encountered
 Notes of everything you do, and everything
that happens.
 Truthful observations are valuable when
drawing conclusions, and useful for locating
experimental errors .
getting the juice of the results
 Experimental data are meaningless unless
inferences are extracted from them.
 Analysis of data
 Qualitative or quantitative data can be presented as a
table.
 Qualitative data could be organized as a flow-chart to
reveal relationship of several observations.
 Quantitative data could be plotted as graph such as
bar or line graphs to show trends in the behaviour.
 Data are analyzed in order to generate an
answer to the objectives of the investigation.
 Inferences can be in the form of a generalization.
 Array of numerical data could be summarized by
means of a mathematical expression through
statistical methods.
 Calculations
 Perform any math/statistics needed to turn raw data
recorded during experiments into numbers you will
need to make tables, graphs or draw conclusions.
 Interpretation of data could lead to new
“finding”.
 Consistency of collected data with existing
knowledge
 Further experiments to verify data
 Summary of Results
 Summarize what happened either in the form of a table of
numerical data or graphs.
 It could also be a written statement of what occurred
during the experiments.
 Conclusions/Inferences
 Using the trends in your experimental data and your
experimental observations, try to answer your original
questions. Is your hypothesis correct?
 Pull together what happened, and assess the experiments
you did.
 If your hypothesis is not correct, what could be the
answer to your question?
 Summarize any difficulties or problems you
had doing the experiment.
 Do you need to change the procedure and
repeat your experiment?
 What would you do different next time?
 List other things you learned.
eureka! Eureka!
 Science Research Project is incomplete
without the written report.
 Research output can be communicated either
through an oral or poster presentation.
 Limited number of people
 Written report when published in a widely
circulated journals provides immortalization
of the results.
what to DO on making a good project
 Project Data Book
 Research Paper
 Title Page and Table of contents
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results and Discussion
 Conclusion
 Acknowledgement
 A project data book is your most treasured piece
of work.
 Accurate and detailed notes make a logical and
winning project.
 Good notes show consistency and thoroughness
and will help you when writing your research
paper.
 Data tables are also helpful. They may be a little
'messy' but be sure the quantitative data
recorded is accurate and that units are included
in the data tables. Make sure you date each
entry.
 A research paper should be prepared and
available along with the project data book
and any necessary forms or relevant written
materials.
 A research paper helps organize data as well
as thoughts.
 A good paper includes the following sections.
 Gives the essence of the project in a brief but
complete form — it should not exceed 250
words.
 Must be focus on the current year's research and
give only minimal reference to previous work.
 Details and discussions should not be included in
the abstract, but may be put in the longer,
written research paper (if required), or given on
the project exhibit board.
 Does not include acknowledgements (such as
referencing mentor or university laboratory).
 Purpose of the Experiment
 An introductory statement of the reason for
investigating the topic of the project.
 A statement of the problem or hypothesis being
studied.
 Procedures Used
 A summarization of the key points and an
overview of how the investigation was conducted.
 An abstract does not give details about the
materials used unless it greatly influenced the
procedure or had to be developed to do the
investigation.
 An abstract should only include procedures done
by the student. Work done by a mentor (such as
surgical procedures) or work done prior to student
involvement must not be included.
 Observation/Data/Results
 This section should provide key results that lead
directly to the conclusions you have drawn.
 It should not give too many details about the results
nor include tables or graphs.
 Conclusions
 Conclusions from the investigation should be
described briefly.
 The summary paragraph should reflect on the process
and possibly state some applications and extensions
of the investigation.
An abstract does not include a bibliography
unless specifically required by your local fair.
Named as “The Introduction”
 Sets the scene for the report.
 Includes the purpose, your hypothesis,
problem or engineering goals, an explanation
of what prompted your research, and what
you hoped to achieve.
 Includes the ‘Literature Survey’
Named as “Materials and Methods” or
“Methodology”
 Describe in detail the methodology used to
collect data, make observations, design
apparatus, etc.
 Include detailed photographs or drawings of
self-designed equipment.
Named as “Results and Discussion”
 Include data and analysis
 Should include statistics, graphs, pages with
your raw collected data, etc.
 This is the essence of your paper.
 Compare your results with theoretical values,
published data, commonly held beliefs,
and/or expected results.
 Include a discussion of possible errors. How
did the data vary between repeated
observations of similar events? How were
your results affected by uncontrolled events?
What would you do differently if you
repeated this project? What other
experiments should be conducted?
Named as “Conclusions”
 Briefly summarize the results.
 State the findings in relationships of one
variable with the other.
 Support those statements with empirical data.
(one average compared to the other average, for
example).
 Be specific, do not generalize.
 Never introduce anything in the conclusion that
has not already been discussed.
 Also mention practical applications.
 Title Page and Table of Contents
 Acknowledgments
 Always credit those who have assisted in the
project, including individuals, businesses and
educational or research institutions.
 Other Preliminaries
 References/Bibliography:
 Reference list should include any
documentation that is not your own (i.e.
books, journal articles, websites, etc.).
 See an appropriate reference in your
discipline for format.
 Other Supplementary Parts
 MLA Format:
1) Journal article, one author -
Bekerian, D.D. (1993), In Search of the Typical
Eyewitness. American Psychologist, 48. 574-
576.
2) Reference to an entire book -
Cone, J.D., & Forster, S.L. (1993. Dissertations
and Thesises From Start to Finish: Psychology
and Related Fields. Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.
APA style. Bibliography is alphabetical and not
numbered. First line is at the margin and the
second line of same reference is indented
 Article from a magazine - SPIRAL STRUCTURE,
DUST CLOUDS, AND STAR FORMATIONS.
 Frank H. Shu in American Scientist, Vol. 61, pages 524-
536; 1973
 Book with an author – THE LARGE-SCALE
STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE.
 J.P.E. Peebles. Princeton University Press, 1980
 Book with an editor – INTERSTELLAR
MOLECULES. Edited by B.H. Andrew.
 D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1980
 Online website –
 Planning for College and Academic Planning. The
College
Board.http://www.collegeboard.org/features/pare
ntgd/html/academic.html. Accessed on 7 June
2000
 For Publication in journal
 Concise
 Only important details are included in the
introduction and discussion.
 Verbose expression of ideas are discouraged.
 As thesis
 Very expository
 As technical report
 Focuses more on methods and the findings of the
project.
 Discussion is focused on the answers to the
problems that led to the investigation carried out.
Other than the Sciences
 "Scientists try to understand how nature
works; engineers create things that never
were."
 An engineering project should state the
engineering goals, the development process
and the evaluation of improvements.
 Engineering projects may include the
following:
 Define a need or "How can I make this better?"
 Develop or establish design criteria (could be
more than one)
 Do background research and search the literature
to see what has already been done or what
products already exist that fill a similar need.
What make them good and what makes them
weak?
 Prepare preliminary designs and a materials list.
Consider costs, manufacturing and user
requirements.
 Build and test a prototype of your best design.
Consider reliability, repair and servicing.
 Retest and redesign as necessary. Product testing.
 Present results
NOTE: Engineering projects done outside the school
may or may not follow the scientific method.
However, for your projects, better follow the inquiry
approach (scientific method)
 Not all areas of study are best served by scientific
method based research. Because engineers,
inventors, mathematicians, theoretical
physicists, and computer programmers have
different objectives than those of other
scientists, they follow a different process in their
work. The process that they use to answer a
question or solve a problem is different
depending on their area of study. Each one uses
their own criteria to arrive at a solution.
 These often involve creating and writing new
algorithms to solve a problem or improve on
an existing algorithm. Simulations, models or
'virtual reality' are other areas on which to
conduct research.
 These involve proofs, solving equations, etc.
Math is the language of science and is used to
explain existing phenomena or prove new
concepts and ideas.
 These projects may involve a thought
experiment, development of new theories
and explanations, concept formation or
designing a mathematical model.
the checklist for your project
 Clear and focus objective(s) & sub-problems
 Relevant/meaningful science project
 Appropriate and exhaustive literature review
 Sound and acceptable methodology
 Thorough and accurate analyses of the
results/findings
 Correct and result-based
conclusions/recommendations
 Excellent mode of disseminations
 Written – report
 Oral – presentation
 Visual - poster
 Science students are in a unique position for
making a relevant science research
 You have your instructors with you – the adviser,
the SRC, and other science experts
 Exposure to different research made by other
researchers during Science Fairs – in and out of
the school
 Institutional back-up – Projects are encouraged
 Previous reference – Compendium SY 2015-16,
2016-17
Deciphering the SIP
Take a picture of the abstract assigned to your
group and answer the following questions:
 What prompted the researcher/proponent to
study the problem?
 What is the problem in the study?
 How was it answered?
 What was the result?
 Variable – anything in a research situation
that varies and can be measured
 Research design – plan used to study a
problem or issue
 Hypothesis – tentative statement about how
the variables are related. This is the one
tested in the research process
 Control group – group not receiving
experimental conditions. Kept “as is”
 Correlation – measure of systematic
relationship between variables
 Dependent variable – response variable
 Independent variable – stimulus variable
 Specimen – organisms receiving
experimental treatment
 Treatment – situation designed to test
the hypothesis
 How to Organize and Implement Science Research Projects and
Action Plan for Scientific Teachers. Prof. Maribel G. Nonato
Ph.D. University of Santo Tomas, Philippines
 Methods of Research, Thesis Writing & Applied Statistics. 2010.
Zulueta, Francisco E. et al.
 http://www.ask.com/question/what-is-the-meaning-of-an-
investigatory-project
 http://education.blurtit.com/1531976/what-are-the-definition-
of-a-science-investigatory-project
 http://region3.dost.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&vie
w=category&id=16:animal-science&Itemid=45&layout=default
 http://region3.dost.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&vie
w=category&id=17:biochemistry&Itemid=45&layout=default