COLEGIO DE LOS BAÑOS PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1- STEM 2ND SEM 2020-2021

Week 5-6:

MELCS:
 selects relevant literature
 cites related literature using standard style
 synthesizes information from relevant literature
 writes coherent review of literature

Writing Scientific Hypotheses

What is a hypothesis?
 A possible explanation to an observed phenomenon or event
 A tentative statement of a relationship between two or more variables.
 A “good” scientific hypothesis is one that is testable. Testable means that you can perform a test (e.g.,
experiment) to show how the variables might be related. The results of the test will determine whether
you “reject” or “accept” your hypothesis. If you cannot test your hypothesis, then you cannot verify
whether or not it is correct.

How to write a formalized hypothesis

1. Identify the independent and dependent variables that you are testing. The independent variable is the variable
that you, the "scientist" control and the dependent variable is the one that you observe and/or measure. The
dependent variable will change in response to changes in the independent variable.
For example, if you are interested in the effect of energy consumption on economic growth, then energy
consumption is the independent variable and economic growth is the dependent variable
2. Hypothesize how the two variables are related.
For example, you might hypothesize that as energy consumption increases, economic growth will increase. This is
a positive direct relationship. You could alternatively hypothesize that as energy consumption decreases,
economic growth will decrease. This is a negative direct relationship. You might even hypothesize that as energy
consumption increases, economic growth will decrease.
This is an inverse relationship.
3. Write your hypothesis using an IF/THEN statement.
IF <insert dependent variable> IS <describe relation> RELATED TO <insert independent variable> THEN <insert the
hypothesized relation between the variables> Using the example of the positive relation between energy
consumption and economic growth, you would hypothesize the following:
IF economic growth IS positively RELATED TO energy consumption, THEN as energy consumption increases,
economic growth will increase
Caution! An IF/THEN statement is only a testable hypothesis if you describe the relation between the variables.
Source: Access Excellence. Writing Hypotheses: a student lesson. Located at :
<http://www.accessexcellence.org/LC/TL/filson/writhypo.php>.

Writing Background Research Questions

Background research questions must be written in such a way as to cover everything you need to know to conduct
the experiment. These questions help you focus on what you really need to know. Research questions are to
be written in a general way, not in a way that could be answered in one or two sentences.

For example, the question, “What do river otters eat?” is not the best way to word a background
research question because it can be answered with just one idea. Although that question is important and
needs to be answered to do the experiment, background research questions are more general—for
example, “What is needed to care for river otters in captivity?” This research question allows you to
answer questions about what otters eat as well as what they need to sleep, drink, and swim. It also may
bring up environmental issues that you may not have considered.
COLEGIO DE LOS BAÑOS PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1- STEM 2ND SEM 2020-2021

You should have at least one background research question for each of the following four categories:
1. Entity
• Specific types that are easily studied
• Its structure and function
• Handling/care/safety/ethics within a controlled environment
2. Independent Variable
• Its structure and function
• How it can safely and ethically be manipulated
3. Dependent Variable
• Its structure and function
• How changes can best be measured, recorded, and observed
4. Connections Between the Entity and the Independent and Dependent Variables
• Learn what is already known about these relationships (i.e., previous research on the topic)

Starting Background Research Early

Doing the preliminary research, developing good research questions, and writing a high-quality proposal are
probably the most challenging parts of doing experimental research. You must spend time doing
background research to understand the problem you want to address. The time you spend now will make
the experimental and writing processes much easier.
It is important to become very knowledgeable about your topic before writing a hypothesis. You need to know
enough to make an educated prediction of the outcome of your experiment.
It is important that your teacher approve these questions. Don’t take your teacher’s suggestions as criticism.
Instead view the teacher approval process as a way to make sure the time you spend researching is well
focused.
Identifying Reliable Scientific Resources
To answer the background questions, you have developed for your research topic, you’ll most likely be looking for
resources online.
Locating and obtaining resources from a library has traditionally been the way to determine whether or not a
resource is reliable (i.e., accurate and trustworthy). Printed materials at libraries are usually reliable
because they have been through an editing and publishing process. However, with our current situation,
you do not have access to our school library.
Many of these printed materials now have identical online versions that are available through libraries’ paid
subscriptions to specific databases (from which full-text versions can be downloaded).
For a research project at this level, you are expected to include scholarly research resources. Scholarly research is
writing done by an academic (i.e., a professor or some other teacher or researcher at a college or
university) is usually based on original research or experimentation.
Scholarly research, usually published in research journals, is highly respected because the writing had to be peer-
reviewed by experts in the same field. This type of writing will be heavier in STEM-specific vocabulary than
other resources you read on your topic, particularly nonscholarly writings on the web.
There are also current and reliable materials that are available online that are not stored behind firewalls, but you
will not necessarily be able to identify which ones are reliable if you use a basic search engine like Google
or Yahoo. With a growing movement toward Open Access (OA), research institutions are increasingly
making scholarly writing available for free.

Note Taking
The word documentation refers to the practice of referencing or citing previous works within a piece of writing in
accordance with an “official” documentation style guide, such as that of the Modern Language Association
(MLA) or American Psychological Association (APA). There are many documentation styles used by
researchers; however, for your research you will use APA.
The most important principle of documentation is that you give credit to the ideas, information, or expressions of
others in two places within your writing: in parentheses within the narrative of your text and in a reference
section at the end.
COLEGIO DE LOS BAÑOS PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1- STEM 2ND SEM 2020-2021

It is necessary that as you take notes you keep track of where the information came from and what pages the
information appeared on. Consequently, you must remain organized while taking notes. To prevent
yourself from inadvertently plagiarizing, you should get into the practice of writing your notes in short
phrases, not in complete sentences.

Note-Card Method of Organizing Background Research SOURCE (NSTA STEM Research Handbook)

1. Research Question Cards:

Assign each background research
question a number and write this number
and question on a single note card.
Consider using different-color cards for
each question.

2. Bibliography Cards:
For each resource you use (book,
journal, or website), you will write
the bibliography information on a
single card, assigning a letter to
these resources as you go.

3. Note Cards:
Begin taking notes on the note cards
a. In the upper right-hand corner, put the letter of
the resource from which the information is coming.
b. In the upper left-hand corner, put the number of
the background research question the notes are
addressing. If you want to color code your note
cards, coordinate the color with the research
question card—not the bibliography cards.
c. In the lower right-hand corner, put the page
numbers where you found the information. When
recording notes from pages of actual books,
journals, and PDF files, use the abbreviation “pg.”
When recording notes from a web page, do not use
page numbers; instead include paragraph numbers
and use the abbreviation “para.”
COLEGIO DE LOS BAÑOS PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1- STEM 2ND SEM 2020-2021

Avoiding Plagiarism

When Taking Notes

 Take notes in your own words.

 First, read a paragraph; second, close the resource (or minimize the program on your computer); and third,
from your memory, write your notes.
 Write short phrases that summarize rather than complete sentences to give an accurate presentation of
the author’s ideas.
 Then recheck your notes to be sure that you have correctly interpreted the content as intended by the
author.
 Keep careful track of the source of information to save you a lot of time in the long run.
When Writing the Paper

 If you took your notes in your own words, avoiding plagiarism while you write the paper is much easier.
 After you changed an author’s wording into your own, you still must document within your paper; it is not
enough to just add the resource to the reference list at the end of your paper.
 If you use an author’s wording exactly, you must use quotation marks. Use direct quotations when
reproducing an exact definition, when an author has said something memorably or succinctly, or when you
want to respond to exact wording.
Example: Effective teams can be difficult to describe because “high performance along one domain
does not translate to high performance along another” (Ervin et al., 2018, p. 470).

 Use a minimum of two different sources to back up each new idea in a paragraph. Use the facts from your
note cards to write, in your own words, about the topic at hand.
 Collect what the experts wrote about your research questions and then organize this information to
explain your research study.
 Electronically copying-and-pasting any author’s work such as text, photos, images, or graphs without
proper documentation is plagiarism.
Example:

Title: FOLIAR SPRAYING OF USED COFFEE GROUNDS TEA TO BELL PEPPER (CAPSICUM ANNUUM)

Hypothesis: If the used coffee grounds tea will be applied to the bell pepper plant will be applied through foliar
spraying, then the growth rate of the bell pepper plant will be faster.

Background Research Questions

1. Entity (the focus of your study)

• How are bell peppers grown traditionally?
 What are the common organic fertilizers that may be applied to bell pepper?
2. Independent Variables (those that you will manipulate)
• What is foliar spraying?
• What are the benefits of used coffee grounds tea?
3. Dependent Variable (those that will be observed)
 What are the stages of growth of bell pepper?
 What are nutrient deficiencies of bell pepper?
4. Connections Between the Entity and the Independent and Dependent Variables
• What are the results of previous or related studies on used coffee grounds tea?
• What are the results of previous or related studies on foliar spraying?
COLEGIO DE LOS BAÑOS PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1- STEM 2ND SEM 2020-2021

Week 5: Activity

Name: _________________________________________ Date: ___________________________

Title:

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Hypothesis:

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Background Research Questions:

1. Entity (the focus of your study)

___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Independent Variables (those that you will manipulate)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Dependent Variable (those that will be observed)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Connections Between the Entity and the Independent and Dependent Variables
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
COLEGIO DE LOS BAÑOS PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1- STEM 2ND SEM 2020-2021

Week 6: Review of Related Literature

PROCESS QUESTIONS:

What is review of related literature? Why is it needed? What are the purposes for conducting related literature?

Related Literature
 are statements taken from science books, journals, magazines, newspapers and any documents from
authorized scientists, Science experts or well-known Science agencies.
 These statements can support your study through their concepts, theories, principles and
laws. Footnoting is important on this part.
 This pertains to the entity, independent variables and dependent variables of your research.

Related Studies
are those researches which may be local and foreign studies who can attribute to your research or can support
your investigation scientifically. Footnoting is also important on this part.

A Review of the Related Literature provides a concise summary of information and data findings that describe
current knowledge and facts. It offers a rationale for conducting future researches. An important area of a
literature review is an understanding of a gap. It is an important research question relevant to a given domain that
has not been answered adequately or at all in existing peer-reviewed scholarship. A gap will hopefully ensure that
the research will likely have valuable practical and/or theoretical implications. Synthesis and generalization as the
last important area of literature lead to the identification and purpose of the proposed study. In all reviews, some
recommendations or implications for practice, education and research should be included.

McMillan and Schumacher (1984) identified five purposes of the literature review. A literature review allows you
to:

1. Define and limit a problem

If your literature review is part of a larger research project, the literature review helps to identify the parameters
of a study. Most research areas are broad: a literature review allows identification of key issues within a broad
research area so that a definition of an area of interest can be pursued.

2. Place your study in perspective

The purpose of academic research is to push out and add to the current body of knowledge within a particular
field. Unless you are aware of the work of others, you cannot build upon an established foundation. A literature
review allows the researcher to say:

“The work of A, B, and C have discovered this much about my question; the investigations of D have added this
much to our knowledge. I propose to go beyond D's work in the following manner.‖

3. Avoid unintentional replication of previous studies

Sometimes it is appropriate to replicate a previous study, but this should be done intentionally and for a particular
purpose. A literature review helps you to make informed choices about a research topic within a scholarly context.

4. Select methods and measures

The success or failure of previous investigations can provide useful material for you when you are designing your
own research methodology. You can assess what has worked before (or not worked) in previous contexts and
why. You may be alerted to new methodologies and procedures and different types of tests, technologies and
measures.

5. Relate findings to previous knowledge and suggest areas for further research
COLEGIO DE LOS BAÑOS PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1- STEM 2ND SEM 2020-2021

The findings on one’s own research need to be related back to earlier studies. This ―places‖ ones work and can
point to areas that need further investigation. The research is much more a coherent whole if your discussion
section draws on and contrasts with the literature review.

For our Practical Research 1 output, the parts of our RRL will be:

1. Entity
This will be a minimum of 2 paragraphs about your entity (the focus of your study).
2. Independent Variables
This will be a minimum of 2 paragraphs about the independent variables (those that you will be
manipulating in your study).
3. Dependent Variables
This will be a minimum of 2 paragraphs about the dependent variables (those that you will be observing in
your study).
4. Related studies
This will be a minimum of 2 paragraphs about the past studies which is related to your study.

APA Citation Guide (www.mendeley.com)

1. APA Referencing Basics: Reference List

A reference list is a complete list of references used in a piece of writing including the author name, date of
publication, title and more. An APA reference list must:

 Be on a new page at the end of the document

 Be centred
 Be alphabetically by name of first author (or title if the author isn’t known, in this case a, an and the should
be ignored)
o If there are multiple works by the same author these are ordered by date, if the works are in the
same year they are ordered alphabetically by the title and are allocated a letter (a,b,c etc) after the
date
 Contain full references for all in-text references used

2. APA Referencing Basics: In-Text Citation

In-text references must be included following the use of a quote or paraphrase taken from another piece
of work. In-text citations are citations within the main body of the text and refer to a direct quote or paraphrase.
They correspond to a reference in the main reference list. These citations include the surname of the author and
date of publication only. Using an example author James Mitchell, this takes the form:

Mitchell (2017) states… Or …(Mitchell, 2017).

The structure of this changes depending on whether a direct quote or parenthetical used:

 Direct Quote: The citation must follow the quote directly and contain a page number after the date, for
example (Mitchell, 2017, p.104). This rule holds for all of the variations listed.
 Parenthetical: The page number is not needed.

Two Authors:
The surname of both authors is stated with either ‘and’ or an ampersand between.
For example: Mitchell and Smith (2017) state… Or …(Mitchell & Smith, 2017).

Three, Four or Five Authors:

For the first cite, all names should be listed:
COLEGIO DE LOS BAÑOS PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1- STEM 2ND SEM 2020-2021

Mitchell, Smith, and Thomson (2017) state… Or …(Mitchell, Smith, & Thomson, 2017).
Further cites can be shorted to the first author’s name followed by et al:
Mitchell et al (2017) state… Or …(Mitchell et al, 2017).

Six or More Authors:

Only the first author’s surname should be stated followed by et al, see the above example.

No Authors:
If the author is unknown, the first few words of the reference should be used. This is usually the title of the
source.
If this is the title of a book, periodical, brochure or report, is should be italicised. For example:
(A guide to citation, 2017).
If this is the title of an article, chapter or web page, it should be in quotation marks. For example:
(“APA Citation”, 2017).

Citing Authors With Multiple Works From One Year:

Works should be cited with a, b, c etc following the date. These letters are assigned within the reference list,
which is sorted alphabetically by the surname of the first author. For example:
(Mitchell, 2017a) Or (Mitchell, 2017b).

Citing Multiple Works in One Parentheses:

If these works are by the same author, the surname is stated once followed by the dates in order chronologically.
For instance:
Mitchell (2007, 2013, 2017) Or (Mitchell, 2007, 2013, 2017)
If these works are by multiple authors then the references are ordered alphabetically by the first author
separated by a semicolon as follows:
(Mitchell & Smith 2017; Thomson, Coyne, & Davis, 2015).

Citing a Group or Organization:

For the first cite, the full name of the group must be used. Subsequently this can be shortened. For example:
First cite: (International Citation Association, 2015)
Further Cites: (Citation Association, 2015)

Citing a Secondary Source:

In this situation the original author and date should be stated first followed by ‘as cited in’ followed by the author
and date of the secondary source. For example:
Lorde (1980) as cited in Mitchell (2017) Or (Lorde, 1980, as cited in Mitchell, 2017)

3. How to Cite Different Source Types

In-text citation doesn’t vary depending on source type, unless the author is unknown.
Reference list citations are highly variable depending on the source.
How to Cite a Book (Title, not chapter) in APA Format
Book referencing is the most basic style; it matches the template above, minus the URL section. So the basic
format of a book reference is as follows:

Book referencing examples:

COLEGIO DE LOS BAÑOS PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1- STEM 2ND SEM 2020-2021

Mitchell, J.A., Thomson, M., & Coyne, R.P. (2017). A guide to citation. London, England: My Publisher
Jones, A.F & Wang, L. (2011). Spectacular creatures: The Amazon rainforest (2nd ed.). San Jose, Costa Rica: My
Publisher
How to Cite an E-Book in APA Format
An E-Book reference is the same as a book reference expect the publisher is swapped for a URL. The basic
structure is as follows:
Author surname, initial(s) (Ed(s).*). (Year). Title (ed.*). Retrieved from URL
*optional.
E-Book example:
Mitchell, J.A., Thomson, M., & Coyne, R.P. (2017). A guide to citation. Retrieved from
https://www.mendeley.com/reference-management/reference-manager

How to Cite an E-Book Chapter in APA Format

This follows the same structure as an edited book chapter reference except the publisher is exchanged for a
URL. The structure is as follows:
Last name of the chapter author, initial(s). (Year). Chapter title. In editor initial(s), surname (Ed.). Title (ed.,
pp.chapter page range). Retrieved from URL
E-Book chapter example:
Troy, B.N. (2015). APA citation rules. In S.T, Williams (Ed.). A guide to citation rules (2nd ed., pp. 50-95). Retrieved
from https://www.mendeley.com/reference-management/reference-manager

How to Cite a Journal Article in Print or Online in APA Format

Articles differ from book citations in that the publisher and publisher location are not included. For journal
articles, these are replaced with the journal title, volume number, issue number and page number. The basic
structure is:

Journal Article Examples:

Mitchell, J.A. (2017). Citation: Why is it so important. Mendeley Journal, 67(2), 81-95
Mitchell, J.A. (2017). Citation: Why is it so important. Mendeley Journal, 67(2), 81-95. Retrieved
from https://www.mendeley.com/reference-management/reference-manager

How to Cite a Newspaper Articles in Print or Online in APA Format

The basic structure is as follows:
Author surname, initial(s). (Year, Month Day). Title. Title of Newspaper, column/section, p. or pp. Retrieved from
URL*
**Only include if the article is online.
Note: the date includes the year, month and date.
Newspaper Articles Example:
Mitchell, J.A. (2017). Changes to citation formats shake the research world. The Mendeley Telegraph, Research
News, pp.9. Retrieved from https://www.mendeley.com/reference-management/reference-manager

How to Cite Magazine Articles in Print or Online in APA Format

The basic structure is as follows:
Author surname, initial(s). (Year, month day). Title. Title of the Magazine, pp.
Magazine Article Example:
COLEGIO DE LOS BAÑOS PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1- STEM 2ND SEM 2020-2021

Mitchell, J.A. (2017). How citation changed the research world. The Mendeley, pp. 26-28

How to Cite a Website in APA Format

When citing a website, the basic structure is as follows:
Author surname, initial(s). (Year, month day). Title. Retrieved from URL
Website example:
Mitchell, J.A. (2017, May 21). How and when to reference. Retrieved
from https://www.howandwhentoreference.com.

Week 6 Activity:

You will be looking for answers to your Background Research Questions that you came up with form Week 5
Activity.
Note carding method as discussed in this module will be used. This will be continuously done until you have
collected sufficient information for you RRL.
Note cards will be submitted on Week 8.