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Research Plan

The student proposes an observational study to examine how different genres of music affect bird singing behavior. The study will observe individual birds for 15 minutes with no music, and then for 15 minutes with different genres of music played. The research question is whether a specific genre makes a bird sing more. The hypothesis is that [genre] will elicit more singing. Replication will involve observing multiple birds with each condition. The independent variable is the music genre, the dependent variable is amount of singing, and the control is no music.

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23 views3 pages

Research Plan

The student proposes an observational study to examine how different genres of music affect bird singing behavior. The study will observe individual birds for 15 minutes with no music, and then for 15 minutes with different genres of music played. The research question is whether a specific genre makes a bird sing more. The hypothesis is that [genre] will elicit more singing. Replication will involve observing multiple birds with each condition. The independent variable is the music genre, the dependent variable is amount of singing, and the control is no music.

Uploaded by

riverakeila547
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Sci 102 Individual Research Plan

This semester you’ll plan and carry out a small scientific study of your own in the great outdoors. This
will most likely be an observational study, so it doesn’t require a grand experimental set-up—rather just
some basic planning to set you up for your experiment. However, there is potential to do a manipulative
experiment as well.
It’s great to have lots of questions! In the end you’ll want to have at least one that you can complete
with tools you have at hand. Some studies involve counting things—so the “tools” are really your brain,
your eyes, and a way to record your data. You might also consider a study that measures things—maybe
you have a ruler or tape measurer you can put to use. There are apps that can measure sound in
decibels or light levels in lux if you want to try something out on your phone. Maybe you have additional
gadgets or would like to borrow some, like a thermometer or a soil moisture detector from the garden
store—if you have fun gadgets, feel free to use them, but if not, it’s fine to stick with the basics.
1. What location do you plan to use for your research? This could be the Trin Trail, the native plant
basin, your yard, a forest preserve, etc.
my back yard or neighborhood

2. List four or more scientific questions you could ask about the species or environment in the area
you mentioned. (You won’t investigate all of these—this is just for brainstorming.)

Here are some example questions, imagining that my study area was a coral reef—that way it might give you some
inspiration but will necessarily need to be made your own by adapting it to your own study area and species.

Does elkhorn coral tend to grow taller than brain coral? Do wrasse fish tend to spend more time close to coral or close
to sea grasses? Do wrasse interact differently with other types of fish compared to other wrasse? How do shrimp react
to the presence of fish compared to when fish are distant? How much does water level vary with the tides?

3. What is your research question? Remember that it should be both specific and testable. It can
also be helpful to relate your question to a comparison of groups or a relationship between two
things
4. does a specific genre of music make bird sing more

I decided to focus on how the wrasse interact, and I noticed sometimes they flare their gills when they
come close to another fish. So I ask, are wrasse more likely to flare their gills at other species of fish than
at other wrasse? Here, my question gets at a comparison –I’ll compare responses to wrasse or other fish.
5. What is your hypothesis?

My hypothesis is that since gill flaring can be an aggressive behavior, the wrasse are more likely
to flare their fills at other species, which might be perceived as a threat.

6. What kind of measurements will you take? Be specific, and make sure it’s something you can
really measure with the tools you have available.

In my example, I’d be recording the type of encounter (with another wrasse or with another fish)
and the response (gill flare or not). These are categorical measures.

Other types of studies might include quantitative measures, such as measuring the height of
coral in cm or the time in minutes that a fish spends in a particular habitat.

7. Briefly describe how each of the following terms applies to your proposed experiment:
a. Independent variable(s)

b. Dependent variable(s)

c. Control (depending on your study you may or may not need one)

In my example, the type of interaction (with another wrasse or a different fish) is the independent
variable; the response (gill flaring or not) is the dependent variable. One way I could include a
control would be to observe if the fish ever flare their gills when they are alone.

8. How will you include replication? (Include a minimum of 8 samples that you’ll measure. If you
are comparing two groups, that means at least 4 samples per group. If your measurements are
fairly quick or easy, I may ask you to do more. If you propose something really complex, we
might decide to reduce the number of replicates.)
For replication, I’d try to observe 10 encounters of each type.

9. What kind of results would cause you to reject your hypothesis? (This is a helpful exercise to do,
because if you can really test your hypothesis, then you should be able to imagine data that
would cause you to reject it—essentially saying that it was wrong. And remember that it’s okay if
your hypothesis isn’t supported—that’s part of how science progresses.)

In my example, I could find that wrasse are equally likely to gill flare at any kind of fish, or I
could find that wrasse are actually more likely to gill flare to another member of their own
species.

10. Do you have any questions or concerns about how you will carry out this study? Is there
anything I can help you with to allow you to get started?

notes:
one bird with no music just observed
15 mins with each genre wiht each bird

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