Unsure what a field report includes? Review the example proposal.
Posted on SAKAI under Autecology & Evolution Resources, you will find an example field report (Field Report 1 Example by M. Stanko.pdf). Note: You field report experiment may not resemble this example!
Some components of a thorough experimental design that should be included in your field report:
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Do not try this at home
or in a field report (education.com). |
A research
question based on your field
observations - Does your question have a practical application? Is it testable?
A clear hypothesis - A testable and informed statement, NOT a question.
Independent variable(s) - The manipulated variable or treatment, presumably the "cause".
Control treatment - The non-manipulated treatment that serves as the experiment's baseline. Manipulative experiments commonly have a negative control and a positive/procedural control to help eliminate as many artifacts as possible that are introduced by the experimental procure. If unaccounted for, these experimental artifacts may confound the results.
Dependent variables - Response variable(s) that are measured, presumably the "effect". Do not forget to include units of measurement, such as weight (oz., lb.), time (sec., min.), etc.
Standardized variables - These are other factors or variables that could fluctuate/differ and affect your results, but are not relevant to your research question. Extraneous conditions not relevant to your hypothesis should be constant throughout all of the treatments; this helps isolate the effects of the independent (manipulated) variable on the dependent variable.
Note: Some people use the term "controlled variables" to describe variables that are standardized across treatments, but this can cause confusion, so I prefer to use the term "standardized variables".
Replication - What is your level of replication? How many times will you do the experiment or how many individuals will you include to get a representative sample size?
Methods - Your experimental design should be repeatable to anyone who picks up your field report. Make sure you clearly identify all of the above terms in your experimental design. Your design must have all of those components!
Expected results - Because your hypothesis is a predictive statement based on your field observations, you probably have an idea of what the outcomes of the experiment might be. What do you expect to observe that will allow you to accept or reject your hypothesis? If you are familiar with statistics and know an appropriate statistical method for your data analysis you may include that, but statistics are not mandatory.
Use those key terms when designing your experiment and writing your report! Uncertain your organism or question is appropriate? Feel free to email me before Wednesday (Feb. 1) or ask me before/after recitation.
Citations - If you researched your organism or another aspect of your report, you must use in-text citations and include a bibliography. The bibliography does not count toward your page limit. Please note: you must use reputable sources (e.g., peer-reviewed journals) and not websites such as Wikipedia!
If you do include a bibliography, please follow the Chicago Author-Date Style.
A PDF explaining this citation style may be found here.
Still unsure about good scientific experimental designs?
Visit this link and read the section titled "Experimentation as a scientific research method".
Field report formatting requirements:
1-3 pages, excluding citations. Reports more than 3 pages will not be read/graded!
(Save paper - please do not submit a cover page!)
Double spaced
12pt Times New Roman or Arial font
1-inch margins
Stapled
Document header: student name and section #
Document footer: page #
Last but not least:
Use spell check and have someone proofread your field report!
Yes, you will lose points for poor writing.
"Writing well is not a gift reserved for the few but a set of skills that can be learned by anyone. The technical aspects can be learned in any of several ways: by taking a class, by studying books on writing, by working with a partner or a group and acting on their feedback. But while grammar and structure are an important part of writing, to write well also demands some effort to develop style. Style is what keeps people reading past the first sentence..."
Recitation study tip:
Look over the "Autecology - Glossary of Terms" in your packet. Try highlighting or putting a mark next to words that sound familiar. Revisit this glossary in a week and see if you can highlight any more words. This brief study method should help you prepare for your recitation QUIZ on Feb. 11-13. By the time you have your quiz, many of the words in your packet will be highlighted/checked!
When reading and reviewing scientific papers, be sure to use the tips outlined in the course packet, "Understanding Research Papers" (p. 8).
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