Module 1: Experimenting

Planning and Conducting an Experiment

What is an experiment? It is an activity which is carefully planned, designed and executed in order to find out if a
hypothesis is wright or wrong.
Suppose your parents are farmers in a coastal town. The problem of your family is that salt water sips into the
soil in your farm; this phenomenon is called salt water intrusion.
Suppose your parents learned of a variety of which can tolerate salty water. Should your parents buy the seeds
(rice grains) right away? Or should you first find out how well that rice variety tolerates salt water? Suppose your
parents choose the second option, and they ask you to help them. What would you do? Study the design of the
experiment below and see if it will serve your purpose?

Module 2: Collecting, Organizing and Analyzing Data

Collecting of Data
Data collection is the systematic process by which observations of measurements are gathered in research. It
is used in many different contexts by academics, governments, businesses and other organizations.
Depending on the researcher’s research plan, and design, there are several ways data can be collected. The
most commonly used methods are published literature sources, surveys, interviews, observations, documents
and records and experiments.

Organizing Data
Data organization is the practice of categorizing and classifying data to make it more usable. Similar to a file folder,
where we keep important documents, you need to arrange your data in the most logical and orderly fashion, so you
and anyone else who accesses it can easily find what they are looking for.
The simplest way of organizing data is to present them in a table called the data table. It has a meaningful title,
labels and units. Scientist also use graphs which are visual representations of data or information collected during
the experiment. Graphs and data table make patterns and trends about the data.

Data Interpretation
Data interpretation is the process of reviewing data through some predefined processes which will help assign
some meaning to the data and arrived at a relevant conclusion. It involves taking the result of data analysis, making
inferences on the relation studied and using them to conclude. Therefore, before one can talk about interpreting
data, they need to be analyzed first. Data analysis is the process of ordering, categorizing, manipulating and
summarizing data to obtain answers to research questions. It is usually the first step taken towards data
interpretation.

Module 3: Formulating Hypothesis

What is a Hypothesis?
A hypothesis states your prediction about what your research will find. It is a tentative or temporary answer
to your research question that has not yet been tested. A hypothesis is not just a guess-it should be based on
existing theories and knowledge. It is also based from what you observed from the past, experienced and on facts.
Hypothesis also has to be testable, which means you can support or refute it through scientific research methods
(such as experiments, observations and statistical analysis of data). Hypothesis is written in declarative form.

Variables in Hypothesis
Hypotheses propose relationship between two or more variables. An independent variable is something the
researcher changes or controls. A dependent variable is something the researcher observes and measures.
For example:
Daily apple consumption leads to fewer doctor’s visit.
In this example, the independent variable is apple consumption-the assumed caused. The dependent variable
Is the frequency of doctor’s visits- the assumed effect.

Developing a Hypothesis
1. Ask a question
Writing a hypothesis begins with a research question that you want to answer. The question should be focused,
specific and researchable within the constraints of your project.
For example: Do students who attend more lectures get better exam results?

2. Do some preliminary research

Your initial answer to the problem should be based on what is already known about the topic. Look for theories
or previous studies to help you form educated assumption about what your research will find. At this stage, you might
construct a conceptual framework to identify which variables you will study and what you think the relationship are
between them.

3. Formulate your hypothesis

Now you should have some idea of what you expect to find. Wite your initial answer to the question in clear,
concise sentence.
For example: Attending more lectures lead to better exam results.

4. Refine your hypothesis

you need to make sure your hypothesis is specific and testable. There are various ways of phrasing a
hypothesis, but all of the terms you use should be clear definitions, and the hypothesis should contain:
The relevant variables
The specific group being studied
The predicted outcome of the experimenter analysis

5. Phrase your hypothesis in three ways:

1. Cause and effect – if the cause is true then the effect of it occur
To identify the variables, you can write a simple predictionin if ...then form. The first part of the sentence
states the independent variable and the second part states the dependent variable
For example: If a grade seven student starts attending more lectures, then their exam scores will improve.
2. Alternative hypothesis- it is always an affirmative form
For example: The number of lectures attended by grade seven students has a positive effect on their final exam
scores
3. Null hypothesis – always stated in in a negative form
If your research involves statistical testing, you will also have to write in a null hypothesis. The null hypothesis
is the default position between the variables.
For example: the number of lectures attended by grade seven students has no effect on their final exam scores.

Module 4: Organizing Data

What are table and graphs? Tables and graphs are visual representation . they are used to organize
information to show patterns and relationships. A graph shows this information by representing it as a shape and
using visuals. It is diagram showing the relation between variable quantities, typically of two variables. The three
main types of graphs are line graphs, pie graphs and bar graphs.
Line graphs illustrate how related data changes over a specific period of time. Each line graph consist of
points that connect data to show a trend(continuous change). Line graphs have an x-axis and y-axis. On most of
cases, time is distributed on the horizontal axis.
 When it comes to statistical types of graphs and charts, the pie chart(or the circle chart) has a crucial place
and meaning. It displays data and stastistics in an easy -to- understand “pie slice” format and illustrates numerical
proportion. Each pie slice is relative to the size of a particular category in a given group as a whole. To say it another
way, the pie chart brake down a group into smaller pieces. It show part-whole relationships. The total value of a pie
chart is always 100%. Each portion in the circle shows a fraction or percentage of the total.
Pie Chart Uses
➢ When you want to create and represent the composition of something
➢ It is very useful for displaying nominal or ordinal categories of data
➢ When comparing areas of growth within a business such as profit
➢ Work best for displaying data for 3 to 7 categories.
Pie chart is a circular graph which is used to represent data. In this:
➢ Various observation of the data are represented by the sectors of the circle.
➢ The total angle formed at the centre 360
➢ The whole circle represents the sum of the values of all the components
➢ The angle at the centrecorresponding to the particular observation components is given by
𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 x 360ᶹ
Total value
➢ If the values observation /components are expressed in percentage, then the centre angle corresponding to
particular observation/component is given by
Percentage value of component x 360ᶹ
100
Example:
The following table shows the number of hours spent by a child on different events on a working day. Represent the
adjoining information on a pie chart

Bar charts represent categorical data with rectangular bars to understand what is categorical data. Bar
graphs are among the most popular types of graphs and charts in economics, statistics, marketing and visualization
in digital customer experience. They are used to compare several categories of data.
Each rectangular bar has length height proportional to the values that they represent.
Bar Chart Uses
➢ When you want to display data that are grouped into nominal or ordinal categories
➢ To compare data among different categories
➢ Bar charts can also show large data charges over time
➢ For visualizing the distribution of data when we have more than three categories
Example:
A seventh grade class recorded their favorite after school activities in a table.
Steps in the Construction of a Bar Graph Note: Look at figure 3
1. Decide on a title for your graph (Ex: Seventh Grader’s Favorite Activities)
2. Draw the horizontal and vertical axes.
3. Label the horizontal axis (Favorite Activity)
4. Write the favorite activities where the bars will be (watching tv, sports exercising and so on)
5. Label the vertical lines ( Number of students)
6. Decide on the scale (0,1,2,3, and so on ) or (0, 2,4,6 and so on)

Tables communicate information using exact numbers. It typically shows data in columns and rows, or
possibly in more complex structures. Tables are organizer for an investigation, a way of presenting data in a report
and an organiser to assist comprehension and thinking.
In graphs and tables components that are being compared or measured are called variables. For example if
the question is, How does shadow lenght vary during a day? the lenght of the shadow is one variable and the time is
the [Link] is often useful to describe variables as either independent or dependent variable. In tables, the
independent variable go in the left hand columns, the dependent variables on the right. In graphs, the data for the x-
axis must be the independent variable, while the yaxis for the dependent variable. In figure 3, the independent
variable variable is the favorite activity while the dependent variable is the number of students.