In the school environment we tend to associate that learning is only done from bibliographic information or what teachers teach, but you can also learn things through inquiry! Inquiry means «To try, find out, or inquire into something by discourse or question.» If what we are wondering about has to do with science and the world around us, we will seek an answer through observation or experimentation. In the end, we will learn something about the world based on our own experience.
To carry out an inquiry activity, we must develop a researchable question and solve it by analyzing certain data. Although the scientific method can follow very different paths and formulas, we recommend that you follow these steps to carry out your inquiry in an orderly way.
- Identify a researchable «problem» (or issue), and come up with a researchable question.
- Formulate a hypothesis (that fits the problem).
- Identify variables (that fit with our inquiry).
- Plan the inquiry (to test the hypotheses).
- Collect data and process them appropriately (graphs, tables, etc.).
- Analyze the data (in a reasoned manner) and draw conclusions.
The rubric that we propose to teachers for the evaluation of your research follows this same structure and can serve as a guideline.
THE RESEARCH PROBLEMS
We understand the researchable problem as the issue we want to investigate, that aspect of nature or science that catches our attention or that we fail to understand and that we need to study further to find an explanation.
– Identify the problem: Outlining the context of the problem, defining and delimiting it and analyzing its relevance.
– The purpose of our research: The purpose has to be related to the problem that has been identified: «The purpose of this research is…«, determining the purpose helps us define the type of research we can/will want to conduct
– Types of research: Experimental: aims to understand how an issue works by manipulating some factors (variables). Descriptive: aims to describe a population, a phenomenon, etc. without manipulating any variables.
THE RESEARCHABLE QUESTION
A good researchable question must be specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic, and time-bound. To ensure that you are formulating a researchable question correctly, you should consider the following items:
– Scientific: To know if it is scientific it is necessary to be able to relate the evidence or results to some key idea or scientific model. That is, its approach helps us to understand a natural or scientific model or process.
– Researchable: A researchable question must be able to be connected to an investigation and must be able to be solved with an experiment. A literature search is not connected to a real research process, nor are very generic questions, because they are solved by many interconnected research processes.
– Feasible: It is very important to be aware of the magnitude of the question. That is, that you can really solve it in the time you have available, so you have to adapt it to your reality and to what you can really aspire to.
– Identify the variables: In most research processes there is an independent variable and an independent variable. It is very useful to formulate our research question incorporating the variables in it. We will discuss variables in more detail later.
– Well written: It should be an open-ended question and interpretable in only one way. It cannot offer a solution or contain any opinion. Using the proper syntax can help point us in the right direction:
EXPERIMENTAL DESCRIPTIVES NON- INVESTIGABLES
What factors influence…? What are the characteristics of…? Why does it happen?
What is the effect of…? What is the distribution of…? How do you explain that…?
What are the consequences of…? At what temperature do we find…?
Is there any difference if…? In which area is there more…?
Is there any relationship between…? How many will we find in…?
Experimentales: They refer to experimental processes. It is ideal to add the variables involved to the questions.
Descriptive: They refer to descriptive processes in which we do not manipulate any variable.
Non-investigable: «How or Why» usually question general models that cannot be related to a single investigation.
– Connected to citizen science: In this case, as the idea is to participate in a citizen science project, it is important that in the process of solving your question, or in the process of collecting information, the Mosquito Alert Citizen Science application is used.
Example: We want to understand better the feeding process of plants (scientific model of photosynthesis) and from what we know (that they need light, water, soil,…) we could ask inquiry questions such as «What happens if we put a plant in the dark?» «What difference will it make if we water a plant and not another one?»
- They are scientific, because they are connected to a scientific model or phenomenon.
- They are researchable, because they can be solved by experimentation.
- They are feasible, because they are very specific and can be solved in a few days.
- It is easy to identify the variables involved, (light, dark, water, land, etc.).
THE VARIABLES IN OUR RESEARCH
A variable is any «thing» (characteristic, measure, quality) that can be assigned a value that can change as a function of «something». In most of the processes of inquiry, we work with variables. Sometimes, they can be many or just a few, sometimes some depend on others and sometimes not, sometimes we look for the type of correlation between variables, etc. In our case, if we intend to carry out an investigation, we should start with the simplest way, which is to manipulate a variable that we think may cause a change in another.
The variable that is manipulated is known as the independent variable. This manipulation generates quantifiable results on another variable, known as the dependent variable. That is, we have a cause (independent variable) that has generated an effect (dependent variable) on something.
– Independent variable: It is the one that the researcher manipulates and that depends on the chosen manipulation. It is the one that causes one result or another and is represented on the X-axis.
– Dependent variable: It is the one that is NOT manipulated and depends on the value of the independent variable. It is the effect obtained (result of the experiment). It is represented on the Y-axis.
Example: At what temperature (independent) do mosquito larvae grow faster (dependent)? The researcher modifies the temperatures and obtains growth values. A higher or lower growth (effect) is obtained depending on the temperature (cause).
In the case of descriptive investigations, as for example in the observation of a phenomenon in nature (or from existing citizen data), it is better to refer to the collected data as observations.
Example: A scientist wants to know the distribution of a mosquito in a particular region. He sets traps (or uses citizen data) to see where he finds the mosquito. The distribution of this species will be determined by the set of observations.
THE FORMULATION OF HYPOTHESES
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- Not all scientific research or studies are based on the testing of hypotheses.
- They are formulated from prior knowledge or from what is known from the literature.
- It is an advance and tentative explanation of some assumption that one is trying to test.
- It is written as a theory about the expected outcome of our investigation.
- The objective of an experiment or inquiry process is to prove the hypothesis.
- The research variables must appear in the formulation of the hypothesis.
- Normally, they are statistically tested to see if the data are significant or not.
RECOMMENDED LEXICON: «If we think that (reference to the scientific model or concept), then when (conditions of the observations or tests that indicate the independent variable) we will observe that (results that evidence the dependent variable).»
Example: «Knowing that mosquitoes are more active in summer, then when we increase the water temperature, we will observe that the larvae grow faster.»
THE RESEARCH PLAN
It is time to design a research plan that will allow us to verify our hypothesis.
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- In the case of descriptive research, we will carry out at least one sampling campaign in which we will collect the data (observations) we need for our research. In addition to planning this campaign well, there are some very important aspects to take into account such as sampling method and sampling effort.
SAMPLING METHOD:
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- It is important to be clear about how we will collect the samples.
- Samples collected with different methods cannot be compared.
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Example: The number of mosquitoes sent by citizens with the app or mosquitoes caught by a trap, although they are the same type of observation, should be treated separately.
SAMPLING EFFORT:
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- This is the effort expended to collect observations for an investigation.
- It can be in reference to the time invested, the area sampled, the number of samplers, etc.
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Example: If we compare the number of mosquito breeding points between one park and another, it will be necessary to take into account the surface (area) of each one.
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- In the case of experimental research, two concepts appear that are crucial and without them an experiment cannot be considered valid. These are the replicates and the control.
THE CONTROLS
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- These are elements of the study that remain unaltered by the study variables.
- It is used as a reference point with which to compare the results of the experiment.
- It is used to detect if there are other variables involved apart from the one we are studying.
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Example – Water temperature and larval growth: The control group would be the larvae that have grown at room temperature.
TREATMENTS
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- These are the modifications we make to the independent variable.
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Example – Previous case: Our treatments (modifications of the independent variable) would be larvae that grow at a lower temperature (cold treatment) and others at a higher temperature (heat treatment).
REPLICATIONS
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- These are the repetitions we make of the whole experiment.
- They are subjected to the same conditions of variation.
- They also allow us to obtain an estimate of the experimental error.
- The controls are also replicated.
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Example – Previous case: For each treatment we need to repeat the experiment. For example, 3 jars with larvae in cold, 3 jars with larvae in a heat source, and 3 jars at room temperature.
DATA COLLECTION
One of the most important things is to be clear about how we will make our observations:
- Exactly what aspects we will measure.
- What tools we will need.
- How often we will make our observations.
- How many observations we will make.
Example: In the example of temperature and growth, it is very easy to define and measure temperature, but not so easy to measure growth rate. We could measure the size of the larvae, but how often, how fast, in what form, etc. We could also calculate this growth as the days it takes to become pupae. In short, we need to be clear about what we will measure and how.
During the experiment it is time to observe carefully and try to answer the questions:
- What is happening?
- Are the differences significant?
- How could we represent them?
DATA ANALYSIS
Once the experiment is over, it is time to ask the following questions:
- What happened?
- How does it relate to what we know?
- Why does it happen?
- How could we test this explanation?
- How could we modify the experiment?
On the other hand, something very important is to differentiate between results and conclusions:
RESULTS
- They consist of describing what has happened in our sampling or experiment as objectively as possible.
- They answer the question «What did we find?
- It is convenient to choose which elements (table, graph, etc.) show them best.
- They are not accompanied by opinions or interpretations.
Recommended vocabulary:
As we see in graph/table 1, we can distinguish….
Comparatively, … is bigger/smoother than ….
There is/is not a difference between…
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
- We expose the conclusion we came to after analyzing the data.
- They answer the question: What is the significance of what we found?
- It is accompanied by our opinion or interpretation in a more objective way.
- It is where we expose the limitations of the research conducted and new research proposals.
Recommended vocabulary:
If/when… then/therefore…. why/since….
As that… this would mean that… since…