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Rain Gauge Research

Scientific Method

The scientific method is a way to ask and answer scientific questions by making observations and doing

experiments. It is important for your experiment to be a fair test. The independent variable is the one

that is changed by the scientist. To insure a fair test, a good experiment has only one independent

variable. As the scientist changes the independent variable, he or she observes what happens. The

scientist focuses his or her observations on the dependent variable to see how it responds to the

change made to the independent variable. The new value of the dependent variable is caused by and

depends on the value of the independent variable. There are many steps to the Scientific Method:

1. Ask a question

The question is something the scientist or future scientist wants to know the answer

to. It can be based on an observation ("How does a rainbow form?"). It can be an

open ended question ("Are there germs in space?") which can change due to

ongoing research in the field. If it turns out the answer is known, the question can be

modified so that it expands on the information already known on the topic.

2. Do background research

Performing background research or writing a preliminary research paper allows the

student and the scientist to find out what is already known on the topic of interest, so

that they can formulate the best hypothesis and design an experiment most

effectively.

3. Construct a hypothesis and make a prediction

Formulating an hypothesis means speculating on what you believe will be the most

probable outcome of the experiment based on research, and personal experience

and knowledge of the subject.

4. Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment

An experiment must be performed which either will support or reject the hypothesis

and provide an answer to the question. A set of controls must be set up to compare

to the variables (parts of the experiment that will be changed) which will verify that

the experiment performed in the manner that the scientist intended and to show that

the testing was fair and unbiased. The scientist observes the experiment as it

progresses, taking notes and recording the results of the tests performed at regular

intervals, and recording them accurately in a journal, on data tables, and in

photographs or videos.

5. Analyze your data and draw a conclusion

Data are converted into graphs (pie charts, line graphs, bar graphs) to illustrate the

numerical data visually and statistics are used. The observations, data, and notes

taken during the experiment, along with any photos or videos, are scrutinized and

evaluated to discover what the overall progress of the experiment and to determine,

first, if the question was answered, and second, whether the hypothesis was proved,

as supported by the evidence.

6. Communicate your results

Rain Gauge Research