REQUIREMENTS
Length: 2000 words
Format: APA (Refer to the style guidelines presented in the appendix of the textbook for in-text and bibliographic citations. Refer to the Purdue OWL’s page of general APA format (Links to an external site.) for the title page and abstract. Use APA 7.)
Sources: 5 scholarly, peer-reviewed sources found through the UF Library (NOT Google or Google Scholar)
Example Student Paper: Use this paper as a guide.
TASK
The different fields within the natural sciences share core values about scientific research: objectivity, replicability, recency, and cooperation/collaboration. Research methods of the natural sciences include systematic observation and empirical, quantitative experimentation, which is then communicated to others through reports that follow the IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) form.
For this assignment, you will prepare a scientific research report about an observational experiment that you carried out.
COMPLETING THE TASK
1. Develop an observational research question, design an observational experiment, carry out the experiment, recording your observations, data collection, and speculation in an Observational Logbook. Begin with a brief introduction that contextualizes your experiment. You do not need an abstract or a running head for this paper.
2. For the Literature Review, you will need to perform secondary research like you did for the literature review in Unit 2. The introduction contextualizes your research by reviewing previous scholarship and connecting it to the current research project, identifying the research question(s), and providing the hypothesis. Find 5 sources to support your own experiment. The sources do not have to be your own topic, but they can be related as in looking for the effects of the sun on battery life.
3. For the Methods section, provide a highly detailed description of the proposed research procedures, methods, and materials. Remember, communicating scientific research contributes to the scientific standard of replicability, making details important in this section.
4. For the Results section, you will outline the major findings of the study. The paragraphs will be focused on a particular result or group of results, usually in response to each aspect of the research question. You will also include visualizations of the data, either in labeled graphs, tables, or photos.
5. For the Discussions section, provide an overview of the implications of major findings in light of previous scholarship and addressing the research question. In the second-to-last paragraph, discuss the limitations of your study. In the final paragraph, summarize the outcome of your research in response to your research question and hypothesis, and provide suggestions for future research based on the unfilled gaps among previous and your own research.
6. Once you have written the paper, proofread and check formatting.
