Experimental Design B/C

[brayden box]

This is very true. Be concise. No proctor wants to read a college essay for every section on the rubric. Say everything you need to say as quickly and concisely as possible. Writing "pretty" doesn't simply mean writing more; often, it means quite the contrary.

That being said, the most important thing is making sure you have all the information necessary on the paper. Cover everything on the rubric first, worry about how you write later. In fact, you're in B division. Don't even worry about your writing now, at least until the state or national level. It is most important to get all the information on the page.

Also, if you're getting consistently in the top 5, there is no problem. You are doing excellent work.

So when you are in States, ( which I have been) you do want to write more?

[zyzzyva980]

This is very true. Be concise. No proctor wants to read a college essay for every section on the rubric. Say everything you need to say as quickly and concisely as possible. Writing "pretty" doesn't simply mean writing more; often, it means quite the contrary.

That being said, the most important thing is making sure you have all the information necessary on the paper. Cover everything on the rubric first, worry about how you write later. In fact, you're in B division. Don't even worry about your writing now, at least until the state or national level. It is most important to get all the information on the page.

Also, if you're getting consistently in the top 5, there is no problem. You are doing excellent work.

So when you are in States, ( which I have been) you do want to write more?

To basically sum it up: It's quality of writing, not quantity of writing, that's important in this event. The two are not the same. And "quality" doesn't mean having the most lovely, flowing prose -- it just means being able to communicate the information and details efficiently.

[samlan16]

So when you are in States, ( which I have been) you do want to write more?

Here's an example: in the military, a soldier briefing an officer would not say, "When the blazing ball of glory fell from the sky and darkness graced the land, a storm of Vulcan's fury rained upon the city of tents, secluded from the modern world" or poetic guano like that. Instead, he or she would say, "At 1800 hours an air raid occurred at the refugee camp." Same point, but accomplished in a third of the characters.

In other words, your ability to be blunt trumps your ability to write like a lit major.

[Fluorine]

So when you are in States, ( which I have been) you do want to write more?

Here's an example: in the military, a soldier briefing an officer would not say, "When the blazing ball of glory fell from the sky and darkness graced the land, a storm of Vulcan's fury rained upon the city of tents, secluded from the modern world" or poetic guano like that. Instead, he or she would say, "At 1800 hours an air raid occurred at the refugee camp." Same point, but accomplished in a third of the characters.


In other words, your ability to be blunt trumps your ability to write like a lit major.

I have to applaud for that awesome example. But yea writing as much as possible does not translate to a high score in experimental ldesign. However, being able to communicate your ideas and concepts in an effective manner will.

[brayden box]

Okay!

[platinumfalcon]

i'm new to this event; could anyone tell me the recommended calculator? i have a ti-84 and an n-spire, but what are the allowed calculators? (all the scioly sheet says is that it can't have a camera/access to internet )

EDIT: Thanks @below, I'll use both during my practices, and bring both to the contest, and probably they will clarify on-site

[bernard]

i'm new to this event; could anyone tell me the recommended calculator? i have a ti-84 and an n-spire, but what are the allowed calculators? (all the scioly sheet says is that it can't have a camera/access to internet :lol: )

If it isn't prohibited by this year's rules, by General Rule #1 (https://www.soinc.org/ethics_rules) it should be allowed. Your TI-84 should be allowed, and I'm not sure about an N-spire since I've never used one. As always, opinions here are unofficial.

[platinumfalcon]

Another question; in the wiki, they write the following about the independent variable

Independent Variable (IV)
This is the variable that is changed to examine its effect on the dependent variable. There should only be one IV, which should be listed with units. The IV must be operationally defined (in terms of the experiment) and empirically defined (in general for future variations of the experiment), and a minimum of 3 different levels must be listed excluding the control level.

what are the "3 different levels" that are required to be defined?

[Panda Weasley]

i'm new to this event; could anyone tell me the recommended calculator? i have a ti-84 and an n-spire, but what are the allowed calculators? (all the scioly sheet says is that it can't have a camera/access to internet )

EDIT: Thanks @below, I'll use both during my practices, and bring both to the contest, and probably they will clarify on-site

In my 3 years of ExDes the most I ever needed my calculator for was the stats. Either one should be fine. I have both of the ones you are mentioning, and I would recommend using the ti-84 to play it safe. The person checking your supplies might not know calculators very well and think that the n-spire is against the rules as it looks more fancy. Hope that helps!

Also, just saw your most recent question. Say you were doing an experiment on how the distance a ball drops affects its rebound height. In this scenario the "3 levels" could be 1ft., 2ft., and 3ft.

[bernard]

Another question; in the wiki, they write the following about the independent variable

Independent Variable (IV)
This is the variable that is changed to examine its effect on the dependent variable. There should only be one IV, which should be listed with units. The IV must be operationally defined (in terms of the experiment) and empirically defined (in general for future variations of the experiment), and a minimum of 3 different levels must be listed excluding the control level.

what are the "3 different levels" that are required to be defined?

I think the writer of that section means that you need at least three manipulations excluding the control. So if your independent variable is length of string, you might test 10cm, 20cm, 30cm, and 40cm. Good experiments tend to have many manipulations and a wide range of manipulations tested. So an experiment that tests 10cm, 20cm, 30cm, and 40cm, might be better than one that tests 10cm, 11cm, 12cm, and 13cm.

This range of manipulations and the number of manipulations affects how well you can draw conclusions from your data. If you have only three values of your independent variable tested (say 10cm, 20cm, 30cm), you might not be able to tell if your graphed data is linear or quadratic or exponential, etc. Perhaps it should be a linear relationship but you have a lot of error in your measurements and it appears exponential.