Advice about Hypothesis

Ask questions about projects relating to: biology, biochemistry, genomics, microbiology, molecular biology, pharmacology/toxicology, zoology, human behavior, archeology, anthropology, political science, sociology, geology, environmental science, oceanography, seismology, weather, or atmosphere.

Moderators: AmyCowen, kgudger, bfinio, MadelineB, Moderators

Locked
Afzalur
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 4:54 pm
Occupation: Student

Advice about Hypothesis

Post by Afzalur »

hello for my science fair project my hypothesis is :

If participants listen to music named “Weightless” by marconi union in comparison to not listening to music, then the subject whom are listening to music will be able to recall more things from the timed memory challenge because when time starts to run out, the calming music will decrease the amount of cortisol released by the adrenaline glands therefore, the music will help lessen the interference with the hippocampus and ultimately allowing the subject to concentrate and remember more.

what are some ways i can improve this hypothesis
any advice is helpful :D
allisontu
Former Student Expert
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2016 5:34 pm
Occupation: Student

Re: Advice about Hypothesis

Post by allisontu »

Hi Afzalur,

Your project sounds very interesting and well-researched! I would recommend making your hypothesis shorter: it's a bit of a run-on sentence right now. Try breaking up your hypothesis into several sentences, with the first sentence being the actual hypothesis and the sentence after being the background information and reasoning for the hypothesis.

For example: If participants listen to the song “Weightless” by Marconi Union as compared to those not listening to music, then the subjects who are listening to music will be able to recall more from a timed memory challenge. This is because when the time for the memory challenge begins to run out, the calming music will help decrease the amount of cortisol released by the adrenal glands. Therefore, the music will help lessen the interference with the hippocampus and ultimately allowing the subject to concentrate and remember more.

I changed some of your word choice to help clarify what you're saying. Also, I'd try to explain your background information more. For example, you can discuss what the hippocampus and adrenal glands are, and what the function of cortisol is. This would help readers understand your reasoning better. However, if you're writing a research paper for this project, you can go ahead and include this background information as a part of your introduction as opposed to lumping it all in with the hypothesis.

Hope this helps,
Allison
Afzalur
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 4:54 pm
Occupation: Student

Re: Advice about Hypothesis

Post by Afzalur »

I know what u mean Allison but I have to follow the IF..... THEN... BECAUSE formatting which is the reason for it being so long. But I will use your advice. Thank you very much
allisontu
Former Student Expert
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2016 5:34 pm
Occupation: Student

Re: Advice about Hypothesis

Post by allisontu »

Hi Afazalur,

The first sentence of the hypothesis I rewrote does contain the "if... then" format, and the "because" part is in the next sentence. I would ask your teacher if it's okay to leave it like this, because otherwise, it's difficult to write a sentence that isn't overly long.

Hope this helps,
Allison
Locked

Return to “Grades 6-8: Life, Earth, and Social Sciences”