i need help getting an idea of what to do

AFTER you've done your research and concluded your experiments, it is time to prepare for the science fair. Ask specific questions about preparing for a science fair, including how to set up your display board, how to prepare a presentation, etc. (Please post questions about selecting a project or conducting your experiment by posting in the appropriate "area of science" forum.)

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KIWII
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:49 am
Occupation: Student: 8th grade
Project Question: Could i use myself to see which out of 3 acne products helps get rid of acne the best?
Project Due Date: April 26, 2010
Project Status: I am just starting

i need help getting an idea of what to do

Post by KIWII »

Could i use myself to see which out of 3 acne products helps get rid of acne the best? to see which gets rid of my acne the best
paulsdecarli
Former Expert
Posts: 67
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2005 10:20 am

Re: i need help getting an idea of what to do

Post by paulsdecarli »

Doesn't sound like good science to me. You could never be sure which one worked, whether it would have gotten better without any treatment, or whether a combination of two different one was the key to success. Experiments like this are hard to do.

Suppose you could find 20 people with acne. Give five treatment A, five treatment B, five treatment C, and five a "fake" treatment D(such as diluted liquid hand soap). This should be a double-blind experiment. no-one should know which treatment they are getting and neither should you, the experimenter. You'd have to get an outsider to fill bottles labeled ,A B., etc, with the treatment and only that person would know which was which.

At the end of the experiment, after you have evaluated the results, only then could you learn what was in each bottle.

However, this kind of experiment may be against the rules for your science fair. At the very least, everyone would have to sign a '"Consent" form, and you would need a medical opinion that none of the "remedies" was potentially harmful.
Amber_MIT
Former Expert
Posts: 260
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 5:16 pm
Occupation: Volunteer
Project Question: n/a
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Project Status: Not applicable

Re: i need help getting an idea of what to do

Post by Amber_MIT »

Paul is right about testing on humans, however, we do have a very similar project that doesn't involve testing on humans! You would instead look at how effective acne medications are on bacteria, which is related to why acne occurs.

Here's the project: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p019.shtml
Stuck? Check out our project guides!
Project Guide: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-f ... ndex.shtml
Advanced Project Guide: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-f ... ndex.shtml

Amber Hess
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