How to present data and draw conclusions?

[methionine]

Hello all,
I am pretty much done with my data collection-- however, I don't really know how to draw meaningful conclusions from it all-- I can't see the big picture. Basically, from my data, I can discern certain trends, but ... how can I draw any conclusions from those trends, or come up with explanations for why those trends exist? I know this is kind of vague, but how could I understand my results better? (sorry for the vague-ness)

Thank you,
M

[deleted-71447]

Hi bleep,
Congratulations on finishing your data collection.
In general, my recommendation is to put most of your effort into presenting the results that are central to evaluating your hypothesis. It is very tempting and sometimes fascinating to spend hours thinking about all the intricacies of the data, but this can also be a major distraction. For presentation purposes in an article or poster, it is very important to stay on track towards evaluating the original hypothesis and meeting the main objectives.

Also, it is often very helpful to show your results to other scientists in your field of research and have conversations with them about the data.

I hope that helps. You may want to give more info about your particular results if you are looking for more specific advice.

Chris

[deleted-71827]

Hi,
In general, it is always helpful to take your background research and compare your results to similar experiments and results. If there are no such results available, talking to a teacher or an experienced scientist in that field of research might be able to help as well. Doing statistical tests of significance may also help you to determine whether one variable caused another event to occur. Feel free to post back with more questions, good luck!

[methionine]

Well, the thing is, I didn't exactly have a hypothesis (Oh! Maybe that's why it's sort of difficult....) ... because my entire project focused on characterizing trends in how this splicing mechanism worked in HeLa cells. Basically, all I have is several trends in my data, which I am thinking of presenting in graph form (though I'm not 100% sure).
I thought that a conclusion would need to at least speculate for why those trends could be-- and that's where the problem comes in: I have no idea why those trends exist, and do not know enough to really reason out why. Sure, my mentor could probably find some more scientifically plausible answers or bleep like that, but I'd feel bad. I don't want to present conclusions that aren't my own unless I'm completely, completely desperate, and I still have a few weeks to mull this information over. Do you think this is the kind of thing I could manage by simply reading more scientific papers, or might it still be too difficult for me?
And oh yeah, is it bad if I didn't completely follow the scientific bleep (as in... I don't have much of a hypothesis? If I do need a hypothesis, how would I have worded it? Should I word it as a "purpose" instead of a "hypothesis" on my presentation board/paper, then?) ?

Thank you so much for your help!

M

[deleted-71827]

Hi!
The Sciencebuddies Project Guide might help you out in trying to figure out your hypothesis and conclusion
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... thod.shtml
your hypothesis might end up simply being the fact that this particular splicing mechanism should exhibit certain trends due to (reason)
you should be able to find a lot of information through scientific literature and that will also help you to write/display your "review of literature" section. Based on the information that you find, you may realize that a certain trend is occuring due to reason. Again, if you want more specific help, you can always post back with more information on your project topic, and perhaps we will be able to help you further. Good luck!

[methionine]

Okay, well, for example, my data shows that if an element is closer by to a splice site, it is more likely to actually have an effect on the splicing mechanism. Sure, I could put that into my hypothesis (previous studies HAVE indicated this, anyway...) ... but I don't have any other reasoning to back that up.... I could form a hypothesis based solely on previous studies by other researchers, but I feel like I need some more justification .../ more things to say....

haha. I'll read more.

[deleted-71447]

I could form a hypothesis based solely on previous studies by other researchers, but I feel like I need some more justification

I understand the feeling, though it really is ok to form a hypothesis based on previous studies. Forming a hypothesis based on previous research is the foundation of most cutting edge research projects.
It should be straight forward to re-phrase your objectives into a hypothesis. There must have been some reason you expected these trends, and some question about how these trends would be manifested. If there was a question about the experimental outcome, then your hypothesis could be any guess about the answer to the question that would be addressed by the data. If this is still not clear, I definitely recommend discussing the topic with your mentor.

I thought that a conclusion would need to at least speculate for why those trends could be-- and that's where the problem comes in: I have no idea why those trends exist, and do not know enough to really reason out why.

A conclusion could be as simple as saying bleep about the characteristics of the trends along with some brief speculation as to the possible or most likely causes.

Sure, my mentor could probably find some more scientifically plausible answers or bleep like that, but I'd feel bad. I don't want to present conclusions that aren't my own

Your mentor is a tremendous resource. They can save you an enormous amount of time and trouble. Mentors also benefit from the interaction, and especially enjoy this phase of the work, so go for it!
Your project is a formal collaboration with your mentor, so there is nothing wrong with receiving information from your mentor and then passing that information along in your presentation. It is like learning information from your teacher and then repeating that information on tests and to other people. Just make sure that:
(1) You understand your mentor's ideas and can explain them to another scientist or random person. Don't include an idea until you understand it.
(2) You acknowledge your mentors contribution to the work. This can be as simple as listing their name in some appropriate location in the reports & posters. Make sure you show your posters &/or reports to the mentor and that they are content with the way that you have explained the ideas and the way that you have acknowledged them.

[michellebayefsky]

I find that the best way to find reasons for your data is by researching other experiments by reading papers (JSTOR is helpful if you or your school has access). It is important that you have a hypothesis, even if you did not have a clear one when you began to work on your project. You can say that you hypothesized what you did because of the work of other scientists and then highlight what you explored that may be new or different. If you did preliminary research before starting your experiment, you can include the reasons you found in those papers in your hypothesis and add the research you did or will do after your experiment to your discussion. Try to follow the scientific bleep as best you can. I hope this has been helpful!