Hypothesis for science fair project, help please

[rboice]

Hello, I am just starting my science fair project. It is due March 19th. It is measuring the amount of hits (eye-hand reflex time) a person is able to acquire during a 30 sec. time period of level 1 for the game session called Reflex Master for the memory game, LOOPZ. I am having a little trouble with figuring out how specific I need to be in my hypothesis. The question that I need to answer for the project is: At what time of day is a person most likely to have the slowest reflex reaction time when playing the game session Reflex Master for the memory game LOOPZ? My working hypothesis is: A person living an average day will have a slower reaction time at the end of the day than the beginning or middle of the day. My independent variable is the time of day-morning, noon, and night. I will have specific times for each. My dependent variable is the amount of hits acquired throughout the day-morning, noon, and night. My controlled variables are having the same people, time, and game throughout the testing period. Do I need to include these things in my hypothesis? And if so, how do you suggest I do that? Also, do you think that this is an 8th grade worthy project? Thanks for your help!

[donnahardy2]

Hi,

This is certainly a worthwhile project and your hypothesis You have a little time to think about the experimental details, so I recommend doing some more background reading before proceeding with your project. Have you been able to find any information about this topic that has been reported previously?

Your hypothesis is good and complete. It would be helpful to explain the purpose of your project in your background section.

Here is a project on the Science Buddies website that includes background information and suggestions for designing an experiment using video games, and should be very adaptable to your project.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p025.shtml

Since time of day is your independent variable, you should keep all other parameters the same. The validity of your results will depend controlling all other parameters and repeating the results. Are you planning to test each subject more than one time? Are you using test subjects of the same gender, age group, and experience in playing this game?

Good luck with your project! Please let us know if you have any questions.

Donna Hardy

[rboice]

Thanks for your help! I have another question. How many people do you think I should test this on? I was originally going to do my mom, dad, brother, and myself for six days at the exact same times each day then compile the data. Would this be an addequate amount of data?

[donnahardy2]

Hi,

It's good that you are thinking about the details of your experiment. It would be better to use a group of at least 5 people of the same age range (e.g. under or over 30), gender, and experience level in playing video games. And, it would be better to use a group of test subjects who did not know what you were testing in your project. You could reduce the number of trials to 3 times instead of 6, if that would help your logistics. Your could have a group of 5 experienced and 5 inexperienced players, or a group of 5 over 30 and a group of 5 under 30 and test your hypothesis on different population groups. I know how difficult it is to recruit test subjects, however, so do the best you can, and go ahead and use your family members if the ideal test population is not available.

Donna Hardy