Discussing Control Group

[deleted-315352]

Hi my name is Mason and I have been searching all over the internet to answer my question of "How does different amounts of fertilizer affect the growth rate of Thumbelina Carrots?" I am supposed to be done with research at this point but a can't find an answer to my question anywhere. Please help. Thanks.

[deleted-315352]

For my research paper I have to discuss my control group. I know what my control group is, it's the Thumbelina Carrots that will not get any fertilizer. I am just having trouble figuring out how to discuss it. Please help, thanks.

[deleted-315352]

To come up with my Hypothesis I have to "Tie together the scientific concept and the variable that you believe will answer you question. First of all I'm not 100% sure on what a scientific concept is. Second, here is my question "How does different amounts of fertilizer affect the average growth rate of Thumbelina Carrots?" I don't know how I would use only one variable to answer my question. Do you think I could use more than one variable to answer my question? Please help, Thanks.

[deleted-291782]

Hi Mason,

For your research, I would also recommend that you search scientific articles about your topic. A quick search on PubMed led me to find this article:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22231302

I am sure this has been a topic previously investigated, so there should be multiple sources you can find to help answer your questions.

I noticed that you have posted multiple threads. I advise that you please keep all questions in the same thread to help out the Experts, as making new threads keeps the boards less consolidated, and we need to jump to different threads to see all of the related questions. I will answer your remaining questions below:

You also ask about a control group. You mention that you know what your control group will be. I am assuming that you have to propose an experiment based on current research in the field? Your control group sounds fine as is, so I would just describe why a "no fertilizer" group is appropriate when comparing it to groups that have varying amounts of fertilizer added to the soil.

For your last question, using the scientific concept in the context of a hypothesis means that you will be pulling together known information that ultimately arrives at a statement which attempts to answer an unknown question. As an example, you can have a paragraph detailing prior research in the field. In your last sentence, you can say "Therefore, I hypothesize that carrot growth is most positively affected by the addition of X amount of fertilizer Y in climate Z." You can certainly use one variable to answer your question, but all other variables within the project need to be held constant. For example, you would alter the amount of fertilizer added, but everything else would remain the same (climate, etc.).

I feel that the question you propose needs to be a little bit more specific. You state a "fertilizer," but there are probably numerous different types used for this application. A research question and hypothesis both need to be very specific.

Let us know if you have further questions and we'll be happy to help.

[deleted-71603]

Hello, we noticed you posted separate threads for your project. Please keep all questions in one thread so that our Experts can best help you based on what has already been discussed. Good luck, and thanks for using Science Buddies!