Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am currently doing a project on medical imaging and there may be a chance that the whole idea fails and it won't work even though I have a lab and a mentor. The project could be much too difficult, but I'm confident that I would do very well if I pull it off. What could I do then? Should I consult someone else, change projects, or keep going?

Moderator note: I have cross-posted your question to the Life, Earth, and Social Sciences forum so those experts will see your post!

Excellent question - and a relevant "fear" for any project going into the sciences!

It depends on what you mean by "it all fails," but for the most part, I'd like to remind you that you're not trying to get published in a fancy journal or anything like that. Thus, a negative result is still worth reporting! Remember that in science, failure can often be a step towards progress. Even if you personally think your project failed, what that means for the rest of the scientists of the world is that you have found one way NOT to solve this specific imaging problem.

But I digress. Generally speaking, science fairs want to see data and conclusions from that data. If your project fails logistically and you can't even get to the point where you are collecting data, then you have a problem. But recognize that this problem is just called troubleshooting - and is a fundamental part of the science project process for anyone, and that it is usually very lucky to have no problems at all from drawing board to final result.

On the other hand, if you have data but it's not precise, or might be skewed, or seems invalid, or is otherwise imperfect, then that's still project-worthy. If you have lots of time left at that point, you can continue troubleshooting and thinking about what the issue is. You can conduct side-projects to figure out why X went wrong, or why Y caused Z to happen - basically forming new hypotheses from potentially interesting results, especially if they were completely unexpected or unintentional. But even if you don't, it is usually acceptable to look at that data and draw conclusions, not only about what it could mean, but also about some of the reasons why some of that data might have been flawed or improperly collected.

If you are able, definitely verify with the specific people in charge of the science fair to get an understanding of what they're looking for. This is just from my experience in science fairs and what my peers have told me in their experiences. But it should hold true in the general case. Science isn't a straight line from "question" to "answer." It will involve exploration, risk-taking, and judgment calls.

Good luck, and do keep us posted!

–Eugene