Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi. I have a Bio scientific method project due at the end of the semester, and the prompt states:

This project is designed to help you gain an understanding of the scientific method by using it to make a choice or decision in your life. You will need to do this by collecting data and using the analysis of that data to compare two options of your choosing. There must be a sample size of 20 per person.

A few things I am confused about are using the SM to 'make a choice or decision' in my life, 'compare two options of my choosing', and a 'sample size of 20'. There are a million science-y type projects I could do, but I have no idea where to start when applying it to my own life and making decisions, and comparing two options.

Yes, I plan to talk with my teacher and classmates more about this, but I was hoping I could get some ideas here too.

Appreciate your time and help.

Hi manksy,

Science Buddies has a nice description of the scientific method here:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... fic-method

And there is a science project guide available here:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ience-fair

Review of the information in these guides may be useful to you as you work through your assignment.

The scientific method is a systematic way to gather observations aimed at answering a question. So there's no reason the method can't be applied to “a choice or decision in your life”. But you will need to settle on a question (choice or a decision) you want to answer. And you'll need to collect observations aimed at answering the question. So it would be good to choose a question that lends itself to some kind of data collection.

One idea that comes to mind is an opinion survey in which you ask 20 people what they think your choice of options should be. Your question might be anything from fun to serious.

I hope this helps. Please post again if you have more questions.

A. Norman