Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hey! I am doing an experiment on body handedness. I am testing hands, feet, and ears. I am confused what my variables will be for the experiment. Can someone help me?

Dear akm08,

Sounds like a cool experiment! Before proceeding, what aspects of handedness are you testing? Are you testing the number of X handed persons in your experiment? Are you testing what happens to people if they are right versus left handed dominant in certain situations? I will need more about what your questions are before I can help you define your variables!

Best,
Rebekah

I am testing two different families and a set of non-related people. Each family has 6 people in them. I want to see if there is a difference between those groups. I am testing hand, feet, ears, and eye handedness.

I will be using a pencil for them to write, a ball to throw, a tennis racket to hold for the hand. I will be using a ball to kick, a fake bug to step on, and a set of stairs to walk up for the feet. I will be using a paper tube, a hole in a sheet of paper, and a finger test (cover an eye and focus on the finger) for the eye. I will be using an air pod, telling them a secret to see which ear they cup, and having them go to a wall to try to listen to what's said in the other room for the ear.

Could you clarify, when you say "if there's a difference between them" -- a difference in what? In which side they favor for all of the things you've listed below?

Best,
Rebekah