Accents and behaviors (social science)

[itati_delacruz]

This year for my science fair I wanted to dive into social science. My project goes into the human interaction category, so I do need a qualified scientist. My project is about bias towards certain accents; I wanted to give out a survey that includes demographic questions and have the surveyors "rate" their ability to empathize and feel trustworthiness for each accent. I attend Little Rock Central High School, and there is a lot of history here about desegregation, but I notice that students here don't really integrate, if that makes sense.  As a Hispanic girl, being in a school where there's so much diversity but still being the only Hispanic in majority of my classes piques my interest in whether there's a connection. That's why I wanted to send my survey around my school and other schools and communities. Iv'e had some trouble finding a qualified scientist for my project and I really need one, since my forms have been lost.

[amyCC]

Hi! It sounds like you must be targeting your project for ISEF, with the mention of requirements related to the human interaction category?

Unfortunately, we aren't able to match students to scientists outside of the forums here. In the forums, you can get input to help shape your project or think through questions you may have as you design your survey and gather data, but replies may be received from both student mentors and adult volunteers.

I'm not sure what you mean about your forms being lost?

Have you already started designing this survey? Is this project for your school science fair first?

Amy
Science Buddies

[MadelineB]

Hello,

As Amy mentioned, the student and adult experts can not find a qualified scientist or mentor, but there is a wealth of advice on the Science Buddies website!

I'm not sure what you mean by "qualified scientist"? This link describes how to find a "mentor" ... which might satisfy your requirement:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... tem-mentor

This link shows more guidance on finding a mentor:

viewtopic.php?t=16870

And this link has a specific section on developing projects on Sociology and Human Behavior:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... references

Let us know if this information helps and be sure to let us know if you have more questions.

Best of luck with your project!

Madeline
Moderator

[MadelineB]

One more suggestion:

One way to find a suitable mentor is to contact the authors of the social science research papers that have studied similar questions. This sort of info is helpful to include in your background research too!

Good luck!
Madeline
Moderator

[MadelineB]

And, one more suggestion ... check this with your mentor/qualified scientist, but I suggest that you figure out a way that your survey participants do NOT know they are participating in your study. That is, I think your role should be anonymous ... and you should not be able to identify any of the participants' responses ...

You might consider not using participants in your school ... and have the survey online using google forms and recruit students from other schools in your town ... again, you should be anonymous ....

just to eliminate possible bias ...

Good luck!
Madeline
Moderator