PROJECT
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
So, you've incorporated my feedback on your proposal to produce a revised proposal and so are ready to start your study!
Data Collection Tips
DO A PILOT STUDY BEFORE YOU BEGIN.
- Make sure whatever you are going to study will work before you begin.
- For example, if you are going to study a particular plant, then make sure it is numerous enough in the location(s) you are going to study. If you are going go do a bird feeder study, start feeding the birds real early so you know you will have plenty of birds coming before you begin.
Some equipment (e.g., 50 m tapes, meter sticks, compass) may be checked out for one week by coming to the West Campus, Science (K) Building, Room 132 (M-Th 8-8; F 8-4) and signing out the equipment. You will be held responsible for equipment not returned.
Make sure you write down any deviations from the proposal (for example maybe your dates or start/stop times changed or maybe you were able to do extra transects because they didn't take as long as you thought) so that you can include them in your report.
Some suggestions for conducting plant studies
- Use at least five 50 meter (m) transects in each of the two areas, for a total of 10 transects.
- Record the number of individuals of each species whose main stem lies within 5 meters of each side of the transect (use more than 5 meters if plant density is low). If you use 5 meters to each side of the transect, then each transect will create a sample area of 50 meters X 10 meters = 500 square meters (times 5 transects = 2500 square meters total each area).
- Please note that this is different than the vegetation analysis lab where we used plots because we were interested in getting frequency data (the system outlined above uses no plots; you just record every individual whose stem is within the specified distance away from the transect line).
Some suggestions for conducting bird studies
- Conduct at least four 1-hour bird observation periods in each of the two areas, for a total of 8 hours.
- Each area should be observed at the same times of day as the other area (for example, if your observation periods at site 1 are 8 am, 12 pm, and 4 pm then they should be the same times at site 2).
- You should try to cover about the same amount of area at both sites.
- It is best to use binoculars and a bird book
Data Analysis Tips
- Most studies will require you to calculate totals and/or averages (usually you will want to include these in your table(s).
- Go through the Statistics PowerPoint for help understanding statistics for this assignment.
- Use the Statistics Excel file for entering your data and conducting the statistical test.