Asking questions is difficult. These are tips that Research Fellows (other students who are working on the watershed) had about asking science questions. I have labeled them by the student. As we think of more, we may add to them!<\/p>\n
Kelly<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Determine your methods, considering time, equipment, etc. Then, figure out what kinds of questions the data might help to answer. I always find that the question is the last thing to come. It is usually refined several times, always getting more and more specific.<\/p>\n Anja<\/strong>:<\/p>\n 1)\u00a0Be very specific. Don\u2019t just say, \u201cDo soil properties vary from one slope position to another?\u201d Instead say something like, \u201cIs infiltration at the soil surface higher on a toeslope than a backslope? How does this affect the rate of runoff on the slope?\u201d<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0Try to pick something interesting to you<\/p>\n 3)\u00a0Is your question testable (is it too broad or too enormous in scope for you to measure)? Is it within your means to test it (will you have the equipment or the time to measure it)?<\/p>\n 4)\u00a0Try not to have too many variables. For example, if you\u2019re testing between two sites, try to choose places that have similar characteristics, such as parent material and slope. Then have one variable, like vegetation (e.g. one site may be forested and another grassy), that may affect what you\u2019re measuring. So, your question may be \u201cDoes surface sorptivity vary between forested soils and grassy soils?\u201d<\/p>\n Mark<\/strong>:<\/p>\n From past experience, I would say to remember not to reach too far. Try to narrow your view from a wide range of questions down to one specific question. Then develop a question that you know you can answer with the data available to you or data that can be easily obtained in the amount of time that you have.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Asking questions is difficult. These are tips that Research Fellows (other students who are working on the watershed) had about asking science questions. I have labeled them by the student. As we think of more, we may add to them! Kelly: Determine your methods, considering time, equipment, etc. Then, figure out what kinds of questions … Continue reading Tips for Asking Questions<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-88","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P7rmFU-1q","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watershed-research.wcu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watershed-research.wcu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watershed-research.wcu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watershed-research.wcu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watershed-research.wcu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/watershed-research.wcu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89,"href":"https:\/\/watershed-research.wcu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions\/89"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watershed-research.wcu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}