Starting an Independent Research Project: No Help? No Problem.

 Starting an Independent Research Project: 

    Finding Ideas and Increasing Chances of Success

 

Start Early

The single most important aspect of science fair research is beginning the process early. Every potential project category will require months of preparation. An engineering project will require seemingly endless rounds of the scientific process, including troubleshooting problems and finding improved solutions. A behavioral and social sciences project will require more types of approval than many people are aware of, and that entire process can end up taking months to complete. For social sciences specifically, even finding a qualified scientist to approve and potentially oversee a project can become one of the most difficult aspects of getting a project up and running, especially for student researchers who don’t have access to outside resources or connections for help. 

Solo vs. Group

When deciding on whether to do the project with one or two others or to go solo, make sure potential group mates are just as dedicated to the project as you are, if not more. Making last-minute adjustments due to the loss of a group member or having to drag someone's weight wastes time and potential. It is also difficult to make decisions with someone who isn't really determined to make the project a success or put in the necessary work. Choose wisely, and don't be afraid to do the project alone! Take into account that group projects often have fewer spots available to make it to the higher-round competitions. 

Choose a Realistic Yet Unique Topic

While the best research projects often have novel aspects to them, having unrealistic expectations for a project will only lead to hardship and potential failure. Getting a project completed is always better than having nothing to show for your efforts. When deciding on a topic, try to find something that will truly impact those around you or make a change in your community. Projects with real-world applications are often viewed more highly than those with results that cannot be applied to the real world. Take your skills into account when deciding what to do, since the goal, in the end, is to do well! You can also see which science fair projects have done well in the past to get ideas and inspiration, but if anything is too close to something judges have seen before, that will count against you. 

Make a Plan

Before you can begin working, you need to create a research plan mapping out the steps you will take, the purpose of your project, safety measures, and much more. The content of each plan is unique to the type of project and the level of approval needed. This plan is what will go to various review boards for approval to begin working. Make sure to cover all aspects of your project, but don't spend more time on the plan than you spend on the project itself! Just sit down and complete it, drawing it out will only have consequences down the road since you'll need all the time you can get!

Mentors and Approval

The best thing you can do is find a mentor that is truly invested in your project, whether that's a teacher, parent, or professor. Many science fairs require you to have an adult sponsor, so finding one that cares is the best course of action. Completing all paperwork associated with your fair is also one of the first things you want to get done as soon as you have a project in mind and a plan completed. Finding a professor with affiliations to a university institutional review board (IRB) will be super beneficial if your project needs initial IRB approval. If you have trouble getting IRB approval, make sure to contact the science fair you're competing in as a last resort to see if there's anything they can do to help you. 

Gathering Participants 

If your project requires human participants, make sure to gather well over 30 participants and get all of their consent forms before beginning experimentation. These participants can be gathered randomly through social media platforms like Instagram or Reddit, or as a last resort, can be chosen through convenience sampling in which case participants can be friends or family. Still, it's better if participants are random to avoid biases that may be present through a known association between you and the participant, such as a participant being untruthful for the sake of getting you better results. With participants, make sure to keep everyone updated on the schedule and what they must do. Online chatrooms like Groupme are great for contacting many people at one time, and some of these platforms may even allow participants anonymity within the chatroom. Give out a schedule of expectations and send constant reminders regarding what participants must complete each day. 

The single most important aspect of dealing with research participants is to keep them anonymous when they are providing data. This is why a participant ID can become useful if experimentation continues for a large span of time, in order to keep track of which data is from the same participant. In this situation, participants may forget their ID, no longer want to participate in the study, or not complete what they are supposed to during the study. If that is the case, their data must be filtered out of the data pool at the end of experimentation so that data is consistent and there aren't too many variables. This is why is is crucial that you have well over 30 participants, as after removing all null data from the data pool, at least 30 participants must be remaining to draw valid conclusions from the data and to run accurate statistical tests. Starting with at least 50 participants would be good, but it's best to have as many participants as possible for more accurate results, a bigger participant buffer, and a more impressive project overall. 

Records and Analysis

Keeping documentation of every step of the process is critical, especially for analysis. Science fairs also often want to see these records and notes during the competition! Analysis should be well documented, and depending on the project, it can be quantitative, qualitative, or both. This should be very organized. Quantitative data can be done using a variety of statistical tests, depending on how the project question and hypothesis are set up. Qualitative data is often obtained through participant surveys. When analyzing data, draw impactful conclusions and make sure to address the hypothesis, which is known as "qualifying" the hypothesis. Analysis is one of the most important steps in research, as it is what determines the overall conclusions and impact of the research. 

Next Steps

Now, it is time to focus on the presentation of your research! This is completing the poster or slideshow for the competition, and the way in which you will display your research. The presentation is what sells your research. You can have the most important project in the world, but if you can't convince judges of its importance, you will not win big at the competition. Even if the results of your research did not come out the way you expected, marketing those results well and selling judges on the research can catapult you beyond your competitors. You also have to consider what you want to bring with you to the competition. People usually bring a prototype of their project, or example surveys, maybe even a screen displaying some of the work you did! A notebook with notes of the process is always helpful, but really think about what will represent your research the best and impress judges enough for them to remember your project. 

Make sure to practice, practice, practice!!! Practicing your presentation is crucial for everything to flow smoothly and to help build your confidence for competition day. Not only is the presentation important, but you also have to be able to answer questions about your project. Everything from your inspiration to the finer details of how your project works is fair game. See past science fair questions and make sure you can easily and efficiently answer all questions about your project. Sometimes, judges like to take an aggressive approach and drill you about your project and choices, but make sure to remain calm and respectful when addressing such questions, and try to change the judges' mind! There has to be a reason you made all of the choices you did throughout the research process, so share that thought process!

The best thing you can do in the entire research process is to START EARLY!!!! You won't get anywhere if you don't have ample time for all aspects of your project, and you need a bit of leg room to be able to try and fail a few times. Rushing your project is almost guaranteed to lead to you not presenting the judges with your best work, and is sure to leave you with regrets.

At the same time, though, HAVE FUN!!! No one is forcing you to do a project. Since you are choosing to, and you are picking a topic of interest to you, make sure you are actually interested in what you are doing and that you are having fun while doing it! It shouldn't feel like a chore, you should be passionate about your research and then extend that passion to the judges because true determination goes a long way both in science fairs and in your life. 

...Good luck!