Problem Statement
What is a problem statement in research?
A clear and concise description of the issue that the study will address.
Define a hypothesis in research
An educated guess that explains a situation or predicts a result
Define Dependent Variable.
The factor that is measured or observed. The result of the experiment.
Situation: A student observes that some classmates who eat breakfast perform better in morning quizzes. She divides 20 students into two groups: one eats breakfast, the other skips it. Both groups take the same quiz.
Questions:
What is the topic?
Topic: The effect of eating breakfast on quiz performance.
True or False: A problem statement is a possible explanation to an observation or situation
False (Hypothesis)
What is a Null Hypothesis?
A hypothesis that predicts no effect or no difference.
What are the three main types of research variables?
Independent/Manipulated, Dependent/Responding, and Controlled/Constant variables.
Situation: A science class tests whether watering plants with tap water or rainwater affects growth. After two weeks, plants watered with rainwater grow taller.
Questions:
Identify the independent and dependent variables.
Independent Variable: Type of water used (tap vs. rainwater).
Dependent Variable: Plant growth (height).
What are the 3 C’s of a problem statement?
Context, Cause, and Consequence.
Name one key feature of a hypothesis
(Any of the following)
Testable
Supported by available technology
Falsifiable
Based on sound logic
In “The effect of caffeine on alertness,” identify the independent and dependent variables.
IV: Caffeine intake; DV: Level of alertness.
Situation: A student researcher studies if background music affects focus, hypothesizing that music improves focus. One group studies with music, another without. Both groups answer the same test; the music group performs slightly worse.
Question:
Was the hypothesis supported or rejected?
The hypothesis was rejected — music slightly reduced focus.
Identify the Context, Cause, and Consequence:
“Many Grade 8 students sleep late because they use their phones too long, making them tired in class.”
Context: Students sleep late.
Cause: Use phones too long.
Consequence: Tired in class.
Identify the hypothesis type:
“Drinking an energy drink does not affect the running speed of athletes.”
Null hypothesis (H₀)
Create a control and experimental set using this hypothesis: “Drinking coffee increases alertness.”
Control set: No coffee.
Experimental set: With coffee.
A researcher wants to know if using a review app helps students memorize better. After one week, the app users remember 80% of words while non-users remember 70%.
Questions:
What does the data suggest about the app’s effectiveness?
The app seems effective — users remembered more words.
Identify the missing part: “Students often come late to school because they have poor time management." Which C is missing?
Consequence/Contribution
Create both a null and alternative hypothesis for: “Music and memory.”
Null Hypothesis (H₀): Music has no effect on memory.
Alternative Hypothesis (Hₐ): Music improves memory performance.
Why are control variables important in an experiment?
They keep conditions constant to ensure that results are due to the independent variable only.
A student studies whether polluted water affects fish survival. She prepares three tanks: clean water, slightly polluted, and heavily polluted. After two weeks, clean-water tanks had 10 surviving fish, slightly polluted had 7, and heavily polluted had 2.
Question: What trend do the results show?
The higher the pollution, the lower the fish survival rate. Water pollution negatively affects fish survival.