Project Methodology

1) Get a research partner. We will help you find someone who is working on a similar project.

2) Decide what it is you hope to accomplish while diving / snorkeling. This is the "hypothesis" step for most projects. What do you expect to see or find? How will you test that expectation? What data will you need to either verify or refute your suspicions? For example, if you are trying to analyze the differences in fishes populations over various coral heads, your hypothesis will probably be either "coral species make no difference to the fishes above them" or "coral species determine the surrounding population of fishes." What will you need to observe in order to test this?

3) Determine how you and your dive / snorkel buddy will meet both of your needs while in the water. This is the methods portion of the project. Think about what you will need and how you will proceed in order to actually carry out the hypothesis testing. Try to share observation duties, keeping in mind the depth and mobility requirements of each partner. You may be writing up a methods portion of your paper, so try to be scientific in your reasoning.

4) Immediately upon gaining the deck or shore record what you observed, using your partner to verify or help remember what happened. This is the data from which you will draw conclusions for both your presentation and your paper. After writing down what you gleaned from your water experience, review it. Look for omissions in observations or manipulations that you can pick up in your next dive / snorkel session. Reviewing your methods will help clarify your observations, and prepare you for the actual analysis of your data.

5) Analyze the data and prepare your presentations and paper. Use supporting documentation from sources other than your dive / snorkel experiences to lend credence to your conclusions.

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