User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
I have begun implementing my experimental design by collecting field data from my study site. As previously mentioned in an earlier assignment, I will be performing 30 replicates total (10 replicates per study site). In order to be finished by module 8 I have chosen to do 10 replicates (1 study site) per module. This week I did my first set of 10 replicates and it went very smoothly. I chose my first location- the elderflower shrub branch. This is the location that is furthest from the road and my prediction is that this location will have the most Western Honeybee pollination activity. I counted the number of honeybees that pollinated the branch over 5 minutes, then repeated this 9 more times. My numerical data was written in my field journal in addition to the time that this data was collected and other pertinent information. As I have only collected data from one treatment site, I cannot comment on whether or not this data is congruent with my prediction because I have no other data to observe it against.
So far I have not had any difficulties implementing my sampling designs. But I may run into problems in the following weeks. The weather is getting colder and the plants in this community garden are beginning to wilt and become dormant. I am nervous that my other treatments will not be viable by the time I get to observing them. I initially planned on completing this before the cold weather came but due to unforeseen circumstances (involving a glass of water and my laptop!) I was not able to access my modules/experiment information and schedule this experiment as I had initially intended. However, I will remain hopeful for the next 2 weeks and ideally be able to obtain accurate data for this study. Perhaps I will have to choose different plants that are still active in the same location of the treatment sites left. This is unfortunate because I initially had chosen my sample placements because of their similar characteristics. I am hoping that there will be some similar samples left in the locations I am studying during the weather changes.
Yes, you will have to consider time of year you sampled in your paper and honeybee activity at this time of the year and/or in the types of temperatures you are doing your study. If it is still possible I would recommend getting your sampling done quickly. As well, if you do all your replicates at one location at one time and at another location at a different time, this could confound your results. You may want to do 5 replicates at each location in the same day and then do the other 5 replicates at each location on a different day so that the day you sample does not confound the site, especially given the time of year.
I did not think to do 5 replicates at a time when conducting my research unfortunately. Instead I had changed my study session dates to complete my research sooner (study site 1 on October 24th, site 2 on November 1st and site 3 on November 2nd). Though I think this still might confound my results slightly, it was a better option than conducting my sessions weekly. I will be putting my research all together in the next few days and I am interested in seeing the results!