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Ongoing Field Observations
What I plan to study are the variety or bird species and number of each bird species seen in three locations on this trail. I will observe species at the top of the hill on this trail. This is where the parch benches and feeders are, as well this is where there is a somewhat large clearing. I also plan to observe the species of birds present 100m from this point, as well as 200m from this point. I will observe the birds in terms of the variety of species, and how many of each species I observe within a set time. Each visit to the trail will be one hour. I will spend twenty minutes at each of these plots observing the species.
I hypothesize that the birds will be inclined to visit the feeders at the top of the trail, regardless of the larger number of people in this location. Therefore, I predict that there will be more species and a greater number of birds at the clearing at the top of the hill, than there will be at either of the other two test locations. I predict this outcome due to the bird feeders present, despite there being more people and less coverage in this area.
A response variable within this study is the number of birds and variety of bird species that will be observed. This variable will be categorical, as it will entail the presence and/or absence of specific species. An explanatory variable would be the three locations which will be tested, and their proximity to the bird feeders, park benches, and forest clearing. This variable is continuous, as is can be measured by distance.
This field study looks very interesting! I enjoy watching birds as well.
Your prediction is both clear and falsifiable. It tells me that you will be counting birds at the three specific locations, and counting the number of species. It is falsifiable because you would reject it if there are not more species and more birds at the clearing at the top of the hill than elsewhere. Because the hypothesis mentions that you think the birds will gather at the feeders despite the presence of people, it would be good to have that incorporated into your prediction. For example, you could predict that there will be more birds and more different species and more people at the feeder site than at the others. This wouldn’t necessarily speak to whether the birds are there despite the people, but may allow you to conclude that the presence of people has not kept the birds away.
The pieces (birds, people, bird feeders) and patterns (bird distribution relative to feeder and human distribution) are clearly stated.
Questions about possible confounding variables:
Are you noting what foods are in the bird feeders, and what bird species are attracted to those specific foods? Do the contents of the bird feeders vary between the different feeders and at different times? Have you seen any people feeding the birds? Are some bird species more tolerant to the presence of humans than other species? What time of day are you conducting your observations?
The confounding variables raised by these questions are:
– the contents of the bird feeders
– differences between bird species in how much they are attracted to the bird feeders
– people feeding birds
– differences between bird species in their avoidance of people
– time of day
– even if the time of day is kept consistent (eg always early in the morning), if the different sites are always visited in the same order then timing could still be a confounding variable
Best of luck with your field study!