Internal Assessment Methodology Proposal

Estimated completion time: 1 hour. Do not rush this task. Invest some time now thinking about your
methodology so you don’t have to spend time later redoing it and/or making major changes. Do a thorough,
good job in the first place.

Before completing this task:

● Be sure your project has been approved and is noted correctly on the list.
● Be sure you have completed the background research for your topic.

To complete your methodology research, create a document in which you address the following three tasks.
The more thorough and detailed you are in your answers during this step, the easier the compilation of your
final paper will be!

1. Materials
○ Provide a list of materials required to conduct your investigation. Include supplies needed to set
up the investigation, consumables (items that will be used up during the investigation), and tools
and instruments used for measurement.
○ As relevant, include details such as concentration of solution, brand, and amounts (in metric
units).
○ Highlight any materials you’ll need the school to supply.

2. Similar protocols or procedures

○ Write a paragraph that outlines the methods or techniques that have been used to investigate
questions like this in the past. Explain what you will be doing the same as the other
investigations and what you will be doing differently. Justify why this methodology is effective
and appropriate to your research question.
○ Provide citation(s) for the methods, protocols, procedures, YouTube videos, lab reports and/or
websites from which you are learning how to perform the techniques for your investigation.

3. Methods
○ The investigative method can be written as a narrative (written paragraphs) or as a step-by-step
list.
○ You may write with or without the first-person pronoun (“I will remove the seed” or “Remove the
seed”). Do not use second person (“You will remove the seed”).
○ Be detailed and specific so that another person could replicate your procedure. The type of
methodology you write will depend on the type of investigation you are doing. Answer all the
questions in the boxes below for your type of investigation.

Experimental Based Internal Assessment

Variable #1 (MV) ● How will data for the variable be collected?

● What tools and techniques will be used? What are the units of
measurement?
● How often will data be collected and recorded?
● What are the levels of the variable? How did you select these
levels?
 ○ In comparative experiments, you’ll need at least five levels of the MV.
For example, if temperature is the manipulated variable, you’ll want to
have five temperatures.
○ In correlative studies, sample size must be appropriate for the
investigation: typically, 5-15 is a very small sample, 15-30 is a small
sample, 30+ is considered a large sample.

Variable #2 (RV) ● How will quantitative data for the variable be collected?
● What tools and techniques will be used? What are the units of
measurement?
● How often will data be collected and recorded?
● How will you ensure repeated measurements (trials) of the
measurement? Keep in mind that in order to calculate a
standard deviation, you’ll need at least 5 trials of data collection.
For example, if enzyme reaction rate is the responding variable,
you’ll need to measure the rate five times per temperature.

Controlled ● Which variables will need to be controlled?

Variables ● How will variables be controlled?
● What tools and techniques will be used to ensure that the
variables were in fact controlled? What are the units of
measurement?

Validity Measures ● What validity measures will you use to ensure experimental
measurements are valid and consistent? For example - the
same scale, the same thermometer, washing glassware between
trials.

Sampling ● If sampling only a portion of a population, include the method for

ensuring the sample was randomly selected.

Safety and Ethics ● What safety and/or ethical issues must you consider?
● How will you attempt to minimize waste?
● Are human consent forms required?

Database Based Internal Assessment

Database ● How were the database(s) selected? Provide the link to the
Selection data source you will be using.
● How do you know the data in the database is reliable?

Variable #1 (MV) ● How will data for the variable be collected?

● How will you select which data from the database to include in
your sample?
● How will you ensure the sample from the database is
representative of the population you are investigating?
● How much data related to the variable will be collected?
● What are the units of measurement?
 Variable #2 (RV) ● What quantitative data for the variable be collected?
● What are the units of measurement?
● How will you pair RV data to the appropriate MV data?

Independent ● Explain how you will be analyzing the data in a new or unique
Analysis way.

Controlled ● What variables will you control? How will you control them?
Variables ● If you cannot directly control variables, discuss what variables
should be controlled.

Safety and Ethics ● What safety and/or ethical issues are relevant to the collection,
storing and sharing of the type of data within the database?

Simulation Based Internal Assessment

Simulation ● What simulation are you using? Provide the link to the
Selection simulation.
● How was the simulation selected?
● Why is the selected simulation a reliable model of the
phenomena being investigated?

Variable #1 (MV) ● How will data for the variable be collected?

● What are the levels of the variable? How did you select these
levels?
● What parameters and ranges will you set within the simulations?
● Justify the selection of the parameters.
● What are the units of measurement?

Variable #2 (RV) ● What quantitative data for the variable be collected?

● What are the units of measurement?
● How will you ensure repeated measurements (trials) of the
measurement? Keep in mind that in order to calculate a
standard deviation, you’ll need at least 5 trials of data collection.
Note: the simulation must produce results that will vary between
repetitions.

Controlled ● What variables will you control in the simulation? How will you
Variables control them?
● If you cannot directly control variables, discuss what variables
should be controlled.

Please note: you will most likely need to update your methods section several times as you work through your
investigation. Consider this a document a “work in progress.”
 Please turn in your responses to this document in as Word.doc or PDF. This will allow Mrs. Rodenbough to
view and comment on your work. Submit the responses to your methodology on Managebac.

What’s Next?
The next task, as we baby-step our way through the Internal Assessment, will be to collect your data.