My research question for this assignment is: The effect of diet on human lifespan. So, you’ll be writing the proposal topic based on this question. I’ve also picked my scholarly article and the link to the article is here:
https://www.nature.com/articles/1602522
BIOL 260
Research Proposal
Purpose
Your semester-ending Research Report will give you a chance to conduct a scientific study from conception
through conclusion. The goal of your study will be to ask a single question within a single biological research
area. The only part that won’t be 100% real is your dataset, which you’ll create using guidelines I’ll give you
later. The Proposal is your chance to make a plan and get detailed feedback on your approach well before the
final Report is due.
Your proposal should include:
1) Your topic, your question within your topic, and why it’s important.
2) The objective of your study, including hypotheses and predictions you’ll test.
3) A study design that will effectively test your predictions.
Project title (2 pts)
Give your study a descriptive title.
Topic and question (7 pts)
What question would you like to address? Provide the information an intelligent non-specialist (i.e., another
class member) would need to understand your topic. Good introductions start really broad (e.g., climate change
affects animals in many ways) and get more specific later (e.g., how do warming temperatures affect the timing
of migration of the yellow warbler?). It should cite at least two peer-reviewed articles. This section should end
with a “need” statement, which explains why this study is important for society and/or science. Why should
someone give you money to do this?
Objectives (5 pts)
Give the hypothesis you’d like to test, which should follow from your big question. Give an important
prediction that would come from that hypothesis and an appropriate null hypothesis to go with it.
Study design (8 pts)
Describe your study design so that a classmate would understand your plan and your reasoning. Justify the
important decisions you make (e.g., why three treatment levels? why stratify by age but not sex?), but not every
detail. A figure depicting your sampling or experimental set-up is often helpful, and won’t count against your
page limit. You should briefly address the categories you covered in the Study Design assignment:
observational vs. experimental study, sample population and frame, dependent and independent variables, and
the main comparison you’re making.
Plot (4 pts)
Finally, include a plot of fake data that would support the hypothesis you aim to test (i.e., would reject your
null hypothesis). It should include the elements of a publication-quality graph we discussed in class: (1) clear
axis labels, (2) descriptive caption, & (3) line fit or error bars, as appropriate.
Review (4 pts)
You’ll read an anonymized Proposal from another student and offer a critique of its strengths and areas to
improve. I’ll provide a 1-page form for you to complete.
Tips for success:
● Submit document to me without your name(s). We’re doing a double-blind peer review.
● 1,000 word LIMIT. Shorter is fine as long as you meet all the requirements.
● 12 pt Times New Roman font, 1in margins. Anything smaller makes me grumpy.
● All sections (except Literature Cited) should be in narrative paragraphs.
● You can use the same question/ paper here that you’ve used for other HW.
● I encourage you to talk with me about your project before you get too far along.
LITERATURE CITED (NOT PART OF WORD LIMIT):
All references used should be both cited in text and listed in the references section in alphabetical order. Use the
style and formatting shown below. Note: reference types “[journal article]” are just for your information and
are NOT to be included in your reference section.
[journal article]
Kitayama, K., S. Aiba, M. Takyu, N. Majalap, and R. Wagai. 2004. Soil phosphorus fractionation and phosphorus-use
efficiency of a Bornean tropical montane rain forest during soil aging with podozolization. Ecosystems 7:259–274.
[chapter in edited book]
Reich, P. B. 1998. Variation among plant species in leaf turnover rates and associated traits: implications for growth at all life
stages. Pages 467–487 in H. Lambers, H. Poorter, and M. M. I. Van Vuuren, editors. Inherent variation in plant growth.
Physiological mechanisms and ecological consequences. Backuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands.
In-text citation styles
Sole author:“The grey soil is due to lack of oxygen in the soil over many days (Smith 1990).”
Two authors: “Wetland soils are easily identified (Griffith and Forseth 2004).”
More than 2 authors: “There was likely little oxygen in the soil because it was saturated by water over many
days (Berckley et al. 1995).”
More than one citation for the same idea separate the citations by a “;.”
Example – Wetland soils are easily identified (Griffith and Forseth 2004; Griffith 2013).
Project Title
The Effect of Having Diabetes on Developing Dental Caries
Topic and Question
Diabetes is a disease in which the body’s ability to produce or respond to the hormone insulin is
impaired, which results in abnormal metabolism. Dental caries is another way of saying cavities
which is damage to the tooth. Many people do not realize the importance of the oral health,
especially having diabetes. The objective of this study is to educate and understand the
relationship between diabetes and caries. By knowing the cons, we can also prevent these
problems. Based on studies performed by S. Stretman (2005), we will test the evidence from the
experiment performed with 64 young males type 1 diabetes mellitus patients, to see if people
affected for diabetes type 1 will have more incidence on carrying caries. Many studies have been
conducted to find out more about diabetic people that deal with caries and the effects or maybe
food they consume C. Heleena (2008).
Question: Does the presence of diabetes affect the frequency of developing dental caries in
comparison to non-diabetics?
Objectives
Hypothesis: Diabetes affects the number of caries an individual has.
Null hypothesis: Diabetes does not affect the number of caries an individual has.
Prediction: Being affected with diabetes causes an increase in number of caries.
Study Design
This experiment will consist of a control group and two treatment groups. Each individual from
each group which are 32 males from age 12-18 patients with diabetes(group 1) and 32 male
patients age 12-18 with no diabetes (group 2). These individuals will be monitored by what they
consume and eating similar foods and candy etc. which might cause cavities. Also, how they are
brushing their teeth and maybe even using the same toothpaste so we can have a good base that
the cavities are caused by having diabetes and not other things.●
number of cavities
Treatment group 1: (Have diabetes), 32 males age 12-18 Monitor or follow the
individuals for five years and see the amount of cavities.
Treatment group 2: (Does not have diabetes), 32 males age 12-18 Monitor or follow the
individuals for five years and see the amount of cavities.
Sample Plot
The relationship between diabetes and caries
Healthy
Diabetes
2
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