• Question: Why do you think that your work will work?

    Asked by apple to Pete, Rebecca, SallyB, Sally, Sian on 20 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Sian Lawson

      Sian Lawson answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      You can’t – if you’ve already decided the answer then there is no point doing the experiment. There’s no right answer, as long as you’re asking interesting enough questions. That way I always know that I’ve made a contribution, whatever the result.

      If I have to make something specific work for a job then it’s experience, lateral thinking and a great plan B.

    • Photo: Peter Styring

      Peter Styring answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      I use theories as a starting point based on scientific and engineering principles. Some are correct others are not. Sometimes if something goes wrong, something new and more exciting emerges. that’s the thing about research: it hasn’t been done before so we can often expect the unexpected!

    • Photo: Rebecca Randell

      Rebecca Randell answered on 19 Jun 2010:

      I can’t be positive that what i will do will work. Other scientists that looked at using green tea to increase energy burning and some have found that it worked and some haven’t. Science is all about looking at all the research that has been done in your area and then working out the good and bad things about how it was carried out and then designing a study which you think will work.

    • Photo: Sally Barber

      Sally Barber answered on 19 Jun 2010:

      I think that exercise will be able to help to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease because there is some research which has already been done that suggests that it might. For example… One of the things that can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease is having a lot of glucose circulating in the blood. I have done a study showing that in middle aged people regular exercise can reduce the amount of glucose normally circulating around their bodies. This started me thinking that exercise might also be able to reduce circulating levels of glucose in older people who are starting to lose their memory. And by lowering glucose in the blood exercise might be able to stop someone from getting Alzheimer’s disease. However, my theory might be wrong. One of the great things about science is that if I do an experiment and I don’t get the results that I was expecting, this is still a result. And it can be just as useful to know that something doesn’t work.

    • Photo: Sally Fenton

      Sally Fenton answered on 20 Jun 2010:

      I think my work will work because there has been a lot of scientific research in the past which has looked into the area I am researching…After these people have carried out their research they have always had alot of extra questions they have wanted to ask…and my research is answering these questions! There is also a lot of previous work which my science research has benn based upon which has worked and made some really interesting discoveries…so hopefully mine will follow the same path!

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