Collecting, Recording & Processing Data

Accurate data collection is essential because any mistakes made here cannot be fixed later. If measurements are wrong, your calculations, graphs, and conclusions will also be wrong.

To measure and record accurately, make sure to:

• Zero the balance before use

• Meausre the mass in grams (g)

• Record to the same number of decimal places

• Blot kumara pieces consistently

• Record data immediately (not from memory)!!!

Measuring and recording your data accurately helps to improve the validity of your investigation because your recorded data is more likely to measure what they are meant to. It also helps improve the reliability of your results because your repeat measurements are more likely to be consistent.

As you record the data, check each value and see if you can recognise any emerging patterns. You must also check for:

• Missing values

• Values that don't seem to match the emerging pattner

• Large differences between repeats. 

These unusual results are called anomalies, and they can skew averages, mislead conclusions and make your results less reliable. They should be identified, but not necessarily removed.