Introduction > Writing Scientifically > The Art of Supporting your Argument > A Student's Perspective

A Student's Perspective After conducting a group experiment, a second year student reflected on the sampling techniques employed by the group: “Another fault with the chosen sampling method was an inconsistency in the mass of soil samples taken by different people and with different sizes of spade. Although every effort was taken to approximate the given dimensions as accurately as possible, this task was managed dissimilarly by different people. Use of an auger would produce more standardised sample sizes, however this investigation was limited in resources and time. Further inconsistencies were introduced in the sorting phase as different people were likely to have varied proficiencies and methods of sorting through soil. Furthermore, various proficiencies in identification may have also affected the results. Further collaboration between involved parties, or single-person efforts in sampling, sorting and identification may reduce these errors although there may still be issues with waning enthusiasm or increased proficiency throughout each stage. Increased proficiency in addition to the moisture of the soil may go some way towards explaining the higher amount of invertebrates found in the treatment samples.”

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