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is giving out caffeine considered to be against the IB code of ethics?


Chelleee

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hey guys!
my original experiment for my bio ee was to give people a can of coke (classic - the red one?) and then measure their reaction times and blood pressure over a period of time (say a few times in about an hour)
caffeine is considered to be a stimulant and it is usually consumed daily. but i figured i could give caffeine to those who normally drink caffeine and i wouldn't be changing anything major
but then he (being my supervisor) said that by doing that i was changing and interfering with their daily routines as caffeine can have psychological effects, and the IBO doesn't like that...
so,
my question is: is it true? caffeine can have both positive and negative effects so does it go against ethics and will it influence my mark if i do go ahead with this experiment D:?
any feedback is much appreciated,
thank youu!

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I would say that that topic, as I read, I flipped bio and chem in my head several times. Which is always a bad sign ^_^
you want to be concrete and clear.

And yes your teacher is absolutely right, I think human testing, which is causing stress on them as far as their life is inappropriate and wont score high.

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Hey Chelleee, I wanted to carry out a similar experiment to yours (giving caffeine pills to people) and I asked my IB Coordinator to contact the IBO to ask them if I could do such a thing. They told him that people shouldn't be used on experiments since they were going to be provided with a drug. I strongly recommend you to change the topic since you will not get good grades on your EE. I'm sorry to discourage you but you will be grateful in the end. (I had to change my topic too). G'luck!

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[quote name='biochem' post='37011' date='Feb 16 2009, 02:29 PM']I would say that that topic, as I read, I flipped bio and chem in my head several times. Which is always a bad sign ^_^
you want to be concrete and clear.

And yes your teacher is absolutely right, I think human testing, which is causing stress on them as far as their life is inappropriate and wont score high.[/quote]

yeeks that isn't a good sign at all, but I had a discussion with my bio teacher and basically there's just to many flaws in the experiment so i'm seriously considering starting over again. it seems like a smarter thing to do rather than continue going downhill with this one.....ignoring the fact that the first draft is due in 2 wks *facepalm. but i'll manage ^^
thanks so much for your feedback!


[quote name='Hedron123' post='37013' date='Feb 16 2009, 02:31 PM']Hey Chelleee, I wanted to carry out a similar experiment to yours (giving caffeine pills to people) and I asked my IB Coordinator to contact the IBO to ask them if I could do such a thing. They told him that people shouldn't be used on experiments since they were going to be provided with a drug. I strongly recommend you to change the topic since you will not get good grades on your EE. I'm sorry to discourage you but you will be grateful in the end. (I had to change my topic too). G'luck![/quote]

mmm yer i see why the IBO would not recommend the experiment since caffeine has an effect in comparison to something like omega-3 which is good for you and does not have any side-effects.
It's fine ^^ i'm very grateful at this point for the feedback and i'll now go have a look at something else to do~
thank you -_-

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