Chemistry EE on CaCO3 in different egg shells

[omachem]

This is my first post ever on IBS, but here it goes:

I'm doing my EE in Chemistry, however after discovering that I wouldn't be getting the chemicals for my initial proposal (he initially approved it, but the weekend before our designated week for labs he told me I couldn't do it due to them being too expensive and not useful to the school etc), I'm kinda forced to stick with an idea proposed by my supervisor. 

Basically it's determining whether there is a difference in the CaCO3 content of eggs laid by free range chickens compared to those laid by battery chickens. I do like the idea, but I'm not sure if there actually is a difference. Is it imperative for a scientific EE to conclude with varying results? Or could a potential conclusion be "there is no evidence of differing CaCO3 levels"? I haven't really seen a lot of other research on this exact topic (don't know if this is a good or bad thing), so that's why I'm unsure.

I'm not concerned about the experiment itself though, the procedure includes back titration and all sorts of other calculations which would allow for sufficient data collection and further discussion and evaluation. 

So: Would this topic work for my EE? What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

[kw0573]

This is one of the IB-recommended labs. In short, the conclusion you provide must be clearly supported by your data. No difference in CaCO₃ content is a valid conclusion if you have done a thorough investigation and analysis. Skewing your data to match what is widely believed to be true should be avoided. On the other hand, you should not conclude with inconclusiveness, because that means you have not gathered enough data or interpreted your data correctly.

EDIT. It's not wise to say "there is no evidence of differing levels", what's better is to conclude "there is evidence for no differing levels". Both say basically the same thing, but the latter phrasing is stronger and is harder to conclude.

Edited June 12, 2016 by kw0573