Continuation Projects

A Continuation Project is generally defined as a project which is in the same field of study as a previous project and may reference prior work, but which follows a new line of investigation. The new year’s work must demonstrate new and different research from that done previously. A student may not repeat a previous experiment or simply increase the sample size for the new project.

To help you decide if your project should be considered a Continuation you can use a couple of easy questions:

•   Could this year's project have been done without last year's information, data or research?
  
  
•   Is this year's study based on information learned last year?

It is permissible for a student to conduct a longitudinal study, however, as long as the following conditions are met:

1. The study is testing or recording data on the same variables in which time is the critical variable. (An example is a study of the effect of the amount of rainfall in an area on crop yield, fish populations, etc.)
2. There must be changes based on time for each consecutive year.
3. The project display board must be based on collective past data and conclusions and their comparison to the current year’s data set. Students may not display raw data from past years.

Display boards for continuation projects can only include the current year’s work. Supporting data from past years may be included in a properly labeled notebook, but a past research paper may not be displayed. Students will be judged on the current year’s project only.

In addition to the regular certification forms, the following documents must be included with any Research Plan that is submitted to the SRC/IRB and with the Synopsis upon submission to the MRSF.

1. Continuation Project Form (Form 7)
2. Prior year’s abstract
3. Prior year’s Research Plan (Form 1A) or equivalent documentation.

All prior year’s paperwork must be clearly marked with that year in the upper right hand corner (e.g. 2006-2007).