, Research Paper
Variable
The variable in this experiment is plants given to patients recovering from hip surgery.
Five patients will be given tulips to take care of in their hospital room, while five patients will just
undergo normal physical therapy for recovery.
Control
All of the people in this experiment will be the same age and will be recovering from the
same surgery. The patients will also be observed in a hospital setting and must stay in the hospital
until they are healed. The people in this experiment will also be the same sex. The people given
tulips will be compared against the people not given tulips. All are to undergo normal therapy
during the experiment.
Identify the Problem
The point of this experiment is to find out whether or not taking care of plants can quicken
the healing rate of a recovering surgery patient. If taking care of plants is the reason for less
healing time, then people should be able to cut hospital stays and bed rest time down by taking
care of plants.
Collect Information
An already known fact about plants is that they seem to appeal to everyone’s senses. In
experiments by the American Horticultural Therapy Association, it was discovered that touching a
plant can calm a person. This may result in people not feeling worried about their sickness or
forgetting about what is troubling them. Also, plants have the ability to evoke pleasant memories.
Studies have shown that patients are able to gather strength quicker and reduce depression by
walking in a garden on a regular basis. Research also shows that handling plants can reduce blood
pressure and feelings of stress. It is needed to find out if plants can help patients recover quicker
than usual after hip surgery. After a surgery a person may feel depressed about the fact that they
can no longer walk as they used to, but taking care of a plant may have the person feel a sense of
accomplishment that might carry over to therapy. The people with the plants may go into the
physical therapy sessions with a more positive attitude than those who do not have plants to take
care of.
State a Hypothesis
If patients are given tulips to take care of after hip replacement, then they will heal quicker
than the normal time it takes people recovering from hip replacements to heal.
Design an Experiment
1) Choose ten people who are to undergo hip surgery. The people are to have the same
operation. They are to be 67 year old females.
2) Place tulips around five of the patient’s hospital rooms after surgery for them to take
care of. Give the other five people no tulips.
3) Have each patient keep a daily journal about their progress and how they feel the plants
have affected it. If they were not assigned plants, have them keep a journal solely on their
progress.
4) Check to make sure that the five patients assigned plants are actually taking care of their
plants. Also, make sure that everyone included in the experiment is also undergoing normal
physical therapy, and all are given the same pain medication.
5) Track the progress of the people throughout the experiment. Visit each person once a
day. Ask them how their progress has been or if they have been feeling better or worse than
expected to. At the daily visits make sure that they are taking care of their plants if they have
them. Do this for one. At the end of the one week, the experiment will be over.
6) At the end of the one week, find out how their progress was. Co
allow them to keep the tulips if they want. The experiment will end after one week so that
everyone is given the same amount of time. The patient does not have to be completely healed at
this time.
7) Make a chart of diagram plotting each individual’s progress.
The test group must not be allowed to have more plants than they were initially given. All
people must have the same amount of visitors so that the experiment is not disrupted. If any of
these people fail to follow directions, their results will be thrown out.
The control group will not be given any tulips and will not be allowed to have any plants in
their hospital rooms.
The test group and control group are to vary because the test group is allowed to have
plants around them, while the other group must have no plants around them. The reason for this
is comparing the test group results with those of someone who does not use a plant to heal.
Carry Out the Experiment and Collect the Data
During each daily visit a report is to be taken of how well the person is feeling. Make
observations such as how much medication they are taking for pain, when they first started walking
again, and how many steps they take. Also, find out what the person’s physical therapist thinks
about their recovery process. The people should be writing this in their daily journal. At the end
of the one week, the journal is collected and the data is taken from it. The journal should say how
the person is feeling, or if they think taking care of the tulip is affecting their healing process.
Chart 1, Those people given no tulips
Amount
Healed
for Day 1 Amount
Healed
for Day 2 Amount
Healed
for Day 3 Amount
Healed
for Day 4 Amount
Healed
for Day 5 Amount
Healed
for Day 6 Amount
Healed
for Day 7
Patient 1
Patient 2
Patient 3
Patient 4
Patient 5
Chart 2, Those given tulips to take care of
Amount
Healed
for Day 1 Amount
Healed
for Day 2 Amount
Healed
for Day 3 Amount
Healed
for Day 4 Amount
Healed
for Day 5 Amount
Healed
for Day 6 Amount
Healed
for Day 7
Patient 1
Patient 2
Patient 3
Patient 4
Patient 5
After the charts are made, bar graphs can be used to plot the data. Designate on color per
person. On the y-axis, put different stages in the healing process, using the numbers one through
ten. Ten is the best a person can be feeling, while one is the worst a person can feel. The x-axis
should be labeled with the seven days of the week. Make a key identifying the different color bars.
Analyze the Data and Draw Conclusions
I believe the data will show that the people taking care of the tulips while undergoing
normal physical therapy will heal quicker than those people not taking care of tulips, and the
hypothesis will be supported. However, if the data collected shows no significant difference in the
condition of the people recovering from surgery, then the hypothesis has not been supported. The
data should show that the people taking care of the plants have a quicker healing time because they
have a better outlook on things. They feel a sense of accomplishment because they are able to take
care of a plant.