During Fall 2018, as part of the Writing in Biology course at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, I conducted a project which simulated a research report. This project was designed to demonstrate the importance of a clear, concise methods section, the importance of variable control, and the difference between an observation and an inference. A spiderweb was located under a short lighpost between the Morrill buildings. A close up photograph was taken of the spiderweb, a photograph of the general area surrounding the spiderweb and a map of the area in which the web was found were compiled into a multi-panel figure using inkscape image editing software. Once figures were completed, a detailed methods section was written for another student to follow in an attempt to replicate the original figure. The original and replicate figures were compared. Differences were observed in the presence or absence of background or foreground structures and objects, font sizes used, general labeling differences, the presence or lack of light and the presence of water on the ground. Weather and time of day, angling and distance at which photographs are taken, labeling consistency, image resolution, device used to take the image, and the object used to provide scale are factors which were identified as being responsible for these differences.
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