By Chanel Kennedy

My name is Chanel Kennedy and I am here to show you my findings. I am 12 years old (Year 7) and attend Lincroft Middle School…

The main reason I decided to look into Animal testing is because I feel very strongly that it is not fair and I was curious to find out if people shared my view. However, I have not let my personal opinion interfere with my research.

My data is represented in charts and graphs and occasionally images- I found my data by handing out surveys and carrying out an observation. The majority of my results are anti-animal testing but many also said that it was a benefit for Science.

I started out by choosing my research question and then started to design a questionnaire; I then handed this out to a class of approximately 30 students. I also performed an observation of a different class’ reactions to a PowerPoint presentation… Before I carried out my research I made a prediction concerning my results- I guessed that people’s reactions were going to be slightly differing when they are presented with emotional or practical questions…

What I mean by rational responses is that people were thinking logically and that there was no obstruction in their thinking. What I mean by this is that there were no images or leading questions to guide them to an answer that is not their own…

Everyday, thousands of humans are saved from painful and fatal diseases. For example; Babies like this are saved as well as the families they belong too…

Answers… How many students said… This bar graph is to show what people think about animal testing and my data shows that the majority of those questioned shared a view of anti-animal testing, but…

When answering the questionnaire many participants shared a view of Animal Testing being a benefit to science. Some answers were along the lines of, ‘If the testing is necessary and helps us, humans then it is a benefit to science.’ This answer was repeated several times in varying forms.

‘I don’t think it’s good because it hurts animals, but also it can be good for Science because it saves a lot of lives…’ Most responses are one-sided but this is a two- sided answer and shows both sides of the Animal Testing issue.

Please may I see a show of hands for those who believe Animal Testing is a benefit to Science…

These were the Rational Responses - however those presented with a presentation came to a very different opinion… These were in the form of Emotional Responses…

This is only one of the images that 7B1 were presented with… GLOBALPHILOSOPHY.COM

By emotional responses I mean that people were swayed in their thinking, in this case, via images. The images triggered an emotional response which meant that the responses weren’t particularly reliable. However in this case they were.

‘Oh My God, what did they do to its ears!’ ‘Is it a rabbit?’ There was also a lot of gasps… CLUBECANDOCA.COM

‘Is it wearing a hat?’ ‘Eeeeew!’

Now please may I see a show of hands for those who think Animal testing is cruel…

To summarise, my research has shown the difference between rational and emotional responses. When you are thinking clearly and have no obstacles you come up with a very different response to when you have something that sparks some emotion standing in your way…

Does anyone have any questions…?