The Science of Stories: Fiction vs. Fact

Grade:

7

Teacher:

Alexandria Vaughn

1. What is your project about? My project is about influencing people’s opinions through stories. I wondered if a nonfiction story (like an article) or a fiction story (realistic fiction) will influence people’s opinions on a topic (climate change). I thought it would be the fiction story. 1. Why did you choose this project? I chose this project because I want to be an author, and stories have had a huge part in my life. When I’m an author, I want my books to affect people’s feelings/opinions, so this will be a big help then. 1. What was your result/ overall conclusion? I found that my hypothesis was incorrect because 28.7% of opinions changed within the nonfiction group, while 24.7% of opinions changed within the fiction group. However, every single kid in the nonfiction group changed their opinion, which was interesting because kids typically prefer fiction, instead of cold, hard, unfiltered facts. Another interesting thing is that the votes were never unanimous— at least 3 people would pick something that wasn’t the majority. 1. Why is your project important? My project is important to anyone who wants to change someone’s opinion on a topic (e.g. politicians, business leaders, charities, teachers, parents). They will know that using cold hard facts is better than using a fictional story to get their point across.

Project presentation

Research paper