Experimental Design Layout

All participants in the experimental group were given the following oil:

1. organic coconut oil .

2. Fenugreek seeds

3. 20 curry leaves

4. 25 Rosemary leaves

5. Methi seeds

1. The first step I took was to plan which aspects of hair I wanted to test. Hair loss, shine, split ends, personal feedback, self expression, and confidence instantly came to mind. Though the first three factors are quantitatively measured, the remaining three factors were equally important. Our hair can have a very strong connection to our confidence, affecting us psychologically. Look more into my other blogs to get a deeper understanding on how I tested these factors! 

1. Before conducting the study, I asked each participant to fill a survey. This survey included a background study, to understand how individuals took care of their hair before (e.g. name, age, past hair conditions, ethnicity shampoo, how often do they wash their hair, dandruff, how much hair loss on scale of 1-10, hair type, hair length, products and shampoo used, changes to hair routine if participant is currently traveling, shine currently on scale of 1-10, allergies, etc.)

Context: This gave me an idea of how to personalize the instructions for participants.I was able to understand what each participant valued about their hair, which hair shedding scale to give them for the hair loss, and how to reason with data that wouldn’t match up to other participants. 

Results: Surprisingly, only 30% of participants checked off “Culture” in the question asking whether or not they see a strong connection between their culture and their hair. This could be because I only had people of three ethnicities in the study (Indian, Chinese, and Caucasian).

1. I started creating a plan on how often participants would wash their hair, what they would use on their hair, and what their hair routine would be for the next four weeks. I then put these instructions on a document, making them easy to read. I also included additional information for the participants in the experimental group, which included how to oil hair and a video to refer to if any confusion occurs. I created a personalized google drive for each participant, where they could upload pictures of their hair after they measured data, access instructions and the weekly form they had to submit twice a week.

Context: My study had 20 participants, 10 people in the control group and 10 in the experimental group. These participants were randomly selected in order to ensure that the sample is not biased. The participants had different ages, hair textures, ethnicities, and different health backgrounds. The control group continued their normal hair routine, including using the same shampoo, following the same diet, and continuing their regular lifestyle habits. The experimental group used coconut oil along with the routine I gave them.

The instructions participants were given:

Additionally, each person received a specific hair shedding scale diagram based on what they indicated their hair type and length to be in the Background Survey. Here is a link to one of the shedding scales that participants with short, curly hair used:

sinclair hair shedding scale