Task 4: Seeing patterns and testing hypotheses

The greatest added value will come from comparing the data sets from individual research groups.

Such comparisons can be used in an at least three simple and powerful ways:

1. To speculate

By looking at the data and observing novel patterns that might relate to geography or the environment, we can seek new patterns or testing for new ones. This approach might generate hypotheses.

2. Test theoretical concepts

We can evaluate established theoretical concepts that might relate to time, distance, physiology or environmental variable.

3. To test new hypotheses

It is inevitable that new hypotheses will arise in the lifetime of the project.  These may be wholly or partly tested by the datasets emerging across Europe in the coming years.

The nature of the comparisons will ultimately depend on the extent of the collaborations. The greater the intellectual and geographical spread of our project the more scope we will have.

Our participants have interests that spread from the very highest arctic to Africa and encompass soils, sediments freshwater and engineered systems.