The ability to design appropriate experiments in order to interrogate a research question is an important skill for any scientist. The present article describes an interactive lecture-based activity centred around a comparison of two contrasting approaches to investigation of the question "Can you smell fear?" A poorly designed experiment (a video clip from the TV series "Brainiac science abuse") is considered alongside the methods used in a peer-reviewed paper examining the same issue. The exercise is applicable both for students in their later years of secondary education and during the first year of a university-level bioscience course. (Contains 1 box.)