Introduction To Graduate Studies

It is always best to start with very specific keywords during a database search and move to more general search terms (true or false)

false

Scientific inquiry leads to truth and provides absolute proof and meaning to phenomena (true or false)

false

Scientific writing is a trivial activity and students should be able to comfortably complete a paper within a few hours (true or false)

false

The scope of a research project is exactly the same for all graduate students (both thesis and non-thesis) true or false

false

The thesis program is far superior to the online program for every students need and ambition (true or false)

false

In general, the "best" or "ideal" experiments conform t the dogma of the scientific method which compares two groups, a control group and and experimental group which,

differ by a single experimental condition

Disadvantages of laboratory based research may include (3)

experiments my require long hours in the laboratory with few distractions to pass the time many high tech instruments tend to be black boxes with samples injected in one end and data out the other end emphasis my be on mechanisms of a phenomena with no clear practical application to the present

A well created figure (table, graph etc) must be such that you need to read the text of at least 50% of the paper to understand what the figure depicts (true or false)

false

Randomizing is a method for coping with confounding variables that you cannot control when collecting data (true or false)

true

Setting a critical value for p (i.e. the p-value) at 0.05 can roughly be translated into a 5% chance that two sets of data are drawn from the same population (i.e. there is 1 chance in 20 that repeating the experiment will result in a different conclusion) - true or false

true

The grade requirement for the thesis and non-thesis program work are identical, and all students must maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 and course work receiving a C- or lower will not count toward graduation requirements (true or false)

true

To properly cite a paper, you must provide a citation with in the text and provide full details of the paper in the works cited list (true or false)

true

While research is a optional component of the non-thesis program, all graduate students are expected to gain an understanding of how research is conducted (true or false)

true

A single hypothesis may not always be sufficient to completely address a scientific question (true or false)

True

A figure displaying data should include (3)

a labeled axis if any are present a figure legend explaining what the figure depicts any relevant units used

The size and intensity of practice and relevance to a given field describes the _______________________ of a research project

scope

Examples of "free" information databases (3)

Google, PubMed, GenBank

Electronic communications (email and discussion boards) may be more difficult - 4 reasons

1. communication is asynchronous 2. non-verbal cues such as body language and facial expressions are absent 3. the feeling that digital communication is anonymous can lead to behaviors not normally encountered during face to face discussions 4. there may be a tendency to take an email literally or too seriously that may lead result in miscommunication

Variability between observations of a specific parameter is universal to science. In fact, specific parameters are called variables. Sources of variability(sometimes called confounding variables) include ....... (3)

1. experimental variation (experimental error) 2. variability in phenotypes and genotypes 3. variability in time and space NOT - variability in calculations by computer programs

The UNK Graduate catalog provides useful information related to (4 things)

1. program requirements 2. admissions and academics 3. tuition, fees and financial information 4. proper conduct and expectations including potential consequences for plagiarism and academic dishonesty.

The UNK Department of Biology Graduate Student Handbook (4)

1. reflects the graduate colleges requirements for the program 2. includes additional Department of Biology requirements and standards 3. provides suggested time-lines for graduate programs 4. includes forms needed for each program

When designing experiments you may utilize scientific literature to determine ..... (4)

1. which statistical tests to use for your study 2. ways to collect data for your study 3. which internal controls to use for your study 4. methods to avoid bias in your study.

In general, for statistically valid results, a minimum of _____________ data points are required, but in practice many studies will involve collecting much more (perhaps even hundreds of thousands)

3

Topics and objectives covered in Introduction to graduate study include

Graduate Requirements, Use of scientific literature, Design of biological experiments, Scientific Writing

The abstract of a paper (list 3)

Contains a summary of the main findings in the paper can be read to get an idea of what the paper is about is often written last

___________________________ variables may take any value over the range of possible values. Examples include physical measurements such as mass, length, pH, etc

Continuous

____________ variables can be counted in whole numbers

Discontinuous

Louie is a graduate student who is taking an outline course taught by Dr. Loper. Louie has noticed that he is unable to view an assignment in the course site, so he decides to email Dr. Loper. What would be the most appropriate way to start the email?

Dr. Loper, I haven't been able to locate the assignment for this week. Could you please direct me on where I can find it on Canvas?

Disadvantages of field research include: (4)

Exposure to adverse weather conditions and biting insects significant time required for travel to study sites study subjects may be difficult to observe if rare or distributed over a large range regulations may apply to the study subject which would require permits from government agencies

Which of the following can be considered as academic dishonesty? (4)

Fabrication, Sabotage, Impersonation, Bribery

A lab or field book is not really necessary when doing a scientific study (true or false)

False

In professional electronic communication it is important to use clear and concise language, and it is very much acceptable to use acronyms such as LOL, OMG, BTW (true or false)

False

It is standard practice to select the hypothesis test that you will use for your experiment after you have collected and recorded your data (true or false)

False

Obtaining a graduate education is always the best path for reaching personal and professional goals (true or false)

False

Reading a scientific paper is typically easy and an entire paper can often be read in 15 min (true or false)

False

Many valid experimental designs require the collection of a single measurement (one data point) true or false

False 3 are a minimum

The department of biology at UNK has faculty studying what can broadly be categorized as...... (2)

Field Research and Laboratory research

Some ways that you could calculate a test statistic include (3)

Free open access statistical software A spreadsheet program in excel Internet resources available for statistical tests

The methods section of a research article will contain

Information on how the experiments in the study were performed

Good Electronic communications can be improved by (list 3)

Knowing your audience (staff, faculty and other students) Identifying yourself and your purpose early in the communication Addressing the person you are communicating with

_________________ experiments are more common in the laboratory, where a parameter is directly controlled by the researcher and the effect on a variable measured.

Manipulative

The most commonly used organizational format for reporting primary research results is......

Title, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion

Examples of central tendency include (3)

Mean Median Mode

_____________________-- variables can be described by words that are typically categories. Examples include left turn vs. right turn, blood type, short vs tall etc

Nominal

In field studies, _________________________experiments are often designed to evaluate the effect of a parameter on the value of a variable , because there are often practical, legal or ethical issues when altering the environmental conditions of a study site.

Observational or "natural"

Data that results from counting or measuring are known as ________________________. These data are much preferred in experimental designs because they posses magnitude, are readily evaluated by statistical tests and can be converted into other data types.

Quantitative

Seed Dispersal by the Desert Strategies of seed dispersal by plants inhabiting desert environments How Desert environments influence the dispersal of seeds, both large and small as a strategy for survival Seed Dispersal Strategies in Desert plant Which title is better for a review paper

Seed Dispersal Strategies in Desert Plant

Data storage methods can include (2)

Storage on a cloud server copies of data sheets

___________________is typically used to evaluate the hypothesis that observed ratios are not significantly different from expected ratios

The chi-square test

For the given null hypothesis "The levels of cyclin D are the same in cells grown with antibiotics and cells grown without antibiotics" What would be the appropriate

The levels of cyclin D are different in cells grown with antibiotics and cells without antibiotics

Which hypothesis is considered as the hypothesis of no effect

The null hypothesis

A student is starting to formulate their hypothesis for their research project. Their general scientific question is regarding how the presence of mint affect the population of moths in the area. Given this general question which of the following would be an appropriate null hypothesis?

There is no difference in the populations of moths in the areas where mint grows compared to the population of moths in the areas without mint

Conducting research within the distance (non thesis program) is optional. If the distance student wants to carry out a research project within the program they must fulfill certain pre-requisites and then submit an application to take the BIOL 831 research series

True

Failure to cite a paper that you have stated results from can be regarded as plagiarism (true or false)

True

Graduate education should be combined with related work or practical experience to maximize competitiveness in your chosen field (true or false)

True

In a graph, the independent variable is plotted on the x axis and the dependent variable is plotted on the Y axis (true or false)

True

Sources are cited, in part, to provide proper credit to materials used in a paper that are not the authors work (true or false)

True

Sources consulted while writing a paper should be cited using a conventional format accepted by biologists

True

Tables should be avoided, and graph conside3red when it is more important to show a pattern or trend in the data (true or false)

True

The UNK library provides access to several "non-free" information databases (free of charge to UNK students) true or false

True

When evaluating the results of an experiment, it is important to consider the possibility that there is nothing to explain and the results are simply due to random variation or change (true or false)

True

When presenting a poster or oral presentation there are limits on the amount of time or space used (true or false)

True

Review papers are often organized into the following sections (3)

a conclusion and literature cited an optional abstract and introduction the body of the paper, which may or may not be subdivided into headings containing related material MATERIALS AND METHODS ARE NOT INCLUDED

After the title, the _________________ is usually the next section of the paper to be read

abstract

Good reasons for entering graduate study include (3)

advancing professional career building skills for future education (professional school for example. continuing education for work or organizational needs

For adequate sampling of population, samples are repeated to form replicates which.....

are multiple measurements of the same variable from a cross-section of a population

Graphs of categorical data, such as measured variable from different treatment groups, are best displayed using?

bar graph

Collection and analysis of ____________________ are common to all good experimental designs.

data

When reviewing the literature on a given topic, complete understanding of the "materials and methods" is absolutely required for understanding the main points of the paper (true or false)

false

A histogram typically displays the _________________________________ on the y axis and the measured classes or bins on the x-axis

frequency

The sub-fields included under the umbrella of biology have.....

increased substantially

Experimental design...... (3)

is a plan for collection and analysis of data typically focuses on one hypothesis at a time must be capable of rejecting the null hypothesis

The materials and methods section of a paper will contain all of the following except

justification for methods used

If interpolation of a variable's likely value between collected data seems reasonable, then a _________________________ graph is a good choice for presenting the data. For example plotting a variable's measured value vs. time or the measured effect of a drug treatment vs. increasing dosage.

line graph

The correlation of a dependent variable with an explanatory variable is often evaluated with .....

linear regression and the R-square statistic

The scientific process or scientific method includes ..... (4)

making observations formulating a null and alternative hypothesis designing and conducting experiments capable of rejecting the null hypothesis refining a hypothesis based on results (often new questions arise during the study) and repeating the process

In a population with a ______________________ distribution, a histogram of the relative frequencies vs. measured variable will be a symmetrical and bell-shaped with the average (mean) occurring at the center of the bell

normal

In a ________________________________, the mean, mode and median will have approximately the same value

normal distribution

____________________________ is used for evaluating differences in the means of several populations (3 or more) of normally distributed variables

one way analysis of variance

Sometimes, a variable possesses seemingly obvious differences, but the difference is difficult or impractical to measure quantitively. In these cases the variable can be ranked from low to high, first to last, weak to strong and so forth. These are known as ________________ variables

ordinal

To be considered "biology" research must focus on

organisms

_____________________ can be conceptualized as the largest risk we are willing to accept that our observations are pulled from the same population and that apparent differences between our data are due to random variations in sampling

p-value

Scientific literature can broadly be classified into 2 categories

primary source and secondary source

If using a very strict language, a statistical test can result in (2)

rejecting the null hypothesis failure to reject the null hypothesis

When a paper is not free to access, the best way for you to obtain the paper as a UNK student is.....

request the paper using the UNK interlibrary loan

Because it is rarely possible to observe all instances of a variable in a population, a compromise can be made by observing the variable in a subset of the population known as a _______________________, to estimate the value of the variable in the population

sample

Often in a histogram the data are normalized into relative frequency of occurrence to ______________________

simplify the comparison of data between two groups of data

When students are assigned a "paper" for a course this is most often ......

some form of a review paper

What is the descriptive statistic that provides information on how disperse the data are?

standard deviation

Examples of statistics that provide a probability of the true population mean falling between two values are (2)

standard error of the mean confidence interval (95%)

Review paper ____________, _________________, and __________________- the primary literature which is composed of peer reviewed original reports of scientific findings.

summarize, evaluate, synthesize

Large amounts of quantitative information, which contain data with differing units, are best communicated in a

table

A null hypothesis may state that there is no difference between the populations being compared (true or false)

true

Correlation of the change in one variable with changes in another variable prove that the first variable causes the effect observed in the second variable (true or false)

true

If a test statistic indicates that there is no significant difference in the central tendency or the variation between two groups of data, then the analysis supports the conclusion that data are collected from the same population (ie we are unable to reject the null hypothesis) - true or false

true

It is good practice to assess your experimental design carefully and think of alternative approaches for potential pitfalls in your experimental design (true or false)

true

Good practices for investigators when managing data, include that they .... (4)

use some method of producing data from loss, such as photocopies of notebooks or regular backups of computerized data record data directly into the notebook or onto well thought out data sheets use spreadsheets or statistical software for data analysis when appropriate keep a detailed lab or field notebook