Chapters 1-5 (Exam 1 Review)

Nonpublication of data

"Cooking" data - leaving out data Data not included because they do not support desired outcome.

Outlier

"Outright liars" - An unrepresentative score - a score that lies outside of normal scores. Extreme values are sometimes trimmed Not always bad data, but they can create problems in data analysis - don't trim automatically

6 steps in the literature search

1. Write the problem statement 2. Consult secondary sources - Encyclopedias - Research reviews 3. Determine descriptors 4. Find primary sources using - Bibliographies - Computer searches 5. Read and record the literature 6. Write the literature review

Challenges to normal science

2 of the most powerful challengers: Thomas Kuhn (1970 - objectivity is a myth) and Michael Polanyi (1958 - observer is involved) Inconsistent findings Alternative interpretations

Which is the BEST answer? The introduction to a research report should: A - Move from a general description of the theoretical problem to the specific area to be studied B - State the problem to be investigated in one or two concise sentences C - Provide an overview of the whole paper D - Provide an extensive review of the literature

A - Move from a general description of the theoretical problem to the specific area to be studied

Avoiding jargon when writing - Jargon vs preferred usage

A considerable amount of vs Much Are of the same opinion vs Agree At the present time vs Now For the purpose of vs For It may be that vs I think Large in size vs Large Needless to say vs Omit item On the basis of vs By

Control variable

A factor that could possibly influence results and that is kept out of the study

Elements of informed consent

A fair explanation of the procedures to be followed, including identification of those that are experimental A description of the attendant discomforts and risks A description of the benefits to be expected A disclosure of appropriate alternative procedures that would be advantageous for the participant An offer to answer any inquiries concerning the procedures An instruction that the participant is free to withdraw at any time

The problem statement should be a _____.

A single sentence that describes the problem.

Qualitative research

A systematic method of inquiry and it follows scientific method of problem solving to a considerable degree, although it deviates in certain dimensions. Rarely establishes hypotheses at beginning of study - uses more general questions to guide the study Characterized by intensive firsthand presence Tolls of data collection are observation, interviews, and researcher-designed instruments. Uses a different paradigm

p > 0.05 indicates what?

Accept null hypothesis (null is retained)

The probability that a specific result will occur strictly as a result of chance is called what?

Alpha level

Normal science

An objective manner of study grounded in the natural sciences that is systematic, logical, empirical, reductive, and replicable. Best doctrine is objectivity Theory driven with testable hypotheses Previously useful theories Scientific method

Types of research

Analytical Descriptive Epidemiologic Experimental Qualitative

Use of animals in research

Animals have been essential for every advance in medicine Animal research has contributed to virtually eliminating many infectious diseases, including polio, rheumatic fever, typhoid fever, and scarlet fever 18-22 million vertebrates are used each year in research, education, and testing - less than 1% of the number killed for food. 2/3 of the dogs and cats used in animal research come from shelters; for every one used in research, 100 are killed for lack of a home. 2/3 of the research projects that lead to the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine involved animal experiments.

Level 3 goal and approach

Applied research Goal: Immediate solutions Approach: Real-world settings

Identify difference between applied research and basic research

Applied research: Deals with immediate problems, use real-world settings, use human participants, and involve limited control over research settings. Gives results that are of direct value to practitioners. Significance of applied - evaluated on basis of its contribution to solution of some immediate problem. Basic research: May have limited direct application but in which researcher has careful control of the conditions. Usually deals with theoretical problems. Uses labs as setting, uses animals, carefully controls conditions and produces results that have limited direct application. Significance of basic - depends on purpose, but usually the criteria focus on the extent to which the study contributes to the formulation of validation of some theory.

"Fair use" for teaching?

Articles, chapters, overheads, slides, PowerPoint presentations

Descriptive research

Attempts to describe the status of the study's focus Most prevalent technique is survey Common techniques - questionnaires, interviews, normative surveys, case studies, job analyses, observational research, developmental studies, and correlational studies.

References to journal articles should include:

Author, date, article title, journal name, volume, inclusive pages.

Empirical method

Based on objective observations Empirical denotes experience and the fathering of data Relying on own experience is limited, depends substantially on how events agree with yours, whether things "make sense" and on your state of motivation to remember.

Level 1 goal and approach

Basic research Goal: theory-driven Approach: laboratory

Significance of the study

Basic research - depends on purpose, but usually the criteria focus on the extent to which the study contributes to the formulation or validation of some theory Applied research - evaluated on basis of its contribution to solution of some immediate problem. Seeking gaps in the research

Reading research rules

Become familiar with relevant publications Read studies of interest Read as a pracitioner would Read the abstract first Don't worry too much about the statistics Be critical but objective

Mixed methods research

Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are included (pragmatic) Works best to capture behavioral data Two small studies - one qualitative, one quantitative

A thesis was submitted with the title "A study comparing the achievement of sixth-grade students in Moscow, Idaho, instructed in health education through closed-circuit television and regular classroom procedure for a period of 16 weeks." This title A - Fails to identify the broad area of research B - Is likely to be indexed improperly C - Is too long D - Does not tell what the study has done

C - Is too long

Assumptions

Certain conditions exist and that behaviors in question can be observed and measured.

Delimitations

Characteristics (limitation) imposed by the researcher. A choice that the researcher makes to define a workable research problem.

Tenacity

Clinging to certain beliefs regardless of a lack of supporting evidence (example: superstitions) Least reliable source of knowledge

Faculty advisors or mentors should treat students as _____.

Colleagues

What is empirical research?

Collection of data to base decisions Based on objective observations Denotes experience and the fathering of data Relying on own experience is limited, depends substantially on how events agree with yours, whether things "make sense", and on your state of motivation to remember.

Library computer searches

Computerized catalogs Computer databases

What is informed consent?

Consent given by a patient to a procedure after understanding the facts and the risks

Faulty Data-Gathering procedures

Continuing with data collection from participants who are not meeting requirements of research Malfunctioning equipment Inappropriate treatments of participants Recording data incorrectly

In a thesis or dissertation, what are the 2 most important aspects of literature review?

Criticism and completeness

Poor data storage and retention

Data must be stored and maintained as originally recorded

How to write a good introduction

Demonstrate the point of the study Omit technical jargon Know for whom you are writing Write the introduction after the problem and hypotheses

Be able to identify the hypothesis, independent variable(s), and dependent variable(s): - A researcher investigated the relationship between age (10 years, 12 years, 14 years) and gender on percent body fat. What is/are the dependent variable(s)?

Dependent variable: Percent body fat

Authority

Depends on authority and rigidity of adherence Personal observation and experience have been deemed unacceptable when they dispute authority Most crucial aspect of appeal to authority is right to question and to accept or reject the information Authority's qualifications and methods to acquire the knowledge also determine validity

Rationalistic Method

Derive knowledge through reasoning Key is truth of premises and their relationship to each other Premises could be descriptions of events or statements of fact (statements are not connected in a cause and effect manner)

Design and Analysis

Design a quasi-experimental or experimental study in which - The treatments cause the changes observed - The variables are related with no intervening variables Analyzing the data - Correct analysis - Correct interpretation Establishing cause and effect - Independent variable --> dependent variable

Avoiding methodological faults

Details of the procedures - Specific order of things - Timing of events - Instructions given - Briefings, debriefings, safeguards Piloting your procedures - Can you do this? - Can participants do this? - Do measures work? - Do treatments work?

Object of research

Determine how things are vs how they might be

Writing the literature review

Developing a topical outline Organizing - Helping the reader - Using heading How much information to give - Critical studies - Related studies Structure of the review - Introduction - Body - Summary and conclusions

Examples of how changing one letter when doing a computer search can be important

Dopeler effect (tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly) Reintarnation (coming back to life as a hillbilly) Giraffitti (vandalism spray-painted very, very hight) Osteopornosis (a degenerate disease) Tatyr (a lecherous Mr. Potato Head)

Identify which sources would make a good beginning point in a literature search

Encyclopedias and scholarly books (secondary sources) Literature reviews

Research hypotheses

Expected results based on theory or experience Stated as outcomes

What is the only type of research that can manipulate treatments and establish a cause and effect relationship?

Experimental research

Independent variable

Experimental, or treatment variable (the cause). The thing being manipulated.

Randomly assigned subjects to treatments or exposures is known as:

Experiments

Purpose of methods section

Explain how study was conducted

Extraneous variables

Factors that could affect the relationship between the independent and dependent variables but are not included or controlled.

"Fair use" for research?

Figures and tables, standardized tests, questionnaires, previously published scholarly work

Primary sources

First-hand sources of data in research Original studies - most commonly in form of journal articles. Also theses and dissertations. Most valuable for researchers

Applied Research

Has direct value to practitioners but in which the researcher has limited control over the research setting. Deals with immediate problems, use real-world settings, use human participants, and involve limited control over research setting.

Types of analytical research

Historical Philosophic Reviews Research synthesis (meta-analysis - a quantitative means of analyzing the findings from numerous studies)

Be able to identify the hypothesis, independent variable(s), and dependent variable(s): - A researcher wishes to determine the effects of an outdoor adventure summer camp on the self-concept of inner-city boys. Boys are randomly assigned to the summer camp and to a control situation. The experimental treatment is for three months. A secondary purpose is to see if age (ages 6, 9, and 12) affects the relationship of the camp effects and self-concept

Hypothesis: The boys in the adventure program will make significantly greater gains in self-concept than the boys in the control group. Independent variable: The adventure summer camp and age (categorical variable) Dependent variable: Self-concept

What does quality research involve?

Identifying and delimiting the problem Searching, reviewing, and writing about the literature Specifying and defining testable hypotheses Designing research to test the hypotheses Selecting, describing, testing, and treating the participants Analyzing and reporting the results Discussing the meaning and implications of the findings

Purposes of the literature review

Identifying the problem Developing hypotheses Developing the method

Be able to identify the hypothesis, independent variable(s), and dependent variable(s): - A researcher investigated the relationship between vitamin C (none, 500 mg, 1000 mg) and workers (office, outdoors) on the frequency of colds. What is/are the independent variable(s)?

Independent variable: Vitamin C dosage and office or outdoor workers

Inductive reasoning

Individual observations are tied together into specific hypotheses, which are grouped into more general explanations that are united into theory. Theoretical explanation must encompass all individual findings.

What is the IRB?

Institutional Review Board

Ethical issues in human and animal research

Institutional review boards Humans - Informed consent - Human participants committee Animals - Justification - Value of animal models Conflicts of interest - Funded research projects - Using students (classes) and volunteers

Methodological characteristics influence each other

Interactions among - Participants and measurements - Participants and treatments - Measurements and treatments - Participants, measurements, and treatments

Identify and compare internal and external validity

Internal validity - The extent to which the results of a study can be attributed to the treatments used in the study. The researcher must try to control all other variables that could influence the results. External validity - The generalizability of the results of a study (to what extent can the results apply to the real world).

Analytical research

Involves in-depth study and the evaluation of available info in an attempt to explain complex phenomena

Experimental research

Involves manipulation of treatments in an attempt to establish cause and effect relationships (major advantage) Establishes cause and effect

Criteria in selecting a research problem

Is the problem in the realm of research? Does it interest you? Does it possess unity? Is it worthwhile? Is it feasible? Is it timely? Can you attack the problem without prejudice? Are you prepared in the techniques to address the problem?

Why is it desirable to carry out a pilot study prior to the actual research study?

It permits a thorough check of the planned data collection and analysis procedures

Interpreting the research literature - What was said vs what was meant

It's long been known that vs I haven't looked up the reference It is suggested that vs I think It is believed that vs I think Typical results shown vs Best results are shown Correct with an order of magnitude vs Wrong

Sneaky publication practices

Joint publication - Student and faculty - Two or more students - Two or more faculty members Authorship of a thesis

How do undergraduate students identify a research problem?

Keeping focus broad rather than narrow Reading a review paper Reading the research literature Looking at what your adviser does Looking at what students and faculty in your area are doing

Operational definitions

Key terms with specific meaning. An observable phenomenon that enables the researcher to test empirically whether the predicted outcomes can be supported. Not a synonym or dictionary definition

Categorical (moderator) variable

Kind of independent variable except that it can't be manipulated (age, race, or sex) Studied to determine whether its presence changes the cause and effect relationship of the independent and dependent variables. Not a variable in all studies

Two principles of planning

Less is more Simple is better Purpose - eliminate any alternative or rival hypotheses

Recognizing that grade point average may not completely reflect success in school is an example of a:

Limitation

Findings are said to be statistically significant when there is a ______ probability that differences among treatment groups were caused by chance factors.

Low

Fabrication and falsification

Making up or altering data

Basic research

May have limited direct application but in which researcher has careful control of the conditions. Usually deals with theoretical problems. Uses labs as setting, uses animals carefully controls conditions and produces results that have limited direct application.

If causes must be observable, what 2 criteria should they meet?

Method of agreement Method of disagreement

MAXICON Principle

Method of controlling any explanation for results except hypothesis that researcher intends to evaluate Maximizing true variance (increases odds that real relationship or explanation will be discovered) Minimizing error variance (decreases all mistakes that could creep into study to disguise rue relationship) Controlling extraneous variance (make sure rival hypotheses are not the real explanations of the relationship)

Level 2 goal and approach

Moderate relevance Goal: theory-based using relevant movements Approach: similar to real-world task or setting

Deductive reasoning

Moves from a theoretical explanation of events to specific hypotheses that are tested against/compared with reality to evaluate whether hypotheses are correct

When a researcher rejects H0 when H0 is false, she has made what type of error?

No error made, correct decision made.

Null hypotheses

No significant differences or relationships. Used primarily in statistical test for the reliability of the results that says that there are no differences among treatments.

Alternative models of research

Normal science Paradigm shifts How knowledge is advanced

A researcher predicts that there will be no significant relationship between attitude scores and grade point average. This is an example of what?

Null hypothesis

The introduction should make the problem statement _____.

Obvious

Making your problem and hypotheses clear

Operation definitions Limitations Delimitations Significance of the study

4 parts of the method section

Participants Instruments or apparatus Procedures Design and analysis

7 areas of scientific dishonesty

Plagiarism Fabrication and falsification Nonpublication of data Faulty data-gathering procedres Poor data storage and rentention Misleading authorship Sneaky publication practices

Limitations

Possible shortcomings or influences that either cannot be controlled or are results of restrictions (delimitations) imposed by the investigator.

Causes of scientific misconduct

Pressure to publish Need to complete work Desire to continue funding Desire for academic rewards

In which part of the methods section should you expect to find information about when the participants were tested?

Procedures

The part of the methods section of the research paper that describes the activities of each treatment group is titled

Procedures

Parts of a research project

Proposal: Research plan -Introduction (Problem and hypotheses) -Literature review -Method (participants, instruments and measurements, procedures, and designs and analysis) Completing the project -Results -Discussions and conclusions

What is "fair use" of materials?

Purpose: commerical or education? Nature: Is copying expected? Amount: How much is copied? Effect: What is the influence on the market

Types of descriptive research

Questionnaire Interview Normative survey Case study Job analysis Observational research Developmental studies Correlational studies

Describing instruments

Questions to consider in selecting instruments - Validity and reliability - Difficulty of obtaining measures - Access to equipment or tests - Knowing how to use them What should be presented - Description (including validity and reliability) - Drawings, photographs, sample items - Scoring method

How should you go about selecting an advisor or mentor?

Read what she or he has written Talk to other students

The primary sources of a literature review are:

Recent journal articles Theses and dissertations are also primary sources First hand sources of data in research (original studies)

Scientific mistakes lead to _____

Remedial activities

Compare a research hypothesis to a null hypothesis

Research hypothesis: The expected result - deduced from theory or induced from empirical studies that is based on logical reasoning and predicts the outcome of the study Null hypothesis: Used primarily in statistical test for the reliability of the results that says that there are no differences among treatments (or no relationships among variables).

Identify elements of both a research hypothesis and, more importantly, a null hypothesis

Research hypothesis: The expected result - deduced from theory or induced from empirical studies that is based on logical reasoning and predicts the outcome of the study Null hypothesis: Used primarily in statistical test for the reliability of the results that says that there are no differences among treatments (or no relationships among variables).

What should human research participants expect?

Right to privacy or nonparticipation Right to remain anonymous Right to confidentiality Right to experimenter responsibility

Scientific misconduct leads to _____.

Sanctions

Scientific misconduct

Scientific misconduct is fabrication, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.

Intuition

Sometimes considered common sense or self evident

Describing participants

Special characteristics: what relates to the study - Age and gender - Training level What to tell about participants - Number - Loss of participants Protecting participants

Secondary sources

Starting point Sources of data in research in which authors have evaluated and summarized previous research (textbooks)

Reading and recording the literature

Statement of the problem Hypotheses Characteristics of the participants Instruments and tests used Testing procedure Variables: independent and dependent Treatments applied Design and statistical analysis Findings Questions for further study Citations to other studies When to copy the article

Scientific method of problem solving steps

Step 1: developing the problem (defining and delimiting it) Step 2: formulating the hypotheses Step 3: gathering the data Step 4: analyzing and interpreting results (inductive reasoning used here - deductive reasoning is primarily used in statement of the problem)

5 characteristics of research

Systematic - plan, identify, design, collect data, evaluate (ID and labeling of variables, testing relationships of these variables, and data collection that evaluates problem and hypotheses) Logical - examine procedures to evaluate conclusions Empirical - decisions are based on data Reductive - general relationships are established from data Replicable - actions are recorded

Unscientific methods of problem solving

Tenacity Intuition Authority The radionalistic method The empirical method

Paradigm shifts

The development of discrepancies in a paradigm leading to proposals of a new paradigm that better explains the data. New theories New methods

At the end of a well-written introduction, the reader should be able to predict what?

The statement of the problem (purpose of the study)

Be able to identify the hypothesis, independent variable(s), and dependent variable(s): - In a study designed to assess the comparative effectiveness of two workbooks used in teaching students about laboratory procedures, the independent variable of the study would be

The study of the two workbooks

When a person concludes that there is a difference between population means when she has actually observed an improbable difference between two sample means that come from identical populations, she has made what type of error?

Type 1 error

Researchers set small alpha levels (e.g. aplha = 0.05) because they want to avoid what type of error?

Type 1 error (rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true)

What is plagiarism?

Using ideas, concepts, writings, or drawings of others as your own; cheating

Plagiarism

Using the ideas, writings, and drawings of others as your own; cheating

Well-designed sampling methods are most important for obtaining what type of results?

Valid

Which of the following is most important to an evaluator: reliability, objectivity, validity?

Validity

"Cooking data"

Value inappropriate when data are being analyzed and changing it.

Databases used in our field

Web of Science Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Physical Education Index Medline PsycINFO Sociological Abstracts ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global ingentaconnect

Dependent variable

What is measured to assess the effects of the independent variable (the effect) The thing measured.

Describing procedures

What will happen - When, where, how much time - Pilot data: can you do this? - Scheme for data acquisition, recording, and scoring Planning treatments - How long, how intense, how often - Participant adherence - Pilot data: can participants do this? - Appropriate treatment for participants

Think about _____ will read your title

Who

Misleading authorship

Who should be an author? - Technicians do not necessarily become joint authors - Authorship should involve only those who contribute directly - Discuss authorship before the project

Pilot work

Work undertaken to verify that you can correctly administer tests and treatments for your study using appropriate participants,

Considerations when choosing the title

Written last, not first Purpose of the title - Conveys focus of the study Problems with titles - Too long or too short - Useless words

What will happen if your introduction does not catch the reader's attention?

Your thesis won't be read