wed sept 9, 2015 scholarly research & resulting products
TRANSCRIPT
wed sept 9, 2015
scholarly research & resulting products
schedule updates…
• SPSS Lab – Sept 21 & Oct 26– Davis Library, room 219
• “using information for a purpose” – creative collaboration & narrative storytelling– In-class workshop with Zach Ward, Sept 30– DSI Comedy Theater
http://www.dsicomedytheater.com/ – Please go see one show ($6-10)
rationale for today’s class…
• The more you understand the processes, structures, measures, intricacies, nuances, pitfalls, possibilities and limitations of scientific research, the more sophisticated and informed you become in evaluating the products of research
• Understanding the vocabulary of research allows you to talk about research products in a more sophisticated and informed manner
Side note: consider taking research methods!
learning outcomes for today
• delineate between 3 basic types of research studies (exploratory, descriptive, explanatory)
• track down the full-text of a specific article• be able to identify specific components in a
scholarly research article
How do you define research and how do you think it has changed and will continue to change throughout the years?
In what ways has technology made research easier? Difficult?
-Travis
LA Times article exercise
• read the piece on food labeling• where does the journalist get her information?• try to identify specific studies that she draws from –
write down any clues• with your neighbor, use the library resources
(e-journals or academic search complete) to track down one of the original research studies
• write down the full citation• read the abstract of the article
What year?What year?
What year?What year?
What year?What year?
Steps in research process
Identify topic focus
Hypothesis or research questions
Explore previous research in the area
Design a study to address the research questions or test the hypothesis
Collect data
Analyze data
Interpret data and findings for reader; draw some conclusions; make meaning
Steps in research process Sections of journal article
Identify topic focus Introduction
Hypothesis, research questions, phenomenon of inquiry Purpose of the study
Explore previous research in the area Literature review
Design a study to address the research questions or test the hypothesis
Methods / research design
Collect data Data collection
Analyze data Findings / results
Interpret data and findings for reader; draw some conclusions; make meaning
Discussion / conclusions
Tandon, P.S., Wright, J., Zhou, C., Rogers, C.B., & Christakis, D.A. (2010). Nutrition menu labeling may lead to lower-calorie restaurant meal choices for children. Pediatrics, 125, 244-248.
Sections of journal article
Introduction
Purpose of the study
Literature review
Methods / research design
Data collection
Findings / results
Discussion / conclusions
one way to think about research approaches is to consider specific goals of the research:– exploration– description– explanation
See reading for today, bottom of page 17 (Neuman, W.L. (2009). Understanding research.
Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.)
exploratory studies
• typically conducted when little is known about a particular phenomenon
• often employ a variety of research methods with the goal of learning more about a phenomenon, rather than making specific predictions
• often have less structured methods• research questions are typically broad and
open-ended and hypotheses are uncommon
descriptive studies
• focus on documenting and describing a particular phenomenon
• main purpose is to provide benchmark descriptions and classifications
• often used to inform other studies• may describe variables and correlations• may aim to build some sort of model or mid-
range theory describing phenomenon
explanatory studies
• examine the relationship between two or more variables with the goal of prediction and/or explanation
• often concerned with establishing causality and because of this require variables of interest to be isolated and studied systematically
prediction vs. explanation
• it is possible to build predictive models of events without actually understanding anything about WHY such event occur
• very often researchers stop at prediction and do not pursue explanation
purposestage in learning process
question main audience outcome
exploratory learn about something new earliest what?
varies; usually a researcher
general ideas and research questions
descriptiveprovide details on something known
middlewho?when?how?
variesfactual details and descriptions; model
explanatory
build a new model or test existing explanation
late why? professional researchers
test a theory; compare explanations
evaluationdetermine effectiveness of program/policy
late does it work?practitioners and policy makers
practical recommendation
Neuman, W.L. (2009). Understanding research. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon
Will research always lead to accurate findings and how personal or impersonal are these findings?
-Micheline
Measures of QualityMeasures of Quality
ValidityValidity ReliabilityReliabilityrepeatability
reliable across time, that is, if the same researcher would get the same results if he or she did the same study at a different timereliable across samples or across groups of people who are participating in the study
is the study actually doing what it says it does
internal validity, flaws within the study itself such as design problems or data collection problemsexternal validity, extent to which you can generalize to a larger group or other contexts
Type* Purpose Study Design**
Findings Discussion
PediatricsTandon, Wright, Zhou, Rogers, & Christakis (2010)
Health AffairsElbel, Kersh, Brescoll, & Dixon (2009)
American Journal of Public HealthRoberto, Larsen, Agnew, Baik, & Brownell (2010)
* exploratory /descriptive / explanatory
** participants, data collection, analysis