Critical Evaluation of Research

Question 1

What should Scientific Reports include in their background information ?

Answer 1

-An explanatory title
-An abstract including aims and findings
-An introduction explaining the purpose and context of the study including the use of several sources, supporting statements, citations, and references

Question 2

What should background information, the title, and the abstract be like in a scientific report be like ?

Answer 2

-Background information should be clear, relevant and unambiguous.
-Title should provide a succinct explanation of the study.
-Abstract should outline the aims and findings of the study.

Question 3

What must the aim do in a scientific report ?

Answer 3

Link the independent and dependent variables.

Question 4

What should the introduction do in a scientific report ?

Answer 4

-Should provide information required to support: choices of method, results and discussion.

-Should explain why the study has been carried out and place the study in the context of existing understanding.

-Key points should be summarised and supporting and contradictory information identified.

-Several sources should be selected to support statements, and citations and references should be in standard form.

-Decisions regarding basic selection of study methods and organisms should be covered, as should the aims and hypotheses.

Question 5

What is the standard format of a scientific report ?

Answer 5

Title
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion

Question 6

What should a method section of a scientific report be like when reporting and evaluating experimental design.

Answer 6

Should contain sufficient information to allow another investigator to repeat the work.

Question 7

What should experimental design do ?

Answer 7

-Experimental design should address the intended aim and test the hypothesis.
-The validity and reliability of an experimental design should be evaluated.
-An experimental design that does not address the intended aim or test the hypothesis is invalid.

Question 8

What should treatment effects be compared to ?

Answer 8

Controls

Question 9

What should be done to any confounding variables when reporting and evaluating experimental design.

Answer 9

Any confounding variables should be taken into account or standardised across treatments.

Question 10

When may the validity of of an experiment be compromised ?

Answer 10

When factors other than the independent variable (confounding variables) influence the value of the dependent variable.

Question 11

What is selection bias ?

Answer 11

-The selection of a sample in a non-random way, so that the sample is not representative of the whole population.

-Selection bias can prevent a
representative sample being selected.

Question 12

Explain the effect of sample size on representative sampling

Answer 12

-Sample size may not be sufficient to decide without bias whether the change to the independent variable has caused an effect in the dependent variable.

Question 13

How should data be presented in the results section of a scientific report ?
(Data analysis)

Answer 13

-Data should be presented in a clear, logical manner suitable for analysis.
-Consideration should be given to the validity of outliers and anomalous results.

Question 14

What are statistical tests in data analysis ?

Answer 14

Statistical tests are used to determine
whether the differences between the means are likely or unlikely to have occurred by chance.

Question 15

What is a statistically significant result ?

Answer 15

One that is unlikely to be due to chance alone.

Question 16

What are error bars ?

Answer 16

-Used in data analysis.

-Indicate the variability of data around a mean (The smaller the error bar the less variable the data)

-If the treatment mean differs from the control mean sufficiently for their error bars not to overlap, this indicates that the difference may be (statistically) significant.

Question 17

How should results be evaluated and conclusions done in a scientific report ?

Answer 17

-Conclusions should refer to the aim, the results and the hypothesis.

-The validity and reliability of the experimental design should be taken into -account.

-Consideration should be given as to whether the results can be attributed to correlation or causation.

-Evaluation of conclusions should also refer to existing knowledge and the results of other investigations.

Question 18

What would meaningful scientific discussion include when evaluating results and conclusions in a scientific report ?

Answer 18

-Consideration of findings in the
context of existing knowledge and the results of other investigations.

-Scientific writing should reveal an awareness of the contribution of scientific research to increasing scientific knowledge, and to the social, economic and industrial life of the community.

Question 19

What would be included when you were writing a procedure ?

Answer 19

-A method section should contain sufficient information to allow another investigator to repeat the work.
-Experimental design should address the intended aim and test the hypothesis.
-Treatment effects should be compared to controls. Any confounding variables should be taken into account or standardised across treatments.
-The validity of an experiment may be compromised when factors other than the independent variable influence the value of the dependent variable.
-The effect of selection bias and sample size on representative sampling.