Week 3 Flashcards
What are the four main sources of research ideas?
- Everyday life
- Practical issues
- Past research
- Theory
What is a theory?
A framework of ideas intended to explain how or why something occurs.
Briefly explain bias in research ideas.
Scientists are humans and therefore have biases, these biases influence what research ideas are generated, so it is important that the scientific community includes people of many different backgrounds.
Briefly explain why some ideas cannot be tested.
For ideas to be testable they must be able to be confirmed or refuted, this is not possible in all circumstances, moral rules are an example of this.
Why is literature review important?
- Identifies the extent of research in that area
- Identifies how experiments are designed in this area
- Identifies methodological problems in the area
- Identifies if specific equipment or groups are needed
- Allows for comparison between reports and studies (yours included)
How do you review literature?
- Define your objectives (what are you reviewing the literature for?)
- Search for resources, these include books, journals, electronic databases, academic associations and the internet.
- Obtain resources of interest.
- Critically review all resources.
How do you determine the feasibility of a study or research idea?
- Time, how long will it take to study?
- Funding, how much money is required to conduct the study and where will that money come from?
- Access to participants, do you have access to the amount or demographic you need?
- Ethics, is the study ethical?
- Expertise, are you qualified?
- Is the study worth doing?
How do you specify a research problem and question?
A statement that satisfies these criteria:
1. Question form.
2. States the relationship between two variables.
3. Can be empirically tested.
Example: Do non-smokers have better lung capacity than people who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day?
How do you evaluate the validity of information (especially on the internet)?
- Authority, where does it come from?
- Objectivity, is bias absent?
- Currency, how recent is it?
- Coverage, how easy is it to access?
How do you formulate hypothesis from a research problem/question?
By turning your research problem/question into a statement that predicts the relationship between variables, can be refuted/confirmed and is consistent with current body of knowledge, all of which should be stated concisely.
Example: Pack-a-day smokers have measurably less lung capacity than non-smokers.
What is a research hypothesis?
A predicted relationship between variables being studied that can be empirically tested.
What is a null hypothesis?
A statement claiming no relationship between the variables being studied.
What are some good electronic psychology databases?
- PsychINFO - Psychology, mental health and biomed.
- MEDLINE - Medicine, biomed and healthcare.
- CINAHL - Allied health and nursing.
It would be wise to view neuroscience, biology, genetics databases to name a view.
What are research ethics?
A set of guidelines to aid in conducting ethical research, ethical concerns can be broken down in three main areas.
- Relationship between society and science.
- Professional issues.
- Treatment of research participants.
Explain the ethical concerns regarding the relationship between society and science.
Research needs to be funded, this is either at the cost of the government (research that contributes to current societal needs), corporations (research that contributes to the companies needs, which causes conflict on interest) or funding can be provided by researchers, however this is far more unlikely.
