1. Constraint in Research + Reading

2. Levels of Constraint in Research
Naturalistic observation
Case-study method
Correlational research
Differential research
Experimental research

3. Naturalistic observation
Involves observing the natural flow of behavior in a natural setting
No effort to control the behavior
Often no strong hypotheses going into the study
A flexible strategy
Allows the researcher to shift attention to behaviors that seem interesting

4. Case-study method Slightly higher constraint
Some intervention by the researcher to structure the setting and observations
Asking questions
Setting up situations or tasks
Typically studying a single individual

5. Correlational Research
Measuring the direction and strength of a relationship between variables
Must be at least two variables
Variables must be measured consistently (that is, measurement is constrained)
Established relationships can be used to predict future events

6. Differential Research
Concerned with evaluating differences between existing groups
Groups defined by preexisting variables
Group composition is outside of researcher’s control
Interpreting group differences takes skill, knowledge, and caution

7. Experimental Research
Comparing two or more conditions
Participants are assigned randomly to the conditions
Therefore, group differences are due to the impact of the conditions
The highest level of constraint

8. Where is You research work?

9. HOW TO READ RESEARCH PAPERS ?

10. How to Read? • Your time is limited
• You need to optimize your time to get the maximum information
• You need to organize your reading behavior
• The main question that you must ask
What information do I need from the paper and where can I find this information ?
• Before you start, ask yourself
• Why am I reading the paper for?
• How much do I know about the subject?

11. General Paper Structure
• Abstract
• Describes the main idea of the paper in one paragraph
• Introduction
• Provides more details about the paper idea and its importance
• Related Work
• Describes and evaluates other research in the area and
• System or Model
• Describes the system model and assumptions
• Results and Evaluation
• Displays results from simulation or experiments
• Evaluates results and compares to existing work
• Conclusions
• Summarizes the main findings
• References
• Bibliography

12. Highlight as you Read
• WHY? • To emphasize important statements • To feel more comfortable when you read it next time • If you read it after many months, it would seem familiar to you

13. • Do Not try to understand all the work in one readings.
• Especially the math!
• Pay attention to figures
• What data is presented?
• How do they perform?
• Look for simulation and experiments setups

14. Read the paper in stages
• First reading
• Read the abstract only. If it is not interesting to your work. STOP!
• Second reading
• Read the abstract (again)
• Read the Introduction
• Scan the math models or algorithm designing methodlogy
• Look at figures and tables
• Read the conclusion

15. Read the paper in stages
• Third time
• Read the Introduction (again)
• Study the math in more details (do not need to understand fully)
• Read the simulation and experiments setup
• Study and analyze the figures and results
• Read the literature review
• Fourth ++
• Focus on the interesting parts and understand the details

16. Questions to Ask
• What is the problem at hand? • What did other researchers do before? How does it differ? • How is the problem resolved in this paper? • What technique was used to solve the problem? • What results were presented? • How was the solution evaluated?

17. Evaluating Papers Component parts of a research article
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
References
Evaluating a research article

18. Research Paper Preliminary Information Introduction Methods Results
Title
Authors and organization affiliation
Acknowledgements (if any)
Abstract
Introduction
Background information and literature review
Rationale for study
Problem statement (purpose statement)
Hypotheses or research questions
Methods
Participants
Instrumentation
Procedures
Statistical Analysis
Results
Presentation of data
Discussion
Conclusions
Recommendations
References
Appendix (if appropriate)

19. Preliminary Information
Title
Usually ~15 words
Important for indexing (NLM)
Authors’ names and affiliations
Contact info for corresponding author
Acknowledgements
Can also be at the very end of the paper
People who helped, funding agencies

20. Preliminary Information
Abstract
Typically words long (Four Statements)
Contains very brief summaries of each section of the “full text” article:
Introductory Statement (if any)
Purpose Statement
Abbreviated Methods
Abbreviated Results
Conclusion and Application Statement

21. Preliminary Information
Key Words
Important for indexing (NLM)

22. Introduction Background Information
Purpose of Intro is to “build a case”
Well-written Intro contains:
Definitions of concepts and terms
Review of relevant literature
Statement of the Research Problem
Purpose Statement
Hypotheses

23. How to Identify Purpose Statement
Look near the end of the Intro
Look for phrases like:
“The purpose of this study was…”
“This study was designed to…”
“This investigation sought to…”
“The present study explored…”
“The primary aim of this experiment was…”

24. How to Identify Hypotheses
Look near the end of the Intro or in a special section designated as “Research Questions” or “Approach to the Problem”
Look for phrases like:
“Based on previous studies, ___ was expected to…”
“We hypothesized that…”

25. Methods Required components: Optional components: Concept of Methods:
Subjects or Participants
Instrumentation
Procedures
Statistical Analysis
Optional components:
Research Design
Variables (independent and dependent)
Validity and Reliability
Concept of Methods:
Readers must be able to replicate this study if desired.

26. Instrumentation Each piece of equipment used to collect data
Name brand, manufacturer, city, state
User manuals
Specific procedures for using each piece of equipment
Readers must be able to replicate

27. Procedures Precise description of any/all interventions (step-by-step)
Exercise testing and/or training
Nutrition consumption
Time of day
…everything necessary for replication

28. Statistical Analysis
What specific statistical models were used to analyze the data?
Descriptive
T-tests
ANOVAs
Regression (linear, nonlinear, polynomial)
Effect size and power estimation procedures
A priori type I error rate (alpha)
α=0.05

29. Research Design What design was used to conduct this study?
Cross-sectional or longitudinal
Within-subjects or between-subjects
Cross-over, counterbalanced
Repeated measures or randomized block design (Keppel, 1991)
Double-blind, single-blind

30. Results A very brief section
Can often be done in its entirety by a Table or Figure or both
Presentation of the data
Explanation of the decomposition of the statistical models
Reporting the type I error rates
Reporting the mean values, SD, SEM, % change, and effect sizes

31. Discussion
Purpose is to summarize the results and interpret them relative to the field of study
Each paragraph or subsection of the discussion deals with one or two dependent variables
Brief re-statement of what others have found
Summary of what the present article found
Authors’ interpretation/integration of the findings
Hypothesize regarding the findings
Recommend or apply
Suggest extensions
Discussion usually ends in a Conclusive paragraph

32. Reference List Some journals limit references to 30 or 40
Usually due to page limits
Review articles often have references
Need to be in the format indicated by the “Instructions for Authors”

33. Instructions for Authors
Every journal must have instructions for potential authors
Some journals are more definitive than others
ECN, JSCR, RQES – 1 page instructions
JAP, MSSE, new JSCR - ~12-15 page instructions

34. Definitions of Terms Manuscript: Article:
Research paper that is being written or has been written and submitted for publication, but is not yet published
Article:
Published research manuscript

35. Evaluating a Research Article
Critique

36. Criteria for Article Critiques
Some journals provide their criteria for potential authors to review BEFORE they submit
Table 6.9 (next slide)
Table 6.10
Excellent checklist

38. SYNTHESIZING INFORMATION

39. What is Synthesis? • Evaluate • Summarize • Organize
• Read the collected information
• Highlight strengths and weaknesses of collected research
• Compare work among various researchers
• Identify knowledge gaps
• Summarize
• Create a summary of previous work
• Give a broad perspective that relates to your work
• Focus on the essential and relevant research to your work
• Organize
• Write your summary in an organized manner

40. Synthesis
• Integrate: published ideas and put them in a logical framework • Clarify: concepts that were presented in published work • Introduce: a new look into the subject • Show: a critical perspective • Indicate: how you see the current state of research in the area • Identify: gaps in published research

41. Organize collected information
Electronic Copies
• Create main folder on your Computer
• Create sub-folders as needed
• Download papers into relevant folders
• Name each as its paper title

42. Organize collected information
Paper Copies
• Print abstracts and put in folder
• Read & highlight abstracts as soon as you print them
• Print ‘interesting’ articles
• Read
• Highlight
• Organize in folder