Research Skills

1. Research Skills Statistics and Language NajwaAlGhamdi

2. Outline Research Statistics Academic Writing Project Fair.

3. Research Statistic

4. Why ? In analytical work, the most important common operation is the comparison of data, or sets of data, to quantify accuracy (bias) and precision. Fortunately, with a few simple convenient statistical tools most of the information needed in regular laboratory work can be obtained: the "t-test, the "F-test", and regression analysis.

5. Research Statistic • Basic Statistic • Mean • Standard deviation • Propagation of errors • Statistic Tests • Two-sided vs. one-sided test • F-test for precision • t-Tests for bias Linear correlation and regression • Analysis of variance (ANOVA)

6. Basic Statistics • Mean • The average of a set of n data xi: • Standard deviation (SD) • used to measure of the spread or dispersion of data around the mean.

7. Standard Deviation • What SD can tell? • A low standard deviation means that most of the numbers are very close to the average. • A high standard deviation means that the numbers are spread out. • Standard deviation is also used to measure how close a reported number is to being exactly right. For example, the standard deviation is used to find margin of error in opinion poll numbers

8. Standard Deviation The average height for grown men in the United States is 70", with a standard deviation of 3". A standard deviation of 3” means that most men (about 68%, assuming a normal distribution) have a height 3" taller to 3” shorter than the average (67"–73") — one standard deviation. If the standard deviation were zero, then all men would be exactly 70" tall. If the standard deviation were 20", then some men would be much taller or much shorter than the average, with a typical range of about 50"–90".

9. Standard Deviation

10. Statistical tools • In analytical work a frequently recurring operation is the verification of performance by comparison of data. Some examples of comparisons in practice are: • - performance of two instruments, - performance of two methods, • - performance of a procedure in different periods, • - performance of two analysts or laboratories, • Some of the most common and convenient statistical tools to quantify such comparisons are the F-test, the t-tests, and regression analysis.

11. Statistical tools • In analytical work a frequently recurring operation is the verification of performance by comparison of data. Some examples of comparisons in practice are: • - performance of two instruments, - performance of two methods, • - performance of a procedure in different periods, • - performance of two analysts or laboratories, • Some of the most common and convenient statistical tools to quantify such comparisons are the F-test, the t-tests, and regression analysis.

12. In short, each of these five tests is a statistical comparison of two (or more) MEANS, the averages that you get from each separate GROUP in your experiment or field study.

13. T-test • Standard ttest • for use when you • are comparing the means from exactly TWO Groups, such as the Control Group versus the Experimental Group. Example : • Your experiment is studying the effect of exposing users to noise while recording BCI experiment on accuracy and the other group is not. • Your experimint is studyifng the affect of select read color in interface on users perception and compare it with group who is not exposed to read color. • After you have calculated the average growth for each of the two groups, run a T test to see if you have detected a “statistically significant” difference in their growth. • The T test returns a p value that expresses the probability that this null hypothesis is wrong: • Ho: GC = GE • …where G stands for mean growth (control vs. experimental)

14. Paired t test Paired t test – An extremely powerful test for detecting differences (it is, in fact, the most “sensitive” of all our five tests). It is usually used for “Before vs. After” type experiments, where the same individuals are measured before and after the application of some sort of treatment. Example : measure the effect of using Quran application on children.

15. OneWay ANOVA OneWay ANOVA – Similar to a ttest, except that this test can be used to compare the means from THREE OR MORE groups (ttestscan only compare TWO groups at a time, and for statistical reasons it is generally considered “illegal” to use ttests over and over again on different groups from a single experiment).

16. TwoWay ANOVA TwoWay ANOVA – A very useful statistical test because it’sallows you to compare the means of TWO OR MORE groups in response to TWO DIFFERENT INDEPENDENT VARIABLES. With this test available, you can set up an experiment in which each member of your sample is exposed to a varying level of two different treatments!!!

17. Linear Regression Linear Regression – One of the most common and useful statistical tests. This is for comparing the means of Groups along a continuum of THREE OR MORE treatment levels, such as a gradually increasing level of noise. http://www.cbgs.k12.va.us/cbgs-document/research/Stats%20For%20Dummies.pdf

18. ACADEMIC Writing

19. Academic Writing Introducing Work Referring to the Literature Being Critical Describing Methods Reporting Results Discussing Findings Writing Conclusions

20. Introducing Work There are many ways to introduce an academic essay or assignment. Most academic writers, however, appear to do one or more of the following in their introductions: establish the context, background and/or importance of the topic indicate a problem, controversy or a gap in the field of study state of the purpose of the essay/writing provide an overview of the coverage and/or structure of the writing

21. Introducing Work Establishing the importance of the topic: One of the most significant current discussions in … is It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the .... X is a common disorder characterised by ...... X is an increasingly important area in>>Highlighting a problem in the field of study: However, these rapid changes are having a serious effect ...... However, a major problem with this kind of application is ...... Lack of X has existed as a health problem for many years. Despite its safety and efficacy, X suffers from several major drawbacks: There is increasing concern that some Xs are being disadvantaged ......

22. Introducing Work Highlighting a knowledge gap in the field of study So far, however, there has been little discussion about ...... However, far too little attention has been paid to ...... Most studies in X have only been carried out in a small number of areas. Focus, aim, argument: This paper will focus on/examine/give an account of ...... This essay seeks to remedy these problems by analyisng the literature of ...... The objectives of this research are to determine whether ......

23. Introducing Work Outline of structure: The main questions/issues addressed in this paper are: a), b and c).This paper has been divided into four parts. The first part deals with ......The essay has been organised in the following way.This paper first gives a brief overview of the recent history of X.This paper reviews the evidence for .....This paper begins by ...... It will then go on to ......The first section of this paper will examine ...... Finally, .......

24. Referring to Literature One important characteristic of academic writing is that all the sources of information that the writer has used need to be indicated, not just as a bibliography or list of references, but also in or alongside the text. In some cases the source will be the main subject of the sentence, in others the sources may be mentioned parenthetically (in brackets) or via a notation system (eg. footnotes).

25. Referring to Literature General Description of the literature General reference to previous research/scholarly activity (usually more than one author Reference to single investigations or publications in the past

26. General descriptions of the relevant literature A considerable amount of literature has been published on X. These studies ...... There is a large volume of published studies describing the role of …… The first serious discussions and analyses of X emerged during the 1970s with ...... During the past 30 years much more information has become available on ...... In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of literature on ....... A large and growing body of literature has investigated ......

27. General reference to previous research/scholarly activity (usually more than one author) Many research papers have argued that ...... (eg. Jones, 1987; Johnson, 1990; Smith, 1994) Recent evidence suggests that ....... (Smith, 1996; Jones 1999; Johnson, 2001) Recently, studies have shownthat (Patel et al., 1997; Jones et al., 1998). Surveys such as that conducted by Smith (1988) have shown that ...... Several attempts have been made to ....... (Smith, 1996; Jones 1999; Johnson, 2001) Several studies have revealedthat it is not just X that acts on ...... (Smith, 1996; Jones ....... Several studies investigating X have been carried out on ...... Previous studies have reported ...... (Smith, 1985; Jones, 1987; Johnson, 1992).

28. Reference to single investigations or publications in the past: time frame prominent In 1975, Smith et al. published a paper in which they described ..... In 1990 Patel et al. demonstrated that .. Smith (1974)reportedcases of … In 1981, Smith and co workers demonstrated that …

29. //Reference to single investigations in the past: investigation prominent // Refer to type of research method Preliminary work on X was undertaken by AbdulKarim (1992). The first systematic study of X was reported by Patel et al. in 1986. The study of the structural behavior of X was first carried out by Rao et al. (1986)...... Analysis of the genes involved in X was first carried out by Smith et al (1983). A recent study by Smith and Jones (2001) involved ...... A longitudinal study of X by Smith (2002) reports that ...... A small scale study by Smith (2002) reaches different conclusions, finding no increase in ...... Smith's comparative study (2002) found that ......

30. //Reference to single investigations in the past: research topic as subject Classical conditioning was first demonstrated experimentally by Pavlov (Smith, 2002). In his seminal study ...... The electronic spectroscopy of X was first studiedby Smith and Douglas 1 in 1970 The acid-catalyzed condensation reaction between X and Y was first reportedby Baeyer in 1872 X formed the central focus of a study by Smith (2002) in which the author found ......

31. //Reference to what other writers do in their text (author as subject) //What Smith (2003) identifiespoor food, bad housing.. Rao (2003) liststhree reasons why .. Smith (2003) tracesthe development of Japanese history.. Jones(2003) providesin-depth analysis of the work .. Smith (2003) draws attention to distinctive categories ... Smith (2003) defines… Rao (2003) highlightsthe need TO.. Smith (2003) discussesthe challenges .... Toh (2003) mentionsthe situation of.. Smith (2003) questionswhether Smith (2003) considerswhether Smith (2003) uses examples of these various techniques as evidence that ...... //From where In her major study, In her seminal article, In her classic critique of ... In her case study of ......, In her review of ......, In her analysis of ......, In her introduction to ......,

32. Reference to other writers' ideas (author as subject) • According to Smith (2003), preventative medicine is ... • Smith (2003) • points out • argues • maintains • claims • concludes • suggests that

33. Advise • Build Up your own dictionary • Collect verbs that describes the literature • Ensure the variety of words selection. • Be selective in choosing word. • Investigate VS highlight • Criticism doesn’t imply complementing other work • Great work , fantastic finding , ridiculous claim • When describe other work finding , void adjective like significantly , positively , negatively. • Avoid I.

34. Being Critical As an academic writer, you are expected to be critical of the sources that you use. This essentially means questioning what you read and not necessarily agreeing with it just because the information has been published. Being critical can also mean looking for reasons why we should not just accept something as being correct or true. This can require you to identify problems with a writer's arguments or methods, or perhaps to refer to other people's criticisms of these. Constructive criticism goes beyond this by suggesting ways in which a piece of research or writing could be improved.

35. Being Critical • What to criticize • Theory • Methodology • How to identify study weakness. • Offer constructive criticism • Highlighting inadequacies of previous studies • Mention others’ criticism

36. Introducing questions, problems and limitations (theory) One question that needs to be asked, however, is whether ...... A serious weakness with this argument, however, is that ...... One of the limitations with this explanation is that it does not explain why... . One criticism of much of the literature on X is that ...... The key problem with this explanation is that ...... The existing accounts fail to resolve the contradiction between X and Y. However, there is an inconsistency with this argument.

37. Introducing questions, problems and Limitations (method/practice) Another problem with this approach is that it fails to take X into account. Perhaps the most serious disadvantage of this method is that ..... Difficulties arise, however, when an attempt is made to implement the policy. One major drawback of this approach is that ...... The main limitation of biosynthetic incorporation, however, is ...... However, this method of analysis has a number of limitations. However, approaches of this kind carry with them various well known limitations. All the studies reviewed so far, however, suffer from the fact that ....... However, there are limits to how far the idea of/concept of X can be taken. However, such explanations tend to overlook the fact that...... However, one of the problems with the instrument the researchers used to measure X was ......

38. Common words • Key words • Limitations • Weaknesses • Disadvantages • Drawbacks • pitfalls

39. Identifying a study's weakness However, the main weakness of the study is the failure to address how ....... the study fails to consider the differing categories of damage that ..... the research does not take into account pre-existing ...... such as ...... the author offers no explanation for the distinction between X and Y. Smith makes no attempt to differentiate between various different types of X. Jones fails to fully acknowledge the significance of ......the paper would appear to be over ambitious in its claims. the author overlooks the fact that X contributes to Y.what Smith fails to do is to draw a distinction between ...... another weakness is that we are given no explanation of how ...... no attempt was made to quantify the

40. Offering constructive suggestions • A better study would examine a large, randomly selected sample of societies with ...... • A much more systematic study would identify how X interacts with other variables that are believed to be linked to ......

41. Highlighting inadequacies of previous studies Most studies in the field of X have only focussedon ...... Most studies in X have only been carried out in a small number of areas. The generalisability of much published research on this issue is problematic. However, few writers have been able to draw on any structured research into the opinions and attitudes of ...... The research to date has tended to focus on X rather than Y. The existing accounts fail to resolve the contradiction between X and Y. Although extensive research has been carried out on X, no single study exists which adequately covers .....

42. Introducing other people's criticisms However, Jones (2003) points out that ..... Many analysts now argue that the strategy of X has not been successful. Jones (2003), for example, argues that ..... Smith's analysis has been criticised by a number of writers. Jones (1993), for example, points out that …… Smith's meta-analysis has been subjected to considerable criticism. The most important of these criticisms is that Smith failed to note that ......

43. Describing Methods In the Methods section of a dissertation or research article, writers give an account of how they carried out their research. The Materials and Methods section should be clear and detailed enough for another experienced person to repeat the research and reproduce the results. Typical features with examples of this language are listed below.

44. Describing Methods Describe your method. Give reasons why you chose this method. Describe the charchtristic of sample Indicating reasons for sample characteristics Describing the process Indicating problems or limitations

45. Describing different methods To date various methods have been developed and introduced to measure X: In most recent studies, X is measured in .. A variety of methods are used to assess X.

46. Giving reasons why a particular method was adopted The semi-structured approach was chosen because ...... It was decided that the best method to adopt for this investigation was to ...... A case study approach was chosen to allow a ...... The design of the questionnaires was based on ...... The X method is one of the more practical ways of ...... It was considered that quantitative measures would usefully supplement and extend the qualitative analysis. The X approach has a number of attractive features: ......

47. Describing the characteristics of the sample The initial sample consisted of 200 students of whom 13 did not complete all of the interviews All studies described as using some sort of X procedure were included in the analysis. All of the participants were aged between 18 and 19 at the beginning of the study..... Two groups of subjects were interviewed, namely X and Y. The first group were ...... A random sample of patients with ...... was recruited from ....... Forty-seven students studying X were recruited for this study.…….

48. Indicating reasons for sample characteristics A small sample was chosen because of the expected difficulty of obtaining ...... The subjects were selected on the basis of a degree of homogeneity of their ....... Criteria for selecting the subjects were as follows:

49. Describing the process: infinitive of purpose In order to identify the T10 and T11 spinous processes, the subjects were asked to . To enable the subjects to see the computer screen clearly, the laptop was configured with ...... To see if the two methods gave the same measurement, the data was plotted and ...... To control for bias, measurements were carried out by another person. To measure X, a question asking ...... was used. To compare the scores three weeks after initial screening, a global ANOVA F-test was used

50. Describing the process: typical verbs (note use of passive form Data management and analysis was performed using SPSS 8.0 (1999). Published studies were identified using a search startegy developed in ..... The experiments were carried out over the course of the growing period from ....... The subjects were asked to pay close attention to the characters whenever ...... The pilot interviews were conducted informally by the trained interviewer ......