This week’s computer lab is based on the Topic 1B readings, where we discussed the importance of research. If you have not yet read the Topic 1B readings, a summary is available here .
One important concept we learnt about in this week’s readings is the six components of research. See if you can remember what they are by completing the following activity:
Peter K. Dunn, 2021: BY-NC-SA. Used by permission.
In this week’s readings, we also learnt about different types of research:
By considering the following research questions (RQ), see if you can identify the type of research for each one.
Headlines concerning research studies are often announced in the news and on social media. In this question, we will consider an example.
This news clip (ABCNews 2016) reports that, based on a new study, dogs do not like being hugged.
Watch the news clip, and then answer the following questions.
Summarise the claims made in the video. According to the news report, what percentage of dogs do not like hugs?
Do you agree that dogs do not like hugs? Discuss with others in your class.
Let’s now go back to the source: the research study upon which the news report was based. Looking again at the news clip, has the source been provided?
Most likely, the study the news report was referring to was an opinion/editorial piece written for Psychology Today (Coren 2016). You can view the article here. After viewing the article, answer the following questions:
The article generated a lot of interest on the internet and was reported on by many news outlets. A response to this interest was written shortly after the article was published. You can view the response here (Feltman 2016). After viewing the response, answer the following questions:
In conclusion, since answering Question 2.3, has your opinion changed? Do you think we can draw firm conclusions from this study about whether or not dogs like hugs? Why or why not? Discuss with others in your class.
Recall in Section 1.5 of this week’s readings, we discussed the Legionella longbeachae study where researchers wanted to identify the source of an unusually high number of cases of the Legionella longbeachae infection. In this question, we will take a closer look at the study.
By referring to the citation (O’Conner et al. (2007)) in Section 1.5 of the readings, access the paper by doing an internet search (you can find the title of the research paper at the bottom of the page under “References”).
Read the summary of the paper and answer the following:
Note: It is expected that some of the terms or presentation of information in the summary will be new to you. By the end of this subject, you will in fact be familiar with most of them!
If you have time, read the remainder of the paper and make some notes about the main points and findings as you read through. If you found it a difficult read, you are not alone - research papers are typically not easy reads, especially if we are not used to reading them. You can read about one person’s experience here (MOORE 2018).
These notes have been prepared by Amanda Shaker. The copyright for the material in these notes resides with the authors named above, with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and with La Trobe University. Copyright in this work is vested in La Trobe University including all La Trobe University branding and naming. Unless otherwise stated, material within this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Non Derivatives License BY-NC-ND.