Topic 2B: Research Questions; Ethics in Research


These are the solutions for the Topic 2B Computer Lab.

1 Readings recap

1.1 Types of research questions

  1. Relational (using a Comparison).
  2. Relational (using a Comparison) or Interventional, depending on whether the researchers plant the trees explicitly.
  3. Descriptive.
  4. Relational (using a Connection).

Peter K. Dunn, 2021: BY-NC-SA. Used by permission.

1.2 Research questions activity

No solution required.

1.3 Ethics recap

No solution required.

2 Research Questions: Exercises

Adapted from Dunn (2021).

2.1

See Table 2.1.

Table 2.1: Terms matched with their operational definitions
Term Definition
Rainwater Rainwater from a rainwater collection tank on your property
Bottled Water sold in bottles by food companies that is widely available to the public for purchase and consumption
Tap Water you presently use throughout your dwelling (home)
Recycled Highly purified wastewater deemed by scientists as safe for human consumption
Desalinated Highly purified seawater deemed by scientists and public health officials as safe for human consumption

2.2

1. P: University students. 2. O: Average resting diastolic blood pressure. 3. C: between students who regularly drive to USC and those who regularly ride their bicycles. 4. No intervention. 5. Relational. 6. What is meant by ‘regularly’; ‘university student’ (on-campus and online? undergraduate and postgraduate? full-time and part-time?). 7. Resting diastolic blood pressure; whether they regularly drive to university or regularly ride their bicycles. 8. The individual students. 9. Also the individual students.

2.3

1. P: Children aged under 3 in a Peruvian peri-urban community; O: Proportion of children with diarrohea; C: nutritional status; No intervention. 2. Hard to be sure; perhaps something like: ‘In children aged under 3 in a Peruvian peri-urban community, is there a a relationship between diarrohea status and nutritional status?’ 3. Relational. 4. How is ‘diarrohea status’ measured? Likewise, how is ‘nutritional status’ measured? There are probably others. 5. Response: diarrohea status; explanatory: nutritional status.

2.4

Recall that the outcome is used to describe a group (the population), not the individuals.

1. The percentage of vehicles that crash. 2. The average jump height. 3. The average number of tomatoes per plant. 4. The percentage of people who own a car.

2.5

Recall that the explanatory variable is what is actually measured on the individuals in the population.

1. The type of car fuel. 2. The type of coffee. 3. The dose of iron supplement. 4. The diet.

2.6

1. Does have a comparison (between a group of people in winter, and a different group of people in summer). The outcome is ‘the percentage of people wearing hats.’ 2. Does not have a comparison. Two subsets of the population are not being compared: instead, each person is measured twice. So an Outcome may be ‘average change in cholesterol levels.’ 3. Does not have a comparison. Two subsets of the population are not being compared: instead, each person gets two measurements. So an Outcome may be ‘average difference between right- and left-leg balance times.’ 4. Does have a comparison: The three subsets of the population are being compared: the three groups of tomato plants. The Outcome is ‘average yield’ (which could be measured in kg/plant, tomatos/plant, kg/hectare, etc).

2.7

The unit of observation is the animal: The animals, for example, are weighed.

The unit of analysis is the pen, as the food is allocated to the animals in the whole pen. In addition, the animals in the same pen are not independent: they compete for the same space, food, resources, and would all have similar environments that they share.

2.8

The population surely is not 10 adults; that sounds like the sample. It does not make clear how many fonts are being compared (or which fonts are being used).

Perhaps try this:

Among Australian adults, is the average time taken to read a passage of text different when Arial font is used compared to Times Roman font?

2.9

The RQ is about comparing groups, so it should talk about the average lung capacity of males and females. Perhaps:

Of students that study at USC, Sippy Downs, do males have a larger average lung capacity than females?

3 Ethics in Research: Exercises

3.1 Discussion questions

Adapted from Dunn (2021).

3.1.1

Answers will vary.

3.1.2

Answers will vary.

3.1.3

Answers will vary.

3.2 Using statistics to bend the truth

  1. “Cherry picking” data: for example, using partial data or only reporting the positive results from a trial
  2. Use of cumulative data versus annual data
  3. Using pie charts where proportions do not add up to 100%
  4. Manipulating the scale of the \(y\)-axis, particularly in a bar chart.

References

Dunn, Peter K. 2021. Scientific Research and Methodology: An Introduction to Quantitative Research in Science and Health. https://bookdown.org/pkaldunn/Book.


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.