2'2 Important points when presenting a research project

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2.2 Important points when presenting a research
project

• There are a number of different texts, research
  papers, workshops, training materials etc. with
  different scientific levels.

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Who is the audience, who should the text
be directed to?

• Descriptive, popular, political, etc.
• Present a central point for a specific audience.

3
Form, dependent upon journal or publisher.

• Consult closely the journal, or the publisher
  firm of intention.
• Some journal allow only short articles, while in
  they are quite long in others. Some have maximum
  number of words be ware!
• What is the structure of the paper (recall last
  lecture)? Look for intro, methods, study area,
  results etc., what are and how are the different
  headlines stated?

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• Instruction to authors for reports in the journal
  of Science (up to 2500 words or 3 journal
  pages) present important new research results of
  broad significance. Reports should include an
  abstract, an introductory paragraph, up to 4
  figures or tables, and a maximum of 30
  references. Materials and Methods should usually
  be included in supporting online material, which
  should also include information needed to support
  the paper's conclusions.
•  Instructions to authors in Current Anthropology
  Major articles with commentaries those that
  receive the CA treatment must make theoretical
  or methodological interventions into current
  controversies within anthropology, broadly
  construed. Most major papers are 14,000 words or
  fewer in length and must be accompanied by
  abstracts of a maximum of 200 words. Reports
  present research findings of theoretical
  significance to anthropology, and this
  significance must be made clear in the text.
  Reports are usually about 5000 words in length,
  including references.

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Form, dependent upon journal or publisher.

• Bold text, italic texts, capital letters, small
  capitals?
• Are there several figures or no figures, and what
  about tables?
• Do the journal allow footnotes? Footnotes are
  common in social science, but uncommon in natural
  science.
• Be aware of references, how are they written it
  seems each journal has its own form.

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What about inter-disciplinarity, how to present
the data?

• The best way to undertake interdisciplinary
  research is through collaboration between
  researchers with different disciplinary
  backgrounds (McNeill and García-Godos).
• The first author and then his/hers discipline
  will normally make the highest imprint on the
  article.
• An inter-disciplinary article (based on authors
  from different disciplines) is considerate of the
  point of view from those disciplines.

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-Being able to illuminate an area from different
perspectives. -The possibility of getting
feedback and inputs from other disciplines ensure
the right methodology. - A resettler communitys
harvest of Xate.. within the Maya Biosphere
Reserve in Guatemala, an example of an
interdisciplinary article.
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Language in different disciplines
Population ? Human population / plant population
/ animal population. Sustainable, diameter at
breast height, age structure of stands, idea of
meaning, functionalism, externalities,
opportunity cost. Each discipline uses its own
specific language and vocabulary to express
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Number of authors

• Different author traditions in different
  disciplines.
• It is in natural sciences common to include a
  person as a co-author if the person has
  contributed in any way.
• It is important that you as a co-author is
  completely confident in the data.
• !Note the number of authors in the articles of
  different disciplines in the compendium.

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• To critically read a research article from start
  to finish!
• Always ask you self, what was the purpose or
  reason for conducting this study?
• Try to answer a question about the general
  procedure, this tests your basic understanding of
  what the research that was performed.

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An example, a research project Poverty has been
a major barrier to a healthy lifestyle.

• The abstract
• The elderly have chronic health problems
  attributed to obesity.
• Research suggests that exercise can reduce the
  risk of some health problems.
• The hypothesis of the study that older African
  American women living above the poverty level
  will practice more health promoting behaviours as
  measured by the Health-Promoting Lifestyle
  profile (HPLP) than women living below the
  poverty level.

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The method, including the instruments and
procedure.

• What were good aspects of the design? Could there
  be aspects of bias in the design?
• What were questionable aspects of the design?
• What factors other than the projects might have
  resulted in positive attitudes.

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Results

• Try to evaluate the results!
• Are the presented results supported by the study?
• Do the results answer the purpose of the study?
• Important part of interpreting the results - Do
  tables and figures present the results in a
  comprehendible way?
• Are some results missing, are results
  confounding?
• Look for speculation only!

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Results, the example

• Results lacking, would have been informative!
• What percentage of those above poverty level had
  been graduated from college and high school.
• A large percentage were married or widowed, but
  we dont know their economic level.
• Those below the poverty level had a large range
  of scores, along with greater variability.
• Although not reported, the two means are
  significantly different.

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Discussion

• Finally you will evaluate the experimentors
  discussion of the results in terms of the extent
  to which the conclusion is justified, can be
  generalized and has limitations.
• Statements are they justified?
• Look out for statements of which there is no good
  arguments based on own results.
• Or statements where references are lacking.

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• A statement of fact should be followed by
  references.
• Ex. Stige et al. 2006. Global climate change is
  no longer a hypothesis (IPC 2001).
• Danielsen and Heegaard 1993. Within a few years
  most of lowland dipterocarp forests in Eastern
  Indonesia are likely to be cleared for plantation
  and agriculture.
• Speculation ?
• - Look for value laden words

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Discussion

• Is there an argument going on with regard to the
  subject?
• Must be accounted for.
• Ex. Peres et al. 2003. Despite early warnings
  that the exploitation of this wild seed crop
  might not be sustainable ( Huber 1910), it has
  generally been argued that current seed
  collection intensities may have little impact on
  the demography of natural populations (Vivana et
  al. 1998, Zuidena and Boot 2002).

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Discussion / conclusion, the example

• The conclusion is inappropriate!
• Health-promoting behaviors were not observed.,
  they were reported.
• we dont know the extent to which test items
  accurately reflect behavior.
• we dont know the accuracy of the self-reports
• Note that score might have been higher if all
  forms of exercise, not just recreational were
  reported.

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Conclusion

• What did the author conclude?
• Are the conclusions justified?

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Conclusion, the example

• This is misleading, because it implies that
  exercise is a main factor that accounts for the
  difference in HPLP between the two groups.
• Thus if groups were matched on all non-poverty
  level variables and were tested by a naive (with
  respect to the purpose of the study) individual,
  it would be possible to reach a valid conclusion.