Research Methods Lecture 2. See notes for this lecture, also uploaded on slideshare : http://www.slideshare.net/lenallis/research-methods-lectures-notes This lecture series aims to cover the basics of research methods for undergraduate students. By the end of the series students should understand: -Why research is important -How to identify good and bad sources of information -How read critically -How to write clearly -Quantitative and Qualitative research -The basics of experimental method The overall point should be for students to take the activity of research seriously, but also to be motivated to go and conduct research and engage critically with material.

1. Research of the day
Drinking 1-2 alcoholic drinks per day has been
found to decrease the chance of depression
(but drinking more increases it).
Almeida, O. P., et al. "The triangular association of ADH1B genetic polymorphism, alcohol consumption and the risk of depression
in older men." Molecular Psychiatry (2013).
Being exposed to phobic stimuli while asleep
reduces phobia when awake.
Hauner, Katherina K., et al. "Stimulus-specific enhancement of fear extinction during slow-wave sleep." Nature Neuroscience
(2013).

2. Homework Review
Hypothesis:
“Subjects exposed to violent video games are
more likely to behave violently in real life.”
What is your view on this?
Find evidence to support it.

3. Recap
●Research gives us justification for our beliefs
●It is not just a process of gathering
information
●Research must be approached critically
●To research you need:
○A topic
○A hypothesis
○Research questions
○Reasonable scope

4. Research
2. Skepticism
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by Helena Hollis, 2014

5. Validity
Something is valid if it is well-grounded,
supported, justified, consistent.
(Remember Justified True Belief (Ichikawa and Steup, 2013))
You can have valid
●Sources
●Arguments
●Conclusions
●Logic
etc.

6. Assessing Validity
It is crucial to think about the validity of what we
are presented with in everyday life. Even more
so when we do research.
Remember:
1. Research is not mere information gathering. (Leady
and Ormrod, 2010, pp 1-2)
Research must involve addressing the validity
of what we find.

7. Be skeptical.
(darthrender, 2007)

8. Skepticism helps judge
validity
Approach information with skeptical questions
in mind. If the information withstands skeptical
questioning, then you are justified in believing
it.
Relying upon information which you have not
assessed for validity will lead to poor quality,
unjustified work.

9. Descartes
“But how could I... withal escape being
classed with persons in a state of
insanity, whose brains are so disordered
and clouded by dark bilious vapors as to
cause them pertinaciously to assert that
they are monarchs when they are in the
greatest poverty; or clothed [in gold] and
purple when destitute of any covering; or
that their head is made of clay, their
body of glass, or that they are gourds?”
(Descartes, 1641)

10. Validity of sources
The first thing to think about when addressing the
validity of your research are your sources.
Always consider:
1) Editorial or Review processes: has this source
been looked at by editors, fact-checkers, peer
reviewers etc. before publication?
This is why wikipedia is not a valid source.

11. ...
2) Replication: is there just one source out
there making these claims, or is there some
consensus?
3) Common Sense. Think about things slowly,
mull them over, and consider the likelihood that
the source is valid or not.

12. Some bad sources
1) Wikipedia. People can (and do) put false information on
wiki. Have a look at this list of known wiki hoaxes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_
Wikipedia
2) Quote websites. These often contain quotes attributed to
the wrong people, or misquotes.
3) Blogs, web pages with single or unspecified authors,
forums, etc.

13. Misquotes
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Ghandi
“I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great
pleasure.” Mark Twain
“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the
death of one, not even an enemy.” Martin Luther King
“Do not be so open minded that your brains fall out.” Carl Sagan
(http://quoteinvestigator.com/)

14. Some good sources
●Books
●Academic journals
- See library catalogue
- Search using Google Scholar, DOAJ or other
journal searches
●Websites of reputable organisations

15. Validity of claims
Within a given source, various claims may be
made.
As a researcher, you will need to identify them,
and think about what reason has been given to
believe or disbelieve them.

16. Assessing claims
1. How reliable is the source of the claim?
2. Does the source make similar claims?
3. Have the claims been verified by somebody else?
4. Does this fit with the way the world works?
5. Has anyone tried to disprove the claim?
6. Where does the preponderance of evidence point?
7. Is the claimant playing by the rules of science?
8. Is the claimant providing positive evidence?
9. Does the new theory account for as many phenomena as the old
theory?
10. Are personal beliefs driving the claim?
(Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, 2009)

17. Theories
A theory is a set of ideas intended to explain
something.
In research, a theory may back up your
hypothesis, or oppose it.
Much like assessing claims, the same kind of
criteria should be applied when assessing
theories.

18. Theory misconception
(toadpecker, 2009)

19. Just a theory
Much of what we understand about the
universe is in the form of theory. It is not
referred to as fact because often finding
absolute, incontrovertible evidence for it simply
is not possible, or at least not yet.
This does not mean that all theories are equal.
Some are (radically) more likely to be true than
others.

20. ...
image:
http://www.
smbc-
comics.com
/?id=2853

21. Occam’s Razor
Also known as the principle of simplicity, or
parsimony.
“other things being equal, simpler theories are
better.”
(Baker, 2013)

22. Horoscopes
I am going to hand out horoscopes to each of
you, based on your star sign.

23. Your star sign
http://www.psychicguild.com/horosc
opes_explained.php

24. Your Horoscope
These are 1 week old.
How accurately does your horoscope describe
your last week?

25. Confirmation Bias
This is “a tendency for people to favor information that
confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses regardless of
whether the information is true” (princeton.edu, n.d)
This means paying more attention to (and often remember
more) those things which prove a hypothesis, while
disregarding those that disprove it.

26. Beware the bias
When doing research, it is very easy to fall into the
confirmation bias.
This means searching for sources which support your
ideas. Making notes of all the things you find in support of
your ideas. Interviewing people you know to be supporters
of your ideas.
Doing this without also paying attention to the opposing
viewpoints is confirmation bias. You must also read, make
notes on, and give a voice to, opponents of your ideas.

27. Subjective vs Objective
Some areas of research aim towards objective
knowledge and fact.
However, that is not the only form of valid
research.
Subjective fields, to do with interpretation,
analysis, and opinion can also be valid.

28. ...
Image: http://xkcd.com/451/

29. Subjective validity
If you are researching and writing about a more
subjective area, where there may not be any
hard answers, you still need to think about
validity.
You need to support your ideas with theoretical
frameworks. You must also find valid sources
who support your views.

30. Caution with emotional
subjects
Some subjective fields, particularly those to do
with social issues, can be emotionally charged.
You may have very strong viewpoints.
This is not a bad thing - passion makes your
work better - but you must constantly think
about the support you are giving your opinions.

31. ...

32. Citing sources
In order to demonstrate the validity of your
research, you must state your sources.
Similarly, when you are reading, check to see if
the author has stated his sources.
At the back of academic texts you will find a
reference list, which can be a treasure trove of
ongoing research material.

33. Citation and Referencing
Once you decide you want to use a source, you
must reference it correctly. This involves:
1) In-text citation - always
2) Reference list - always
3) Bibliography - required for some projects.

34. In-text Citations
These are brackets placed after information
has been used, indicating which source it came
from.
If using Harvard Referencing this will be the
author’s surname, year of publication, and a
page number:
(Smith, 2012, p. 34) or (Jones, 1987, pp. 50-62)

35. ...
In some cases, it may be the name of a website,
and there may not be any publication date, or
page numbering:
(BBC, no date)
Try to use common sense. Take whatever
information available in the source, and make a
citation which singles it out in your reference list.

36. Who to cite
It is always best to cite the original source,
even if you found the information via someone
else.
You can cite a source inside a source like this:
(Shakespeare, cited in Smith, 2012, p. 34)
But this a lazy thing to do, unless you
absolutely cannot find the original.

37. … not citing is plagiarism.
Edison, and
Marconi,
should’ve
cited Tesla
for his ideas.
Image:
http://www.harkavagrant.c
om/index.php?id=256

38. When to cite?
Always cite:
●Quotations
●Paraphrased information (where you have put it
in your own words, but the information is from a
source you read)
●Factual information that is non-trivial
●Figures, statistics, etc.
If in doubt, it is better to cite too much than too
little.

39. Example of citation
The brain exhibits ‘small world network’ properties (Liu et
al 2008), meaning that the topology is such that there are
areas of dense connectivity where each node is connected
to every other neighbouring node, but these are then also
connected with one another (see fig. 2). This structure is
important, as Liu et al write:
“Small-world networks offer a structural substrate for
functional segregation and integration of the
Brain... and facilitate rapid adaptive reconfiguration of
neuronal assemblies in support of changing cognitive
states” (Liu et al, 2008, p.945)
However it is important to note that this is not the kind of
structure typically assumed in neuropsychological models,
in that it is not modular in the strong sense. The small
world network organisation also fits in with the idea of
‘multiple constraint organisation’, meaning that each
component of the system falls under the constraint of all
other components in the system (Rubinov et al, 2009,
p.413).
Fig. 2: Visualisation of a small world network:
(Wassal, 2009)

40. Reference List
This is a list of all the sources you have used in
your essay. It belongs at the end. It should be in
alphabetical order (by author’s surname).
A full set of information on the source should be
given here, to make it as easy as possible for the
reader to locate it should they wish to.
See referencing guides for exact details.

41. Example reference list
Adler, M. and Van Doren, C. (1940) How to Read a Book. New York: Touchstone
Booth, W., Colomb, G., and Williams, J., (2008) The Craft of Research. 3rd edn. London: The University of Chicago Press.
Ichikawa, J. and Steup, M. (2013) "The Analysis of Knowledge", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2013 Edition),
Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Available at:http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/knowledge-analysis/ (Accessed: 23rd
September 2013).
Leady, P. and Ormrod, J. (2010) Practical Research Planning and Design, 9th edn. Boston MA : Pearson Education
OptionGradius (2011) Insane Clown Posse - Miracle ( With Lyrics ). Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiZR6YbhXgE
(Accessed : 23rd September 2013).
Oxford Dictionary (2011) Available at: http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0703100#m_en_gb0703100 (Accessed: 8
May 2011)
Piaget, J. (1970). The principles of genetic epistemology. London: Routledge.
RiverheadBooks (2010) WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU (Accessed : 23rd September 2013).
Wilson, E. B. (1952) An Introduction to Scientific Research. New York: Dover Publications

42. Bibliography
This is only a requirement for some work,
always check guidelines.
It is a reference list, which also includes all the
sources you used as part of your research,
even if you never directly cited them in your
essay.
(A reference list contains sources that have
been directly cited in the essay only)

43. Homework
Please read Jonathan Swift’s A Modest
Proposal by tomorrow.
(If you have read it in the past, please re-read it
to refresh your memory)
The full text is available for free online at
Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1080

44. A Modest Proposal
I strongly suggest you make notes as you read.
● Summarise his argument
● Summarise what you think his opinion is
● Summarise any counter-arguments or problems he
addresses in the text.
The aim of this exercise is to deconstruct Jonathan Swift’s
argument, so that we can evaluate it.

45. References
Baker, Alan, "Simplicity", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Available at:
http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/simplicity. (Accessed : 24th September 2013)
darthrender (2007) James Randi debunks Uri Geller. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXv3TvB4LNI (Accessed :
23rd September 2013)
Descartes, R. (1641) Meditations on First Philosophy. Available at:
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/descartes/meditations/Meditation1.html (Accessed: 13th September 2014)
Graham, CD. 1957. A glossary for research reports. Metal Progress 71: 75
Ichikawa, J. and Steup, M. (2013) "The Analysis of Knowledge", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2013 Edition),
Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Available at:http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/knowledge-analysis/ (Accessed: 23rd
September 2013).
princeton.edu (No Date) Confirmation Bias. Available at:
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Confirmation_bias.html (Accessed : 24th September 2013)
Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (2009) Michael Shermer: Baloney Detection Kit. Available at:
http://youtu.be/eUB4j0n2UDU (Accessed : 23rd September 2013)
socialpsychology.org (No Date) The Famous Four Card Task. Available at: http://www.socialpsychology.org/teach/wason.htm
(Accessed : 24th September 2013)
toadpecker (2009) Tim minchin americans survey evolution info! Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9uIMR8yCPg
(Accessed : 24th September 2013)