FSCI 5353

What are the consequences of poor research on the individual?

-Lose Job

-Lose respect in the field

-Lose ability to get more funding

What are the consequences of poor research on the field?

-Has individuals work with methods they believe are accurate when they are not

-Increase public distrust in the science

What is the MOST severe consequence of poor research in Forensic Science?

An innocent person could go to jail.

Why does knowing how to do research matter in Forensic Science? (No matter your specialty)

The field is littered with potholes and we need to understand the procedures we are using in a comprehensive way.

What does the question being asked in research need to connect to?

The Big Picture: Why the Answer is Important

Define Basic Research.

For the purpose of expanding the body of knowledge; addresses the limitations of our understanding of a problem

What’s another name for "Basic Research"

Conceptual Research

Define Applied Research.

Intended to collect the info necessary to solve a specific problem; addresses practical problems

What is Action Research?

Type of applied research whose purpose is to improve some aspect of practice

What is Applied Science?

Applied science is typically reserved for disciplines using a strong research focused foundation and using it to answer questions

What are some examples of Applied Science?

Human Pathology

Anthropology

Physical Science

What is Police Science?

Police science has created disciplines that are not made in the traditional research lab

Police science topics are the result of prosecutorial or judicial inquiries

What are examples of Police Science?

criminal investigation

firearm and ballistics

questioned documents

trace evidence

arson and explosion

blood spatter

footprints

What are the 4 types of research?

-Exploratory

-Descriptive

-Explanatory

-Evaluation

Describe Exploratory Research.

Research on a topic where little is known.

Answers: What?

Describe Descriptive Research.

Describes current or past problem.

Answers: Who, when, where, and how?

Describe Explanatory Research.

Seeks to explain things (including cause)

Answers: Why?

Describe Evaluation Research.

Assesses effectiveness of efficiency of a program/policy/process

Answers: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How?

How is research used?

-To write lit reviews/review work of previous researchers.

-To decide court cases, inform policy decision, and address social problems

-To develop new products/services, advance a social/political agenda, or improve an aspect of professional practice.

Who pays for research?

Biggest funder: Federal Gov.

Public funder: States, schools, etc.

Private funder: Foundations, companies, organizations

What are the 4 main Objectives of the Research Process?

1. Answer a research question

2. Resolve disagreements among researchers

3.Filling in gaps within existing body of knowledge

4. Produce more research questions

What steps are always taken in research?

-Ask a question,

-See if it has been answered (literature review),

-Design an experiment to try and answer it (or a search strategy for a literature review),

-See what the data supports,

-Report findings.

What should a potential research question NOT be?

-Answered by looking up a fact

-Impossible to disprove → not falsifiable

-Going to have answers requiring unobtainable data

-Not contributing to answering the "bigger picture"

What are the main differences between a Research Paper Outline Format and a Review Paper Format?

Methods and Results Sections.

Review Papers have method and results sections that are about how articles are found and which articles were selected vs. the typical methods and results section.

What are the requirements of asking a Research Question when formulating a research plan?

• Must be a question that can actually be answered

• Often begin with casual observations or curiosity

What is the goal of conducting a Literature Review when formulating a research plan?

• Locating and understanding what previous researchers have learned about the topic

• For each source, must consider its advantages and disadvantages

What are the 4 things to keep in mind when considering a source?

Credibility (peer-reviewed), Timely (not-outdated), Conducted in a similar context (content of interest), Acceptable research method used (appropriate design and data).

When its time to refine the research question, what should you do?

Reword/change language or content and begin developing possible answers to the research question

True or False: The question that is asked impacts the types of statistics used in the results section?

True.

What does it mean to "Define the Concepts" when formulating a research plan?

In this step, one determines how to test the hypothesis... A.K.A. Conceptualization: process where researchers define the concept in their hypothesis.

What does it mean to "Create the Measures" when formulating a research plan?

Occurs after concepts have been defined, determines the best way to actually measure the concept. A.K.A. Operationalization

What does it mean to "Design a Method" when formulating a research plan?

Once operationalized, you should determine the best method. Select method based on previous research, feasibility, and/or resources available. Important to pretest the method.

What happens after you Design a Method?

Collect the Data! - Implement method and acquire data.

After you collect data, what is the next step in the research plan?

Analyze the Data! - Plan for how to analyze before the data is collected.

What should you do after you've analyzed data?

Interpret the Results - Describe what results mean both literally and practically

What comes after interpreting the results?

Communicating the findings - write the report/manuscript/thesis.

Why should you read the sources you are citing fully instead of just a cursory glance? (Give an example).

You may not understand the data fully and cite something that either doesn't support your research question or cite something incorrectly.

Ex: Dr. Smiths paper about specific species in Idaho that was cited in a paper about species in the south.

What is the major difference between Research Proposals and Lit Reviews?

A lit review provides background and identifies a "gap" in the literature, a research proposal provides the reason for filling that gap and methodology for how filling the gap can be done.

What are the 4 main types of Lit Reviews?

1. General Lit Review

2. Critical Review

3. Systematic Review

4. Scoping Review

Describe the General Lit Review.

-Encompasses many types of parameters for article searches

-Does not claim to be exhaustive/focused on a specific period

-Has an underlying theme to the topic of research

-Strengths: Helps prevent the repeating of previous research.

-Weaknesses: Due to the absence of select search criteria, it can be biased and irreproducible.

Describe the Critical Review

-More exhaustive than a general lit review

-Author has evaluated validity of papers

-Strengths: "critical" nature allows the quality of various articles to be assessed; can resolve differences in ideas.

-Weaknesses: No methodology for search, may be biased and not reproducible.

Describe a Systematic Review

-A critical review with a search pattern

-Includes an evaluation of relative article strength

-Aims to synthesize the findings to make broader conclusions

-Strengths: Set Methodology makes it replicable. Standards allow for uniform guidelines across different disciplines.

-Weaknesses: Certain methodology can lead to bias in the nature of the articles found.

Describe a Scoping Review.

-Aimed to determine the number and scope of current articles in a field.

-"Practically useless"

-Strengths: Can help determine if a more critical review can be performed.

-Weaknesses: Lack a measure of quality assessment; preliminary findings/pose questions about the state of a field.

What is the key to a good research proposal?

To identify a problem that a funding agency thinks is worth solving.

How is the ability to answer a problem discussed in a research proposal?

By presenting good experimental design and personal strengths.

Why is background lit needed in a research proposal?

Because it assess' if your problem has already been solved

Describe the Proposal Abstract.

-Summarizes the proposal

-First portion read by a grant reviewer

-Clearly conveys research problem, methods used to answer the problem, and expected outcomes.

Describe the Proposal Introduction

-Statement of the problem and research questions

-Includes why the area needs studied

-Current gaps in the research/lit

-Relevant background info

-Specific research questions and objectives

Describe the Proposal Project Design and Implementation (A.K.A. Methods and Discussion Sections)

-Outline specific techniques for how you plan to address your research question

Includes:

-Methodology

-How will results be analyzed

-Any challenges and how they might be handled

-Your competencies and capabilities

Describe the Proposal References/Lit Cited Sections

-All citations in-text must be present

-Need a Lit Cited/References section at the end

What are the 7 principles of Ethical Research Practice?

-Do not harm

-Ensure privacy

-Obtain voluntary and informed consent

-Get permission

-Avoid sponsorship bias and suppression

-Prevent misrepresentation

-Ensure the safety of researchers

Describe the "Do not harm" principle.

Do not cause physical, psychological, or legal harm.

Ex: Turtle used as a subject with the viewing window added to its skin to watch a maggot infestation.

Describe the "Ensure privacy" principle.

Provide privacy, confidentiality, and anonymity to those participating in your research.

Define Privacy (via Purdue)

Refers to protecting the individuals right to control access to their participation in a study (i.e. extent, timing, circumstances).

-Consider the appropriate circumstances and setting for participant recruitment, enrollment, and data collection.

-Limit the info collected to what is essential.

Define Confidentiality (via Purdue)

Protecting the participants personally identifiable data.

-Ensure the participants identity, personal info, responses, etc. will not be disclosed outside of the research team.

-Notify participants how info will be stored, the risk of breach of confidentiality, and the steps being taken to ensure record protection.

Define Anonymity (via Purdue)

When the researcher refrains from collecting any personal identifiers, direct or indirect, that would link responses to a specific individual.

-Data is not collected in person

-No key codes exist and names and other identifiers are not collected.

Describe the "Obtain voluntary and informed consent" principle.

Getting a participant to sign a consent form

What should a consent form include? (8 major tenants)

-what a participant is being asked to do and by whom and for what purpose

-any risks involved

-what rights a participant has (right to withdraw or view material)

-whether participants name will be included

-how the results will be shared with the public and if the participant stands to benefit in any way (i.e. monetarily)

-notice that a participant is free to participate or not without prejudice against them

-Parent/Guardian signature in the case of children

-Second Person style and easily understood language

Describe the "Get Permission" principle.

Used in special cases involving vulnerable populations:

-Pregnant Women, human fetuses, and neonates

-Children

-Prisoners

Permission should be received when using any individuals with diminished decision-making capacity.

Describe the "Avoid sponsorship bias and suppression" principle.

It is not wise to allow a company who could benefit from your results to fund or sponsor your research.

Describe the "Prevent misrepresentation" principle.

Avoid fraud, plagiarism, and deception.

Ex: Authors who plagiarized their own previous article without citation in a new article...led to retraction.

Describe the "Ensure the safety of researchers" principle.

Provide safety equipment and ensure safety protocols to protect your researchers from work related hazards.

What are 3 examples of legislation and policy oversight at the International Level?

Nuremberg Code (1947), Declaration of Helsinki (1964), Belmont Report (1979)

What is the "common rule" used at the Federal Level for legislation and policy oversight?

Must have an Assurance with the Office of Human Research Protections

What are examples of policy oversight at the Institutional Level?

Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

What are the 5 components of the DOJ's Scientific and Research Integrity Policy?

• Validity

• Reliability

• Accuracy

• Objectivity

• Integrity

Describe Validity (accuracy).

How well a measure represents a construct of interest.

Describe Reliability (precision).

Consistency of a measure/measurement.

Describe Objectivity.

Not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased

Describe Integrity.

• Use of honest and verifiable methods in proposing, performing, and evaluating research.

• Reporting research results with particular attention to adherence to rules, regulations, guidelines

• Following commonly accepted professional codes or norms.

What classification scheme describes the timeframe in which data collection takes place?

Time Dimension

What are the two major types of Time Dimension?

Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal

Describe Cross-Sectional Time Dimensions.

Data collected at ONE point in time. (Snapshot).

-Ex: All 2015 arrests, measured burnout in lab analysts on January 15, 2019.

-Advantages: Time to measure is brief, easy to measure many

-Disadvantages: Does NOT account for changes over time

Describe Longitudinal Time Dimensions.

Data collected at multiple points over time (Motion Picture).

-Ex: Burnout in lab analysts from 2000-2010.

-Advantages: Accounts for change over time

-Disadvantages: Lengthy, resource intensive

-Types: Trend, panel, and cohort studies

What classification scheme describes the type of data collected (also sometimes the method of collection)?

Quantitative vs. Qualitative

Describe Quantitative Data.

Measures variables numerically

-Variable = a logical grouping -> Theories describe the relationships that might be logically expected among variables.

-Ex: number of blood drops, number of minutes exposed

Describe Qualitative Data.

The underlying meaning of a variable; non-numerical.

-Ex: Description of victimization from a victim (i.e. what does that word mean to them?)

Can a data set be both qualitative and quantitative?

Yes. Turn the qualitative descriptors into a numerical (quantitative) system of measurement.

Ex: Keough, et al. paper.

What classification scheme describes the method of reasoning used by the researcher?

Method of Reasoning: Deductive vs. Inductive.

Describe Inductive Reasoning.

When generalizations are based on a large number of observations.

-From specific observations, make a general conclusion.

Describe Deductive Reasoning.

When specific results are predicted from a general premise.

-From general observations, the extrapolation of specific results that should be true as long as general premises are true.

What classification scheme describes from whom or what the researcher collects information?

Unit of Analysis

Give some examples of Unit of Analysis.

-Individuals

-Groups (Multiple persons with SAME characteristics (gangs, police beats, households, city blocks, counties)),

-Organizations (Formal groups with established leaders and rules (prisons, police departments, courtrooms, agencies)),

-Entire communities or nations.

Describe an Ecological fallacy.

Making predictions about an individual by observing the group.

-Ex: soccer fields = more crime, therefore soccer players commit more crime.

Describe Reductionism

Making prediction about the group based on an individual.

-Ex: I saw a puppy steal, therefor all puppies are thieves.

Describe an Individualistic fallacy.

Using anecdotal evidence to make an argument.

-Ex: I was robbed at 7-11, so all 7-11s are unsafe.

What comprises the Methods Section?

Participants/subjects, materials, instrumentation/measures, and procedures.

Define Conceptualization.

The process by which researchers define the concepts that are used in a research project.

Define Operationalization.

The process by which the researchers develop procedures for measuring the concepts that are used in the research project.

What is a "conception"?

A Mental image we have about something.

What are "concepts"?

Words, phrases or symbols in language that are used to represent these mental images in communication.

Ex: What is meant by "serious crime"?

Define Dimension as it pertains to Conceptualization.

Specifiable aspect of concept.

Ex: "Crime Seriousness" - can be subdivided into dimensions such as victim harm.

Define Indicators as it pertains to Conceptualization.

Level of physical injury, economic loss, psychological consequences.

Ex: A dead victim vs a victim with a broken arm.

What does specification lead to?

Deeper Understanding

What is a "Conceptual Definition"?

Definition specifically assigned to a term, provides focus to the observations.

Ex: Which dimensions of socioeconomic status will be included?

What is "Operational Definition"?

Spells out precisely how the concept will be measured.

Ex: Annual income, value of assets, etc.

What is the progression of measurement steps?

1. Conceptualization

2. Conceptual definition

3. Operational definition

4. Measurements in the real world

Define Scoring as it pertains to measurement.

Assigning numbers or labels to units of analysis to represent the conceptual properties.

Make observations and assign scores to them.

Different measurement can produce different results.

Ex: timeframe in which water levels is measured (months, years, days) might produce different results.

Describe Nominal level of measurement.

Offer names of labels for characteristics. (Ex: state of residence) -> Lowest level

Describe Ordinal level of measurement.

Attributes can be logically rank-ordered (Ex: education, occupational status) -> 2nd Lowest level