Notes on Research Methodology in Dentistry and Scientific Methodology

UCAM Research Methodology in Dentistry

Introduction

  • Presenter: Fernando Cánovas

  • Context: Bachelor's Degree in Dentistry

  • Core Concepts: Importance of the scientific method in various health disciplines, including biostatistics, epidemiology, and public health.

Core Topics Covered

  • Branches of Health:

    • Human Health

    • Environmental Health

    • Animal Health

  • Key Terminologies:

    • Bar inference

    • Sample analysis

    • Population

    • Ordinal data

    • Precision research

    • Dichotomous outcomes

    • Biostatistical variables

    • Generalizable endpoints

    • Subset histogram

    • Prevalence

    • Categorical data

    • Continuous data

The Scientific Method

Fundamental Components

  • Philosophy of Scientific Inference

    • Inductivism

    • Refutationism

    • Consensus

    • Bayesianism

    • Impossibility of Scientific Proof

  • Research Methodology Structure and Processes

Research Communication and Life Cycle

Scholarly Communication Types

  • Review Articles

  • Textbooks

  • Edited Books

  • Encyclopedia

  • Dictionary

  • Emails

  • Research Blogs

  • Databases

  • Popular Magazines

  • Business Magazines

  • Patents

  • Newspapers

  • News Websites

  • Social Networks

  • Letters and Communications

  • Research Notes

  • Full Research Articles

  • Data Depositing to Repositories

  • Conference Abstracts, Papers, and Proceedings

  • Technical Reports

  • Dissertations and Theses

  • Research Reports

Processes in Research Life Cycle

  • Apply research results to solve real-world problems.

  • Generate ideas and find collaborators.

  • Process, analyze, visualize, and interpret data.

  • Discover and reuse data and research results.

  • Disseminate and share data and research results.

  • Find, organize, manage, and evaluate scholarly information.

  • Define research topics/questions.

  • Seek funding through various sources (GOV, NGO, Industry).

  • Collect data according to research proposals.

  • Preserve collected data for future use.

Philosophy of Scientific Inference

Inductivism

  • Emerged around the XVI and XVII centuries.

  • Based on observation; results demand knowledge from emerging technologies.

  • Key Figure: Francis Bacon

    • Work: Novum Organum (1620)

    • Transition from medieval scholasticism to empirical methods.

  • Process of Induction:

    • Facts acquired through observation lead to generalizations.

    • Laws and theories developed from induction are then tested using deduction to make predictions and explanations.

Inductivism Fallacies

  • Post hoc ergo propter hoc:

    • Latin: “after this, therefore on account of this.”

    • Example: Assuming the crowing of a rooster causes the sun to rise because they occur sequentially.

  • Fallacy of Affirming the Consequent:

    • Example: If pigs have wings, then some winged animals are good to eat; some winged animals are good to eat; therefore, pigs have wings.

    • Related to confounding variables and their influence on conclusions.

Refutationism

  • Concept introduced by Karl Popper.

  • Science proceeds by eliminating incorrect hypotheses (conjecture and refutation).

  • Process includes:

    • Using deductive logic to infer predictions from hypotheses.

    • Comparing observations with predictions.

    • Confirming hypotheses that agree with observations, while acknowledging that hypotheses can be refuted by new data.

Consensus and Naturalism

  • Role of the scientific community in establishing the validity of theories.

  • Key Figure: Thomas Kuhn (1962)

    • Idea that scientific progress is a sociological process influenced by prevailing theories and acceptance within the scientific community.

  • Example: Observing Jupiter’s moons requires trust in optical theories.

Bayesianism

  • Focus on evaluating knowledge through probabilities rather than seeking absolute truth.

  • Key Figures: Reverend Thomas Bayes, Pierre Simon de Laplace.

  • Concepts:

    • Prior Probability: Initial degree of belief in a premise.

    • Posterior Probability: Updated degree of belief after considering evidence.

Impossibility of Scientific Proof

  • In empirical science, absolute proof is unattainable; only tentative descriptions/models of nature exist.

  • Importance of maintaining skepticism and critical thinking in scientific inquiry.

Seminar Objectives

Purpose Statement

  • Address the underestimation of the complexity involved in scientific work.

  • Highlight the complexity of:

    • Subject matter

    • Language used in scientific discourse

  • Structure of the seminar aims to guide students in the elements necessary for effective scientific writing applicable to assignments, final degree projects, master’s theses, and PhDs.