This open access textbook offers a practical guide into research ethics for undergraduate students in the social sciences. A step-by-step approach of the most viable issues, in-depth discussions of ...case histories and a variety of didactical tools will aid the student to grasp the issues at hand and help him or her develop strategies to deal with them. This book addresses problems and questions that any bachelor student in the social sciences should be aware of, including plagiarism, data fabrication and other types of fraud, data augmentation, various forms of research bias, but also peer pressure, issues with confidentiality and questions regarding conflicts of interest. Cheating, ‘free riding’, and broader issues that relate to the place of the social sciences in society are also included. The book concludes with a step-by-step approach designed to coach a student through a research application process.
Poorly preserved biological tissues have become an important source of DNA for a wide range of zoological studies. Measuring the quality of DNA obtained from these samples is often desired; however, ...there are no widely used techniques available for quantifying damage in highly degraded DNA samples. We present a general method that can be used to determine the frequency of polymerase blocking DNA damage in specific gene-regions in such samples. The approach uses quantitative PCR to measure the amount of DNA present at several fragment sizes within a sample. According to a model of random degradation the amount of available template will decline exponentially with increasing fragment size in damaged samples, and the frequency of DNA damage (lambda) can be estimated by determining the rate of decline.
The method is illustrated through the analysis of DNA extracted from sea lion faecal samples. Faeces contain a complex mixture of DNA from several sources and different components are expected to be differentially degraded. We estimated the frequency of DNA damage in both predator and prey DNA within individual faecal samples. The distribution of fragment lengths for each target fit well with the assumption of a random degradation process and, in keeping with our expectations, the estimated frequency of damage was always less in predator DNA than in prey DNA within the same sample (mean lambda(predator) = 0.0106 per nucleotide; mean lambda(prey) = 0.0176 per nucleotide). This study is the first to explicitly define the amount of template damage in any DNA extracted from faeces and the first to quantify the amount of predator and prey DNA present within individual faecal samples.
We present an approach for characterizing mixed, highly degraded PCR templates such as those often encountered in ecological studies using non-invasive samples as a source of DNA, wildlife forensics investigations and ancient DNA research. This method will allow researchers to measure template quality in order to evaluate alternate sources of DNA, different methods of sample preservation and different DNA extraction protocols. The technique could also be applied to study the process of DNA decay.
Social learning Hoppitt, William; Laland, Kevin N
2013., 20130721, 2013, 2013-07-21
eBook
Many animals, including humans, acquire valuable skills and knowledge by copying others. Scientists refer to this as social learning. It is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of ...behavioral research and sits at the interface of many academic disciplines, including biology, experimental psychology, economics, and cognitive neuroscience.Social Learningprovides a comprehensive, practical guide to the research methods of this important emerging field. William Hoppitt and Kevin Laland define the mechanisms thought to underlie social learning and demonstrate how to distinguish them experimentally in the laboratory. They present techniques for detecting and quantifying social learning in nature, including statistical modeling of the spatial distribution of behavior traits. They also describe the latest theory and empirical findings on social learning strategies, and introduce readers to mathematical methods and models used in the study of cultural evolution. This book is an indispensable tool for researchers and an essential primer for students.
Provides a comprehensive, practical guide to social learning researchCombines theoretical and empirical approachesDescribes techniques for the laboratory and the fieldCovers social learning mechanisms and strategies, statistical modeling techniques for field data, mathematical modeling of cultural evolution, and more
A practical introduction to epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methodology for the whole health care community This comprehensive text, which has been extensively revised with new material and ...additional topics, utilizes a practical slant to introduce health professionals and students to epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methodology. It draws examples from a wide range of topics, covering all of the main contemporary health research methods, including survival analysis, Cox regression, and systematic reviews and meta-analysis—the explanation of which go beyond introductory concepts. This second edition of Quantitative Methods for Health Research: A Practical Interactive Guide to Epidemiology and Statistics also helps develop critical skills that will prepare students to move on to more advanced and specialized methods. A clear distinction is made between knowledge and concepts that all students should ensure they understand, and those that can be pursued further by those who wish to do so. Self-assessment exercises throughout the text help students explore and reflect on their understanding. A program of practical exercises in SPSS (using a prepared data set) helps to consolidate the theory and develop skills and confidence in data handling, analysis, and interpretation. Highlights of the book include: * Combining epidemiology and bio-statistics to demonstrate the relevance and strength of statistical methods * Emphasis on the interpretation of statistics using examples from a variety of public health and health care situations to stress relevance and application * Use of concepts related to examples of published research to show the application of methods and balance between ideals and the realities of research in practice * Integration of practical data analysis exercises to develop skills and confidence * Supplementation by a student companion website which provides guidance on data handling in SPSS and study data sets as referred to in the text Quantitative Methods for Health Research, Second Edition is a practical learning resource for students, practitioners and researchers in public health, health care and related disciplines, providing both a course book and a useful introductory reference.
This book provides an accessible comprehensive exploration of phenomenological theory and research methods and is geared specifically to the needs of therapists and other health care professionals. ...An accessible exploration of an increasingly popular qualitative research methodologyExplains phenomenological concepts and how they are applied to different stages of the research process and to topics relevant to therapy practiceProvides practical examples throughout
Arts Based Research Barone, Tom; Eisner, Elliot W; Barone, Tom, Jr
2011, 2012, 2011-03-29, 2011-03-28
eBook
Provides a framework for broadening the domain of qualitative inquiry in the social sciences by incorporating the arts as a means of better understanding - and rethinking - important social issues.
Scholars of international relations increasingly use temporal dependence variables (polynomials or splines) to control for unmodeled duration dependence in nonlinear models (such as logit or probit) ...of events ranging from interstate conflict and civil war to sanctions imposition and trade agreements. I identify two inferential obstacles that are widespread to nonlinear models, and are exacerbated by the unique features of temporal dependence variables. First, compression causes the quantities of interest to be sensitive to the values in the counterfactual scenario (most notably, time). Second, presenting substantive effects calculated at one simulation scenario (such as an “average” scenario) grossly inflates the representativeness of that scenario and neglects the variability within the sample. The consequences of these problems range in severity from understating the magnitude of the substantive effects to deriving inferences that are wholly unrepresentative of the data. I offer a simple checklist. First, use the values observed in the data to generate in-sample quantities of interest. Second, plot those quantities of interest across the offending variable (for example, time) and interpret the relationship. Finally, provide a sense of the sample’s variability in quantities of interest through simple summary statistics (such as mean, standard deviation, and range). These simple fixes provide much-needed transparency and act as a shield against scholars who might otherwise present misleading results.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
19.
Close Reading with Computers Eve, Martin Paul
Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory,
2019, 2019-06-04, 20201201, Letnik:
6, Številka:
2
eBook, Book Review
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Rather than working at the usual scales of distant reading, this book shows what happens when we bring techniques from the digital humanities to bear on a single novel for close readings.
Game theory is central to understanding human behavior and relevant to all of the behavioral sciences--from biology and economics, to anthropology and political science. However, as The Bounds of ...Reason demonstrates, game theory alone cannot fully explain human behavior and should instead complement other key concepts championed by the behavioral disciplines. Herbert Gintis shows that just as game theory without broader social theory is merely technical bravado, so social theory without game theory is a handicapped enterprise.
PDF
