BQAERLA: a formula for (most) hypothesis-driven research

1. BQAERLA: a formula for (most) hypothesis-driven research • Background • Question • Approach • Experiment • Results • Literal Interpretation • Author Interpretation

2. Background • Summary of what is currently known about the subject/topic/protein/gene/process/etc. • Sets up the Big Question and the smaller questions that are current in the field and specific for the study

3. Question(s) • subdivided into The Big Question and smaller subquestions • The Big Question is one that drives research in the field as a whole • subquestions drive individual studies (papers) and individual experiments

4. Approach • The Approach lays out in a general sense how the question will be addressed • It does not encompass experimental details

5. Experiment and Results • The Experiment includes the relevant detail needed to understand scope • Results are usually figures/pictures/graphs/tables/etc. Results do not encompass any interpretation (comparative or judgemental, etc.)

6. What’s the difference between Literal and Author Interpretations? • Literal interpretations are simple, logical extensions of the Results (they are also known as Conclusions) • Author interpretations put the Literal interpretations into the context of the Big Question and often include some speculation and/or more questions

7. Biol-311L Cell Biology Techniques Oral Presentation Instructions Prepare a 10-12 minute presentation using PowerPoint. You will present your PowerPoint to a group of colleagues at one of the presentation sessions (date and time TBA, see BlackBoard). This presentation is physically due by email or on some sort of disk (floppy, CD or ZIP) three hours before the start of the session. The order of presentations will be determined at the beginning of the session, so be prepared to go first. If you made the presentation on a home/personal computer, then you should try it on a college computer prior to submitting it. Consider the following: What Background information needs to be understood? What cellular processes and what are the Big Questions about the cellular process? What gene/protein are you talking about? What is known about this protein? Does it have any interesting domains? What are their molecular/biochemical functions? Does it have relatives (paralogues or orthologues) and what do they do? How are the biochemical functions and cellular role required by the tissue and whole organism? What is not known? Questions? The focus of the presentation is one to three figures worth of primary data. The data that you present may be your own RNAi experiment or published data about your C. elegans gene or a homologue. Data that provides insight into some significant aspect of the biology of the gene/protein is required. What are the Approaches being employed to answer the Questions? Is there an hypothesis (what is the proposed answer to the questions)? What is the Experiment being presented? How did you (or someone else) generate the Result? What is the Result(s)? What is the Literal interpretation of the Result? What can be concluded? What is/are the Author'sor your interpretations of the Result? What might be done next?

9. 2004 Cohort Result Question Approach Experiment Literal Interp. Author Interp.

10. 2005 Cohort Result Question Approach Experiment Literal Interp. Author Interp.

11. Peer Evaluation (2004 cohort) Result Question Approach Experiment Literal Interp. Author Interp.

12. The “Formula” • Background • Question • Approach • Experiment • Results • Literal Interpretation • Author Interpretation

13. Sections of a research paper The “Formula” • Background • Question • Approach • Experiment • Results • Literal Interpretation • Author Interpretation Abstract Introduction Materials and Methods Results Discussion

14. Sections of a research paper The “Formula” • Background • Question • Approach • Experiment • Results • Literal Interpretation • Author Interpretation Abstract Introduction Materials and Methods Results Discussion

15. Sections of a research proposal The “Formula” • Background • Question • Approach • Experiment • Justification Background Specific Aims The reasons a proposed experiment is important, necessary, logical, interesting, etc.

16. Sections of a research proposal The “Formula” • Background • Question • Approach • Experiment • Justification Background Specific Aims The reasons a proposed experiment is important, necessary, logical, interesting, etc.