class 3: 09/14/09 building research skills

1. class 3: 09/14/09 building research skills

2. research

3. the 3 levels of seeing • All there is to thinking [doing research],” he said, “is seeing something noticeable which makes you see something you weren’t noticing which makes you see something that isn’t even visible.” (Norman Maclean, 1976, p. 92)

4. the immediately visible • that which is visible but noticeable only to the careful observer • the invisible or the unobservable

5. all researchers must attend to: • precision and accuracy • precision: exactness of description • accuracy: extent to which we are describing what we say we are describing • bias and efficiency • bias: systematic error in description • efficiency: maximizing the information gathered

6. the observation “n” problem • how many observations do I need • cost/risk • will my research put someone at-risk or cost someone • resources and constraints • how much time, money etc. do I have • including relevant factors and excluding irrelevant factors • am I observing the right things

7. framing research questions • There is no such thing as a logical method of having new ideas….Discovery contains “an irrational element,” or a “creative intuition.” (Karl Popper) • building models • a narrative that explains one’s observations

8. evaluating models • does this model adequately explain new observations • does this model explain observations better than other models

9. constructing a model • hypothesize the factors involved • hypothesize how they might be related • draw the models • evaluate which one explains the facts best • guesstimate the strengths of paths rules • model must be falsifiable • maximize concreteness • explain as much as possible

10. Krathwohl: ch 6 the literature review • goals: see page 103 • getting started: • existing reviews • AERA (and other) programs • key articles’ references • people familiar with the area • ERIC

11. terms • controlled vocabulary • keyword indexing • citation indexing • copy Table 6.1 and keep it in a notebook • copy General Suggestions (p. 121) and keep

12. Vogt • aggregate data • applied research • case study • control for • dummy variable (first paragraph) • ecological fallacy • emic, etic • endogenous, exogenous • experiment (first & third paragraph) • gambler’s fallacy

13. ethics

14. Sieber: Ch 3 • general ethical principles • beneficence • respect • justice

15. six norms • valid design • competence of researcher • identification of consequences • selection of subjects • voluntary informed consent • compensation for injury

16. writing

17. quotations fewer than 40 words • Price (1982) wrote, “Interventionists make efforts to teach and typically do expect mastery, whereas anti-interventionists avoid teaching what they perceive as difficult, because they fear that children will be harmed by unreasonable expectations for mastery” (p. 282). • Price (1982) wrote that “interventionists make efforts to teach and typically do expect mastery, whereas anti-interventionists avoid teaching what they perceive as difficult, because they fear that children will be harmed by unreasonable expectations for mastery” (p. 282).

18. more than 40 words • Ayers (1993) observed, We experience our own culture from the deepest levels toward the surface, and so our own culture can be largely invisible to us. . . . When we look at another culture, however, we tend to see the surface first, and we may fail to probe toward the deeper well-springs of meaning. This, too, can cut us off, and make culture and other people invisible. (p. 79)

19. grad life

20. Wildavsky: The Organization of Time • honor the sabbath: have an inviolable day off • do not do for yourself what others can do for you • spend money to buy time • play when you play but work when you work • learn to fill up the small fragments of time

21. organize the flow of your work: avoid waiting to work • avoid downtime: plan ahead • keep yourself supplied with work • control your schedule: get small things done ahead of time • have a rule to have rules • if you can’t think of what to do with something, throw it away

22. defend your work time, but don’t be a workaholic • keep conversations with students businesslike • keep things short • be careful about taking on new obligations • efficient use of time makes it easier to let go

23. more top 10 tips • read Graduate Programs Handbook (your advisor may be a little out of date) • get to know the grad programs secretary in your department and treat her well • develop friendships with grad students in other departments and colleges

24. find a special place somewhere on campus where you can work uninterrupted (hint: it probably won’t be your office) • point every paper you write toward your dissertation • take advantage of being a student—go to games (except for football and men’s basketball, all are free with student ID)

25. work out regularly—get exercise • maintain a life and passion outside of grad school, e.g., read novels, listen to music, dance, skate, play music, join a club • do graduate school—don’t let graduate school do you

26. good resources • Chronicle of Higher Education • academe’s job ads • available on line: • www.chronicle.com • user name: uiuclib • password: library • Tomorrow’s Professor • https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/ listinfo/tomorrows-professor/ • Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)

27. best quick getaways • Krannert Art Museum (2 minutes) • Carle Park (Urbana: Iowa St. 3 blks east of Lincoln—15 minute walk) • Hessel Park (Champaign: Kirby St. 4 blks west of Neil—25 minute walk) • Meadowbrook Park (Urbana: Windsor east of Race—short bike ride)

28. Lake of the Woods (Mahomet—15 minute drive, west on 74) • Salt Fork River Preserve (Homer Lake) (17 miles east of Urbana) • Allerton (southeast of Monticello—30 minute drive)

29. free (or cheap) stuff this week (under construction)