Reference no: EM131441466
Assignment
Scientific Report Guidelines
Identify a recent scientific study that is of interest to you that has been reported in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The article that you choose can NOT be a review article). At the end of the term you will give a short oral presentation with 2-3 slides in which you describe the study and at least one of the technical figures from the study (e.g. data table/ graph, experimental design diagram...).
You may already have ideas about a question or topic that is of interest to you. If not, then search the websit below for recent science news articles. Some of these articles (such as the ones from the ScienceDaily website) o provide a link to a peer-reviewed scientific journal report. Other articles will mention the lead investigators, and you ca then search PubMed Central (PMC) or PubMed for the related scientific publication.
Preliminary Websites to Search for Research Topics of Interest ScienceDaily - (https://www.sciencedaily.com/)
Useful Science: https://usefulscience.org/ - this website lists many interesting studies, but not all of the articles linked to are fre available - search for one that is!
ScienceNews - https://www.sciencenews.org/view/archives
BBC News - science & environment - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science_and_environment/ BBC News - health - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health/
New York Times Science: https://www.nytimes.com/pages/science/index.html (NOTE: these are usually excellent articles - howev you will be limited to 10 / month unless you have a suscription)
New York Times Health: https://www.nytimes.com/pages/health/index.html (NOTE: these are usually excellent articles - however, will be limited to 10 / month unless you have a suscription)
Yahoo science - https://news.yahoo.com/science/ ; Yahoo health - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health/ Google - https://news.google.com/ (scroll down to the science or health on the left side menu)
Articles from the websites above summarize or refer to scientific studies that have been published in peer-reviewed science journals - and sometimes they describe preliminary scientific studies that have not yet been published - but they are NOT peer- reviewed science publications - which you need for your reports!
To obtain an original peer-reviewed science publication - use one of the resources below: (you can search using article titles, key words, or names of researchers that conducted the research; see me or your librarian for help if needed).
Pubmed Central (PMC) - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
To search for articles, enter search terms in the bar at the top of the page. You will then need to check articles to see if they have a methods or experimental procedures section (you can't use a review article) and make sure that you can understand it (get help if needed!), and to identify data (graphs or tables that could be used in your oral report.
This is a database of freely-available journal articles (no need to pay or get them from your school library). It is not as inclusive as the regular Pubmed, which has the most extensive listing of all published scientific articles, however, some of the articles on Pubmed may not be free or available for free through the NYIT library. You can speak to the librarian at NYIT about getting a copy of the article through an interlibrary request - but this may take a week.
Search Pubmed - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed ; Pubmed includes articles that are NOT freely available, but that may be accessible (for free) through the NYIT library (you will need to check)
The library: Look for electronic journals. If the library does not have the specific journal that you need, you may have to request it via interlibrary loan. Don't wait for the last minute as this may take up to a week!
Report Topic Assignment
1. Choose a topic / question(s) of interest and find a related research report (article) that has been published in a PEER-REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL. You will not receive any credit for this assignment if your article is NOT from a peer-reviewed science journal.
2. OTHER IMPORTANT CRITERIA for the peer-reviewed research article that you choose:
a. It must have a METHODS (or Experimental Procedures) SECTION! If it does not, then it is a probably a review article - which can't be used for this assignment.
b. It must contain a scientific figure or table (with results) that can be used to help explain the study in your written and oral reports.
c. It can NOT be a research article that you have used for an assignment in any other course.
d. It can NOT be a research article from the field of psychology.
3. To submit this assignment, go to the Assignments folder on Blackboard and select "Report Topic Assignment".
Enter the following information:
a. What is your question of interest?
b. What is the scientific question addressed in the peer-reviewed scientific report that you have chosen? (or one of the questions addressed in a particular experiment)
c. Paste in a full citation* to the peer-reviewed research report THAT YOU WILL DISCUSS IN YOUR ORAL PRESENTATION (not some other study that was referenced at the end of the report) - it should include the title, authors, date of publication, and name of the scientific journal. DON NOT just paste in a weblink! Do NOT paste in a reference to a ScienceDaily summary or any news article about the scientific study.
d. Paste in a weblink to the peer-reviewed scientific report (referenced above). If possible, this should be a link to a full-length article, not just a link to an abstract.
e. Indicate a specific graph, table or other technical figure that contains data that could be discussed in your written and oral reports.
CITATION EXAMPLE:
Chocolate Intake and Incidence of Heart Failure: A Population-Based, Prospective Study of Middle-Aged and Elderly Women. Elizabeth Mostofsky, Emily B. Levitan, Alicja Wolk, Murray A. Mittleman. Circ Heart Fail. 2010 September 1; 3(5): 612-616. Weblink: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20713904
REPORT OUTLINE
Heading: Student Name; Date; Subject / Section Provide information on the article to be discussed below:
Title
Authors
Journal of publication (NOTE: the journal is NOT called Pubmed -- which is a scientific literature database)
Date of publication Weblink
NOTE: IT MUST BE FROM A PEER REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL AND IT MUST HAVE A METHODS (or Experimental procedures) SECTION
(and, no psychology or social science articles unless approved by the instructor!)
PRESENTATION OUTLINE:
A. Introduction
a. State the question that you are interested in and BRIEFLY mention its importance to the general public and / or why it is particularly interesting to you.
b. State the title of the article that you found related to your topic AND state the scientific question that is the focus of the research article (this can usually be determined from the title of the research report)
c. BRIEFLY mention of the institution(s) where the scientific research was carried out (it is sufficient to tell the institution of the lead author) - (DO NOT name ALL the authors)
d. tell how the research was funded if this info is provided (e.g. gov. agencies or private companies; if this info is provided, it is often on the first or last page of the article). If this info is not provided - state this.
B. Methods / experimental design
BREIFLY explain how the researchers conducted the study. Information to include:
a. Type of study / study design (association, case--control, meta--analysis, preliminary investigation, model, or other)
b. Describe the test subjects of the study (people, animals, or objects) and the basic experimental design. How many subjects were included in the study? How were they selected? With respect to the experimental design, how were the subjects divided up (if applicable)- how many were in each experimental group, and in any control group(s)?
c. Details on what was done --
i. What was the treatment / experimental variable being studied? If the study was a controlled experiment - what experimental treatment / condition was each group exposed to? If a model was constructed, describe the essential details included - describe experiments performed using the model.
ii. Over what period of time were the test subjects studied / treated / or exposed to some experimental variable?
iii. What data was collected? -e.g. dietary surveys and some sort of health assessment? -- OR, describe the interventions / treatments that different groups of test subjects were exposed to for a typical case--control study. If a model was constructed, give details on how it was made and what it was used to determine.
C. Results & Conclusions
a. Discuss the results of the study (that help answer your question) -- refer to at least 1 table / graph / or technical figure from the journal report. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR REPORT - NOTE: YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY LOSE 20 POINTS IF THE FIGURE DISCUSSED IS NOT FROM A REPORT PUBLISHED IN A PEER-- REVIEWED SCIENCE JOURNAL THAT IS THE FOCUS OF THIS REPORT (unless you have obtained permission from me in advance).
b. State the conclusion(s) of the study.
a. What are limitations of the study? Possible follow--up studies?
b. NOTE: If you found other related studies, you can mention them - compare and/or contrast their results.
c. VERY IMPORTANT - discuss how the conclusions of the study you have reviewed are important to society (or to your peer group - or to you, personally)
D. Figure or table from the SAME journal article (it can't be from some other source!)
Indicate the specific figure or table that you will use (e.g. fig.2). If possible - paste it in here. You should refer to it at some point above when discussing the study results.
Oral Report Guidelines
Your oral report you should have 2--3 slides (more may result in a loss of points) Slides can be prepared using powerpoint or another application - e.g. Google presentations.
SLIDE--1 MUST CONTAIN:
• Your name, date, and section.
• Your question of interest (this can be a broad question that is partially answered by the scientific study that you are reporting on)
• A reference (with authors, title, date & journal of publication -- and a weblink) to a research report that has been published in a peer--review science journal that will be discussed in your oral presentation. YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY LOSE 5 POINTS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A REFERENCE TO A RESEARCH REPORT FROM A PEER--REVIEW SCIENCE JOURNAL. Any related articles that you used should also be listed below the primary research report (along with weblinks).
SLIDE--2 MUST CONTAIN: a figure / table / of graph of data that supports the conclusions of the research (and partially answers your question of interest). Optional: if available, you may also include on slide 2 (or slide 1) a figure of the experimental design -- but this can not take the place of some sort of data figure / table / or graph. If you can't copy & paste a figure onto a slide- see me! You may be able to project it from the journal website. You must test this 1 week in advance -- and in this case, slide 2 must contain a weblink and identification of the figure to be presented.
YOUR ORAL REPORT MUST be between ~ 2 - 3 minutes and IT SHOULD INCLUDE:
A. Introduction
a. State the question that you are interested in and BRIEFLY mention its importance to the general public and / or why it is particularly interesting to you.
b. (SLOWLY & CLEARLY) State the title of the article that you found related to your topic AND state the scientific question that is the focus of the research article (this can usually be determined from the title of the research report)
c. BRIEFLY mention of the institution(s) where the scientific research was carried out (it is sufficient to tell the institution of the lead author) - (DO NOT name ALL the authors) AND
d. tell how the research was funded if this info is provided (e.g. gov. agencies or private companies; if this info is provided, it is often on the first or last page of the article).
B. Methods / experimental design
BREIFLY explain how the researchers conducted the study. Information to include:
a. Type of study / study design (association, case--control, meta--analysis, preliminary investigation, model, or other)
b. Describe the test subjects of the study (people, animals, or objects) and the basic experimental design. How many subjects were included in the study? How were they selected? With respect to the experimental design, how were the subjects divided up (if applicable)- how many were in each experimental group, and in any control group(s)?
c. Details on what was done -- e.g. what was the treatment / experimental variable being studied? If the study was a controlled experiment - what experimental treatment / condition was each group exposed to?
Over what period of time were the test subjects studied / treated / or exposed to some experimental variable?
What data was collected - and how was the data collected?-e.g. were there dietary surveys and some sort of health assessment? -- OR, describe the interventions / treatments that different groups of test subjects were exposed to for a typical case--control study. If a model was constructed, give details on how it was made and what it was used to determine.
C. Results & Conclusions
c. Discuss the results of the study (that help answer your question) -- refer to at least 1 table / graph / or technical figure from the journal report. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR REPORT - NOTE: YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY LOSE 10 POINTS IF THE FIGURE DISCUSSED IS NOT FROM A REPORT PUBLISHED IN A PEER-- REVIEWED SCIENCE JOURNAL THAT IS THE FOCUS OF THIS REPORT (unless you have obtained permission to use it in advance).
d. State the conclusion(s) of the study.
What are limitations of the study? Possible follow--up studies?
NOTE: If you found other related studies, you can mention them -compare / contrast their results.
How are the conclusions of the study you have reviewed important to society (or your peer group) AND how are they of interest to you personally?
Oral Presentation:
• SLIDES SHOULD BE EXPLAINED AND NOT JUST READ.
• FACE YOUR AUDIENCE and MAKE EYE CONTACT with them periodically (don't just face your slides and read from them).
• SPEAK LOUDLY enough so that you can be heard easily by ALL of the audience (practice in advance!)
• SPEAK SLOWLY and ENUNCIATE WORDS CLEARLY - especially technical terms. If you can't pronounce a technical term - get help in advance!
• SPEAK WITH ENTHUSIASM, emphasize important points. Don't speak in a monotone.
• Know the material well enough to answer questions about it.
• SHOULD BE 2 - 4 MINUTES: deviations from this time limit may result in a loss of points! It is highly recommended that you practice timing your report.