Journal of Research Practice - JRP (Athabasca University Press)
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Bench, Bedside, Curbside, and Home: Translational Research to Include Transformative Change Using Educational Research
Full text linkTranslational research originated in the medical field during the 1990s to describe taking discovery based research through the steps of applying it to clinical research and patient-oriented care. This model is implicitly linear, depicting the flow of information from researchers’ bench, to a clinical trial bedside, to a primary care physician’s practice. The prevailing model of translational research, referred to as “Bench to Bedside to Curbside,” is limited in that it does not adequately incorporate stakeholders outside of the professional or research community because Curbside refers to physician care delivered to patients. This omits the transformative impact that research can have on the general populace if implemented through educational research, disseminating knowledge to people who can use it. In this article we argue that a fourth category needs to be incorporated into the previous T1-T3 Bench to Bedside to Curbside model, and this fourth category represents T4, “Home.” We seek to further define and describe, while providing a new model for translational research that is more circular in nature and inclusive of the general populace. We also suggest that the incorporation of educational researchers and practitioners would expand the current collaborative nature of translational research and is a way to expand the translational model. This promises more adequate, effective, and sustainable impacts on a target population
Response to White's 'Shadow Scholars and the Rise of the Dissertation Service Industry'
Full text linkThe consideration of the impact of the dissertation services industry on the academy is a welcome piece by Jeffry L. White. White raises interesting questions and calls on educators and researchers to think deeply about the role they play in encouraging or combating the use of this industry by graduate students. In this piece, I respond to White's viewpoint by arguing that stronger language is needed to define this industry and that programs and institutions must be more clear and transparent about their definitions of contract cheating and what kind of assistance they allow their graduate students to use in the writing of their dissertations or theses
The Lay Public's Misinterpretation of the Meaning of 'Significant': A Call for Simple yet Significant Changes in Scientific Reporting
Full text linkA large national sample of U.S. adults (n > 1,000) was queried regarding their interpretation of the term significant when used in regard to scientific findings. The vast majority provided incorrect interpretations of the meaning with only 5.8% providing a reasonably correct interpretation. Most respondents who reported they hold doctoral degrees provided incorrect interpretations. Given the widespread misinterpretation of this term, scientific journals should require—not merely recommend—that all usages of the term significant be prefaced with an adjective (e.g., statistically, practically, clinically) and that the meaning of statistical significance be reviewed prior to its first usage. Additionally, all claims regarding the size of a finding should be required to be supported with appropriate effect size statistics to ensure that statistical significance is not misrepresented as indicating practical significance
Expertise and Tacit Knowledge in Artistic and Design Processes: Results of an Ethnographic Study
Full text linkProfessional experiences and expertise are considered to rely on tacit knowledge, knowledge we use unconsciously and cannot entirely put into words. In the context of artistic research, the notion of tacit knowledge has been invoked to explain artistic practices as well as research and design processes. However, few authors precisely distinguish between an explicit and an implicit dimension of tacit knowledge. This article focuses on different qualities of implicit knowledge and questions its ineffability. It assesses the interplay of latent and manifest forms of knowledge involved in artistic and design processes. An artistic research project seeking to develop new electronic musical instruments was observed over a 5-week period. The results of this ethnographic study show that, against common conceptions of the ineffability of tacit knowledge, it can be conveyed partly in an articulate manner. In addition to models and gestures, researchers need a certain expertise in capturing their knowledge in words. A further conclusion is that merely sensuous knowledge—knowledge related to the five senses—cannot be entirely put into words
Exploring Slider vs. Categorical Response Formats in Web-Based Surveys
Full text linkWeb-based surveys have become a common mode of data collection for researchers in many fields, but there are many methodological questions that need to be answered. This article examines one such question—do the use of sliders to express numerical amounts and the use of the more traditional radio-button scales give the same, or different, measurements? First, we review the central debates surrounding the use of slider scales, including advantages and disadvantages. Second, we report findings from a controlled simple randomized design field experiment using a sample of business managers in Italy to compare the two response formats. Measures of topic sensitivity, topic interest, and likelihood of participation were obtained. No statistically significant differences were found between the response formats. The article concludes with suggestions for researchers who wish to use slider scales as a measurement device
Reflection on the Development of a Research Agenda in Rural Health
Full text linkThere is a dearth of literature on how research agendas have been developed. In this article, the authors reflect on the process of developing a research agenda through a case study of a rural health university centre. The aim is to contribute to understanding how a team can effectively plan research. Two leaders of the process, as well as academics external to the process, reflected on the experience and the outcome of the agenda development process. Reflections focused on three areas: (a) engagement levels, (b) power and influence, and (c) interpretation of the research agenda. First, while there was passionate discussion at meetings and afterward, engagement levels varied. Second, the process was imbued with power and influence at multiple levels. Finally, the availability of a conceptual framework to contextualise rural and remote health research helped in interpreting the significance of the resulting research agenda. The article concludes with contrasting thoughts on the place of research agendas within contemporary neoliberal regimes of research management
Mobilizing Disability Experience to Inform Architectural Practice: Lessons Learned from a Field Study
Full text linkThrough their bodily interaction with the designed environment, disabled people can detect obstacles and appreciate spatial qualities architects may not be attuned to. While designers in several disciplines acknowledge disabled people as lead or critical users, in architectural practice their embodied experience is hardly recognized as a valuable resource for design. In this article, we therefore investigate what professional architects could learn from disabled people. To this end, the article reports on a field study, set up to explore ways of mobilizing disabled people’s embodied experience to inform architectural practice. Analysis of the field study’s outcome suggests that mobilizing this experience does not only add nuance to the existing accessibility standards, but also offers architects rich insights into building qualities that surpass these standards
Emotions in Risk Assessment and Decision Making Processes During Craft Practice
Full text linkTraditionally subjective experiences and emotions have been overlooked in the practice of scientific research. In the field of design and craft research too, feelings and emotions have been considered as interfering with the rigour of research. However, as a result of findings in neuroscience, a new understanding has emerged, providing emotions a central role in risk assessment and decision making processes. This has implications also for how we understand craft practice. In this practice-led research, a craft practitioner analysed five video-recordings of herself while throwing clay blindfolded. The researcher-practitioner specifically studied critical incidents in the throwing process and made a detailed analysis of how sensory experiences and emotions guided her in risk assessment, decision making, and problem solving during the clay-throwing sessions. She found that her tactile experience gave her important clues on the condition of the material and its consequent possibilities at different stages. These experiences in turn affected her emotions in either positive or negative ways, affecting her risk assessment, decision making, and problem solving activities. This research has shown that sensory experiences and emotions influence the craft making process and are thus important elements in the expertise of the craftsperson. The role of such emotions remains to be studied further in the expertise of researchers in general
Planned Hypothesis Tests Are Not Necessarily Exempt From Multiplicity Adjustment
Full text linkScientific research often involves testing more than one hypothesis at a time, which can inflate the probability that a Type I error (false discovery) will occur. To prevent this Type I error inflation, adjustments can be made to the testing procedure that compensate for the number of tests. Yet many researchers believe that such adjustments are inherently unnecessary if the tests were “planned” (i.e., if the hypotheses were specified before the study began). This longstanding misconception continues to be perpetuated in textbooks and continues to be cited in journal articles to justify disregard for Type I error inflation. I critically evaluate this myth and examine its rationales and variations. To emphasize the myth’s prevalence and relevance in current research practice, I provide examples from popular textbooks and from recent literature. I also make recommendations for improving research practice and pedagogy regarding this problem and regarding multiple testing in general