Friday, July 27, 2007

Test-Retest

It's hard to find stories on statistical and methodological topics. Here's one such rare story.

The New York Times ran a poll (N = 1,554, Sampling error = + or - 3%) on Hillary Clinton in early July, 2007. One question, "Looking back, do you think the United States did the right thing in taking military action against Iraq, or should the United States have stayed out?"

The results surprised the pollsters because more respondents agreed with the question (42%) in July compared to respondents to the same question (35%) in a May poll. All of the other war-related questions had shown no such change.

The pollsters finally concluded they needed to retest the question. The did so after removing a question about Clinton's repudiation of her 2002 vote against the war. In the original poll, that question was near the military action question.

The second poll (N = 889,
Sampling error = + or - 3%) produced nearly identical results with 42% agreeing. In this second poll, another question also showed a change from the earlier May data. Fewer respondents (66%) thought that "things are going badly for the United States in its efforts to bring stability and order to Iraq" than in May (76%). After running the second poll, the pollsters were confident they had detected a change in public opinion. However, they did not know what was causing the change.

Here is a link to the New York Times story

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Rattus norvegicus

I have fond memories of running rats nearly 35 years ago as an undergraduate. Back then, I helped maintain the rat and pigeon colony, even though the rats made me sneeze. I had to wear a mask to work in there. That space is no more and is now an administrator's office. Today's undergraduates are not likely to remove a laboratory rat from its cage, "gentle" it every day, design animal experiments, and run rats.

When I first came to Southern Arkansas University, there was a small, temporary, rat lab in the department. It was set up every spring semester and dismantled after graduation. One day I noticed small beetles flying in the hall, Tribolium confusum, or confused flour beetles is what they were. They were feeding on the rat chow. Since then, we have had no rats. Can't say I miss them however.

However, rats are still in the picture, research-wise. A New York Times article reviewed some recent rat research including research in dreaming, drug use, and sexual behavior. Some rats even show evidence of meta-cognition (see Jonathon D. Crystal's home page), or knowing what they know.

So the domestic Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus, is still around. They are just harder to find than they used to be.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Faked Data: Interviews and Urine Samples

A research associate at UCLA falsified 20 interviews and their associated urine samples recently. In addition, he also pocketed $5,180 in project funds.

His punishment? The Office of Research Integrity has banned him for three years. He may not work on or serve on federal grants during that period.

To see a online article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, click here.

Obviously, this story is a case of scientific misconduct. Let it serve as a counterexample for you and your research.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Batch of Research Ideas

Here's the latest batch of research ideas from our students. Feel free to use them as inspiration for your own research. Also, these ideas show what our students are thinking about.

  1. Who stays married longer, couples who marry young or those who marry when older?
  2. Why is the percentage of African-American baseball players declining?
  3. What percentage of freshmen begin to experiment with illicit drugs?
  4. Is there a relationship between climate and GPA?
  5. What causes women to remain in abusive relationships?
  6. Are women less likely to be ticketed following a traffic stop?
  7. Are biracial sons reared by Caucasian mothers at greater risk of becoming criminals?
  8. Are Americans worried about contaminated food?
  9. Why is so much food thrown away by restaurants and not donated to the needy?
  10. Would students buy healthy snacks from vending machines if it was available?
  11. How many first mothers opt to breastfeed?
  12. What are the characteristics of people who sell on eBay?
  13. During which semester do students make the worst grades?
Check back here soon to see what designs were used to answer these questions.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Usability as a Career

In chapter 1 we write about careers and how the research methods course can be leveraged into getting a job or obtaining a promotion. One job we did not mention is that of usability professional.

Usability is a big deal in the age of the Internet, but like most things, it existed before the World Wide Web. However, the profusion of Web pages, computer applications, and new technological goodies like the Blackberry and the iPhone have made us more aware of usability.

The New York Times article "Technology's untanglers: They make it really work" inspired this entry. In that article are examples of usability experts collecting data from users in order to improve their experiences. One expert, Dr. Janice Redish, noted that the main skills she looks for in a usability professional are "solid observation and interview skills." Hmmm....sounds like chapter 10, no?

Just in case you are interested, the article reports that the average salary for a usability professional was $86,500 (in 2005, the latest year reported by the Usability Professionals' Association. Also, many companies are now creating high-ranking positions such as "Directory of Usability."

Monday, July 2, 2007

Meow, researching the cats among us

Cats and humans have lived together for a long time. An abstract in Science (click here) reveals just how long that relationship has lasted and how successful it has been for both parties. A New York Times piece reviews the Science article.

Carlos A. Driscoll and his nine co-authors propose that all 600 million domestic cats in the world are the genetic descendants of five female cats from the Middle East who domesticated themselves about 10, 000 years ago. The domestic arrangement was beneficial to both cats and people. The fact that cats initiated the arrangement helps to explain, in part, why cats are so different from dogs.

The fact that cats are sedentary, our propensity to take our cats with us when we move, and the ease of identifying cat genes via their coats has revealed much about human population movements. See "Cats and commerce" in the November, 1977 Scientific American or "Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been" in the August, 1986 Natural History. Both those articles show how we can use our long relationship with cats to discover facts about ourselves (and them).