NESB A302 – Wednesday 2:10
|
Michael G. Ryan
Rocky Mountain Research Station 240 West Prospect RD Fort Collins, CO
80526-2098 970.498.1012 (phone)
1010 (fax) http://lamar.colostate.edu/~mryan |
Jeff Hicke Natural Resource Ecology Lab Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO
80523 970-491-2104 (phone) http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/~jhicke/ |
Notes
and other information will be posted on Ryan’s website.
This course
is about learning how to do research in ecology. We will discuss the nature of science and
inference, how an ecologist develops specific questions and testable
hypotheses, and how to develop and refine a research proposal.
Goals of
the Course:
·
Learn
the procedures and process for doing research
·
Become
confident in your ability to review literature, select a research question,
refine the question into testable hypotheses, and design an experiment that
will answer your research question.
·
Practice
what you learn by generating ideas and developing a research proposal.
·
Explore
some of the challenges you will face in managing your research, and learn
techniques to be able to thrive and succeed.
Approach:
The first
1/3 of the course will use the first chapters in David Ford’s Scientific Method
for Ecological Research as a focus for each week’s discussion and the
development of your research questions and proposal. The rest of the course will center on
discussing your plans for your thesis research, and also discussing some
broader issues and strategies for doing research.
Requirements:
Enthusiastic
participation and the development of a research proposal.
Expectations:
·
We
expect that you will attend the class and do the homework on time. Please let us know before class by email or
phone if you won’t be able to attend a particular session. All of the homework is germane to learning
the research process and much of it involves giving feedback to other students
in the class.
·
Please
let us know right away if you have suggestions or feedback.
Grading: 1 cr, S/U
|
Date |
|
|
1/18 |
Introductions – What is your research experience and at what point are you
in your thesis research? Why take a course on Research Methods? How the course will work. What are your questions about doing research? Homework: Email me at least five things
you most want to learn about doing research, or have the most uncertainty
about. Pick at least two research
questions that interest you, and write a paragraph about each that explains
the background, why its important, and how it might be answered. Give us a little backgound about
yourself. Please email them to Jeff
and me by Monday, January 23, 12pm (noon). |
|
1/25, 2/1 |
Process and Selecting Questions:
What is the
process of research? The 5 processes
of research planning. Guidelines for
selecting a research question. Homework: Pick one of your questions (or
invent a new one if you are inspired to do so). Refine this question, and develop axioms,
postulates and data statements for them.
|
|
2/8 |
Literature review and defining a problem from a
question: Reviewing the literature – when to
start, when to stop, how to approach it.
Once I have a question, how do I define the research problem so I can
progress? |
|
2/15 |
Review and critique of your research
question
|
|
2/22 |
Review and critique of your research question |
|
3/1 |
Proposals and How to write a great paper. |
|
3/8 |
FR Ecology Symposium – No Class |
|
3/15 |
Spring Break |
|
3/22 |
Going from ideas to action: development of a research
plan. Art of measurement and
experiment. Executing a Research Plan |
|
3/29 |
Social considerations: research does not happen in a
vacuum. Management of your
research: Can I do research
and still have a life? Preliminary Research Plan Due; Feedback from
your mentor Due |
|
4/5 |
Dealing with data:
Replication, hypothesis
testing and statistical analysis. Assignment: population, sample unit,
inference for papers. |
|
4/12 |
Research Plans: Addressing weaknesses, worries and
concerns |
|
4/19 |
Research Plans: Addressing weaknesses, worries and
concerns |
|
4/26 |
Research Plans: Addressing weaknesses, worries and
concerns |
|
5/3 |
Research Plans: Addressing weaknesses, worries and
concerns |
The 3
cardinal questions in all good proposals:
1. What is the risky prediction,
and what cool mechanism could lead to the risky outcome you predict?
2. How will you know if your
hypothesis fails?
3. How will you extrapolate from
your test to a larger population (and what is that larger population?)
Resources:
Ford, E.D.
2000. Scientific method for Ecological
Research. Cambridge University
Press.
Medawar,
P.B. 1981. Advice to a young
scientist. Basic Books. Very good, simple advice about starting to do
science.
Oliver,
J.E. 1991. The incomplete guide to the art of
discovery. Columbia University Press.
Reis,
Richard M. 1997. Tomorrow’s Professor – Preparing for academic
careers in science and engineering. IEEE
Press. – If I had to have only one book
on getting a PhD and an academic position, this would be it.
Peters,
RL. 1997. Getting what you came for- the smart student’s
guide to earning a Masters or PhD. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Excellent book on getting a degree. More on school and less on career than Reis’
book.
Bloom, Dale F. et al.
1998. The Ph.D. Process: A student’s guide to
graduate school in the sciences. Oxford
University Press, New York.