NESB B302 – Mondayday 2:00
|
Michael G. Ryan Rocky Mountain Research Station 970.498.1012 http://lamar.colostate.edu/~mryan |
Notes and other
information will be posted on my website.
This course is about learning
how to do research in ecology, and especially how to prepare a research
proposal. 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 for the development of your
research questions and proposal. The
rest of the course will center on discussing your proposal (ideally for your
thesis research but any research proposal will do), and also discussing some
broader issues and strategies for doing research.
Requirements:
Enthusiastic participation
and the development of a research proposal.
Expectations:
·
I 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 |
|
|
1/23 |
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—Please email
me: 1. At
least five things you most want to learn about doing research, or have the
most uncertainty about. 2. 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. Please visit with your
advisor or mentor to go over questions if you haven’t yet settled on one. 3. Give me
a little backgound about yourself. 4. Read Ford 1-3. Please email them to me by Friday, January 27, 12pm
(noon). |
|
1/30, 2/6 |
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.
|
|
2/20 |
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? |
|
2/27 |
Review and critique
of your research question.
|
|
3/5 |
Review and critique of your research question. |
|
3/12 |
Spring
Break, No Class |
|
3/19 |
Going from ideas to action: development of a research
plan. Art of measurement and experiment.
Executing a Research Plan. |
|
3/26 |
Proposals and How to write a great paper. |
|
4/2 |
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 |
|
4/9 |
Dealing with data: Replication, hypothesis testing and statistical analysis. Assignment:
population, sample unit, inference for papers. |
|
4/16 |
Research Plans: Addressing weaknesses, worries and concerns |
|
4/23 |
Research Plans: Addressing weaknesses, worries and concerns |
|
4/30 |
Research Plans: Addressing weaknesses, worries and concerns |
|
Finals Week |
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.
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.
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.