Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 1 posts:

• "Happy Cakeday, r/scientificresearch! Today you're 6" by u/AutoModerator

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 2 posts:

• "Products for Research" by u/Psytechnic_Associate
• "Looking for help finding a paper on dietary practices." by u/eallarie

Need a paper from 2005-2008 describing a specific cultural, religious or ethnic group in a geographic region, and their specific dietary habits/food beliefs/food practices.

I know this is weirdly specific yet broad at the same time but I have exhausted all my other options so I'm hoping someone here can help. Thank you!

I'm not sure how accessible this information might be, but if you have any recommendations for books that explore poor research design, particularly with case studies or anecdotes and illustrations of the faulty design and/or results, I would greatly appreciate that. Thanks so much!

I think I'll repost this question again. I was wondering if someone could help me figure out how these authors got a 4.29% annualied compound return for the PIMCO TR (bloomberg cusip is PTTRX US). I calculate a total return of 6.20% from May 29,1987 - Sept 30, 2014 using closing NAV. But my annualized is even smaller. The name of the paper is Bill Gross' Alpha: The King vs the Oracle. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3345604

I'll greatly appreciate if someone coul explain how they got their number.

I was wondering if I could get some opinions on the legitimacy of this study. For example, from the first look at table 1, it looks like to me that the lower the manganese in water, the lower the IQ, and vice versa. But I might not be understanding the table correctly. Something else I'm wondering about:

Among different family and child characteristics, only family income was significantly associated with water manganese concentrations (p = 0.002), water manganese being higher in households with lower income.

Wouldn't this be simply explained away that the lower income households can't afford expensive water softener and filtration systems that can remove manganese? And lower income households tend to correlate with less education and lower IQ? I did read this, though:

After adjusting for covariates (i.e., maternal education, maternal intelligence, household income, and IQ tester), a regression analysis showed that higher manganese concentration in water was significantly associated with lower Performance IQ (β for a 10 μg/L increase in concentration: −0.08, 95% confidence intervals [95% CIs]: −0.14, −0.02; p = 0.006).

I'm not sure I understand how the covariates were adjusted.

Is someone able to clarify the results of the study, and whether or not high manganese concentrations in water truly do negatively affect the IQ's of developing children? Wouldn't a better study be to look at children's IQ's before and after consuming high levels of manganese in water? I just don't understand how they can "prove" that high levels of manganese is harmful to children.

Hello everyone. A newbie master's degree student here. I don't know if this sub is the right place for it but i need to ask it anyway. I have to write a paper about "Modern Experimental Design" and it's difference from Experimental Design. I searched google scholar to scopus to emerald about it and nothing came out. I wonder is there anyone here can able to help me in terms of useful articles about it or info's or anything? Thanks.

I don't get it. I'm doing research and trying to find some scientific articles and studies on my topic. However, everywhere I'm going you have to pay some sort of fee! Either that, or wait a long time via request (which I'm currently waiting for). I'm looking around for freely available studies but some do not have very good information.

Anyone know why these fees are there?

Thank you in advance: What are your favorite resources (video preferred) or written that help interpret or make sense of:

CI = confidence interval, CMS = Constant Murley Scale, MD = mean difference, ROB = risk of bias, SD = standard deviation, SMD = standardized mean difference, WMD = weighted mean difference, Pvalue, Isquared.

Here’s an example of something that should be easy to interpret and understand but it isn’t if you don’t understand the basics:

In 11 studies including 736 patients, HILT significantly improved pain compared to the control group (MD:
1.01; 95% CI:
1.28,
0.74) (Fig. 3). There was no apparent systematic bias in the contour funnel plot. Although an asymmetry was detected, the missing values were both in significant and non-significant areas (Fig. 4A). In subgroup analysis by treatment regions, the MDs for the neck were the highest at
1.02 (95% CI:
1.45,
0.58) compared to the control group, followed by the back (MD:
0.91; 95% CI
1.24,
0.59) and the arms/hands subgroups (MD:
0.82; 95% CI:
1.43,
0.21). There was no significant difference for the shoulder pain subgroup between the HILT and control groups. The heterogeneity in the neck and shoulder pain subgroups was significant (I 2 =73%; P = .02 for the neck and I 2 = 88%, P=.004 in the shoulder subgroups); however, there was no significant heterogeneity in the back pain subgroup (I 2=0%; P=.88) or the arm/hand subgroup (I 2=0%; P=.42). In particular, the MD of HILT for pain was
1.03 (95% CI:
1.28,
0.77) and
0.82 (
1.39,
0.26) for the placebo and active control groups, respectively (Table 3). Heterogeneity was not significant compared to placebo (I 2=8%; P=.37), while there was significant heterogeneity compared to the active control group (I 2=78%; P<.001). According to the follow-up periods, the pooled pain effect did not show any significant differences

Hi all -

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide. This is a great community you have here.

Here's the deal ... I am attempting to do research on Google PPC campaigns. I have used AHREFS to download a spreadsheet containing the information for an organization's entire PPC campaign (643 rows of data, precisely).

This is the information I have:

1. The keyword the ad is focused on (ie., what people have to search to see the ad on the search results)
2. The volume (the number of people who search for the term per month)
3. Difficulty (the number on a scale from 1-100 on how hard would it be to rank in the top ten results organically)
4. Traffic (the percentage of organic traffic that has historically clicked on ads for that search term)
5. The number of results in Google for the search term (not sure this is even relevant)
6. The cost-per-click (what the advertiser must pay Google each time somebody clicks on the ad)

My hope is to be able to construct a statistical model in SPSS that correlates which keyword is most worth while "to go after" after all the various factors I listed above are considered. Maybe, if I may, the "sweet spot" between cost and traffic?

Again: I am more than grateful for any help you can provide.

Thanks!

I just completed my undergraduate degree in biomechanics. I am currently working on a research paper related to a project I did while studying. Even though I am getting help from some very experienced researchers, I will be the major author of this paper and am anxious about what will happen if the paper doesn't do well. I would really appreciate advice from people who have been in a similar situation.

Hi guys, I recently came across an interesting research paper published in 2018 but its data for 2012 and I have new data that is drastically different than the paper's, so the question would be can I use the new data in order to replicate/improve that paper?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm a Data Scientist.

I work with a number of big names in various scientific fields, but when I started doing Data Science there were no formal degree programs, so for the most part people just learned it on their own or various certifications.

I'm pretty well-respected in my field, but my formal certifications are lacking. There are a few research projects I want to take on that I think I'll need grants for.?

Do you think I'm wasting my time? I've never written a grant proposal before, so I don't really know the process, so forgive me if this is a dumb question.

Reddit nub here.

I've been trying to confirm another labs results of a transcription factor. They claim it binds to promoter X and have shown that it does in their system using a luciferase assay, ChIP-qPCR, and ChIP-seq. While trying to replicate this I've included tissue that they've used and also included a KO animal for the transcription factor. We cannot detect any protein by western blot. However when we perform ChIP-qPCR amplification of ort KO and regular tissue is identical. We've included H3, input, IgG, and bead only as positive/negative controls which all behave as expected. My guess is that the antibody we're using isn't specific enough? The antibody used in the original paper is now discontinued and we've tried the experiment in 8 antibodies total with various concentrations for the IP. I'm new to ChIP-seq and PCR so I just am curious if there's something I'm possibly doing incorrectly or if it really just is an antibody problem.

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Thanks!

I am currently working with research data to create a density map with geo-coordinates. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) there is too many data points for a dot map. I am hoping someone may have a suggestion for an open source resource (required) that is fairly easy to use. I have little to no knowledge of coding so the more user friendly the better. I've tried openstreetmap but the heat mapping option does not work well with my data.

Hello there,

I am currently planning the research process for my final thesis, but unfortunately I have a knot in my head about Mixed Methods and need your help.

The goal is to gain knowledge about the acceptance of a new online banking service. For this, the Technology Acceptance Model will be extended by further dimensions.

I already have certain ideas and would like to adopt the dimensions from similar research literature. I'd like to do two preliminary studies. These are intended to support the chosen dimensions. I also hope to gain new insights that I have not thought of. Unfortunately exactly this explorative design is my current problem.

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Background: There are already apps with similar functions, but as a service within online banking nothing exists yet.

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Therefore I would like to do two content analyses and identify possible acceptance dimensions or at least to get some tendencies. However, the two sources are very different:

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1. User reviews from the app store of these functionally similar apps. (n = 1000 reviews)

Reason: Due to almost identical functions I expect here a good insight into the opinion of real users

2. Online brainstorming of a knowledge management platform, in which exactly this service was the subject of online banking. (n = 10 participants who commented in detail)

Reason: The participants discuss exactly the research object, so I expect an insight into the expectations of this service as a banking service. However, the participants have not yet used this service

So I have good reasons for both sources. The reviews could provide deeper acceptance insights into the functions, the brainstorming deeper insights into "location" and context.

The next step in my research would be the extension of the model, considering the pre-study results and further literature. This is followed by an online questionnaire and a quantitative evaluation.

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My questions:

A single qualitative pre-study can be argued well, but with two different types it is very difficult for me to justify this with scientific resources.

• Can the combined analysis of the two different sources 1 & 2 in one research be justified from a scientific point of view?

• Does anyone have a good (literature) tip for this or does anyone know of a similar research?

Many thanks in advance!

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https://preview.redd.it/5vklj8xic4c31.png?width=1826&format=png&auto=webp&s=aaa81b5206592e090fce2ccbb8389f52791b9c6f

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this so apologies if not. I'm an early-career researcher and I'm really struggling on coming up with a topic/direction to research. I've got a background in biology/chemistry, how do people decide on what they want to research?

Hi all,

I'm currently working on my masters thesis and I solicited survey responses from a variety of targeted online forums. There's no way to know how many people saw the survey and opted out of taking it versus people who saw it and took it, so I'd love to know how this is usually calculated.

Thanks for any help!

I am at a beginner level in cyber/network security research. Right now I have finished reading the paper titled " Machine Learning-Based EDoS Attack Detection Technique Using Execution Trace Analysis". Below is the link of the paper.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330656735_Machine_Learning-Based_EDoS_Attack_Detection_Technique_Using_Execution_Trace_Analysis

I would like to implement the works on this paper, but I do not understand how to start.

Moreover, is it possible to get the algorithm and code along with data-set for simulation of the paper?

My lab is looking to find a better way to store our embedded mouse brains in OCT and I was looking for embedding covers for peal-a-way embedding molds but that doesn't exist, any options to store these/cover them to better organise these then how were doing it now (individual bags with one OCT cube in each)

I have a TBI, and I've seen new research about psychedelics being beneficial to the brain.

I want to try, curiosity about what it would do to my brain (I had a craniotomy), but there are a few things stopping me.

1. I have seizures, though lights don't trigger them. It's because of scar tissue in my right-side temporal lobe. Still, I can't help but worry. My family would be devastated if anything should happen to me!

2. I want the setting to be as controlled as possible, I want to do this (almost) purely for research. Research and curiosity.

Or, if studies like this were already performed, what are the findings?

I just bought stone paper as a way to have my lab notebook waterproof but I've been struggling to find a ballpoint pen which is chemically resist to sterilization with ethanol...any suggestions and/or tips for this? (Is stone paper autoclaveable?

Please post any and all scientific surveys here rather than making a separate post.

Only scientific research being conducted by academic or research institutions is allowed.

Go to r/SampleSize for general, non-academic surveys.

Please include the following in your comment:

Background Info: Name of university, department, etc.

Purpose: Brief overview of the purpose or goal of the survey.
Time Estimate: How long the survey will take.
Link: URL for the survey.

Thanks!

In research, across fields, journals and researches prefer quantitative research from lab studies and observational studies. Other than quantifying the qual data, what would make you take qualitative research more seriously? Let's say it was an interview based study? Case studies are taken seriously in Medicine but have much less weight in other fields (i.e. education and psychology)

I am am a student and a total noob, i need to identify the design of this study. please help

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23093125

Hello Researchers, I was wondering if any of you have any experience with analyzing posts in certain subreddit. I wanted to capture about 3 months worth of posts and wanted to know if there is a better way than just manually loading up 3 months worth and copy/pasting. Any programs or anything built into reddit that would allow me to do this?

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Dr. Mike

Hi, just wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of a video that breaks down the process of scientific consensus for people that are scientifically illiterate. I have some friends and co-workers who, probably thanks to prevailing conspiracy theories and anti-climate science propaganda, view science like any other authoritarian institution telling us what to think or believe. Any resources, especially good youtube videos would be very much appreciated.

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Sorry in advance if this is not the right subreddit!

I'm used to stackoverflow's implementation https://math.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5020/mathjax-basic-tutorial-and-quick-reference

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where I can quickly write some symbols $\alpha$ or some more complicated function like

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"$\sum_{i=0}^n i^2 = \frac{(n^2+n)(2n+1)}{6}$" rather quickly

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I tried using MS Word, but I have to click and click and click until I can find the right object to use so even writing an equation like in the above, would take me 10 times as long.

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So what is the best writing software for my case? I can't use LyX at the moment and all I simply want is to be able to write, insert some symbols and equations very efficiently.

Hypothetically, if something were to happen tomorrow, and governments all over the world were given blueprints for a fusion reactor. Capable of running an entire city for a month on a bottle of water.

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With the caveat. They can't say that it was given to them. They have to pretend they did it themselves.

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So they have the fusion reactor, and the entire history of its development. They know the pitfalls. The failures. The shortcuts.

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What is the falling points? How difficult is it to fake this? What possible ways is there for scientists to point and say 'something is fishy' or 'their getting their data from somewhere'. Or 'these guys are advancing way too fast.' ?

How do I find out how many psychrophilic bacteria genomes were sequenced to date? Databases don't seem to have enviromental info in them and I don't know where to go from here. Last numbers I was able to find are from 2017 but I need more updated values. Thanks guys