Seminars 2004

José Luis Toca

First Lecture

16.11.2004

Some Concepts and Research Tools

Seminars 2004

Before starting

- Why are we here?

- What is a research question?

It has been answered (adequately) before? Is it useful?

- Who should ask that question…we?

- Differences between a degree student and a PhD student…

some feedback, please!

Seminars 2004

Introduction

-Philosophy of Science

- Ethics

- Some definitions

- Some tools

- Our nice problem of today: beer making

Seminars 2004

Philosophy (of Science)

- Historical marriage SCIENCE vs TECHNOLOGY

- Research is “finding out what you do not know yet”BUT

What about what you know and you cannot explain?

- Breaking the existent PARADIGM ---- Examples?

- The scientific method: our BEST working tool

Seminars 2004

The scientific method

Results from independent experiments

Information,Observations,Questions

Hypothesis formulation

Design experiment: testing the hypothesis

Experimental resultExpected results ofour hypothesis

Conclusions Is the hypothesis wrong?

comparison

Report

Hypothesis accepted:THEORY

New experiments based...

A great intellectual achievement from the Greeks to our time (16/11/2004)

Is the experiment not the appropriate one?

Seminars 2004

In other words...

1. Observe some aspects of the universe

2. Invent a description consistent with what you have observed: hypothesis

3. Use the hypothesis to make predictions

4. Test the predictions with experiments: do (not) change hypothesis and/or the experimental design

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no discrepancies between theory and experiments

Seminars 2004

...But take care...

Seminars 2004

Ethics

- Plagiarism: when you copy someone else’s work or ideas

DON’T do THAT!!

- Falsification of data: it happens… also in big companies

be honest!

- Who owns the work done?????

- Importance of research in human ethics: relation human being vs. research

Seminars 2004

Where to publish your work

- Quality vs. Quantity

- Journals related to your research field

- Look for visibility:

a) Good ranked journal

b) Impact factor

B= 1992 cites to articles published

in 1990-91

C= number of articles published

in 1990-91

D= B/C = 1992 impact factor

Seminars 2004

...Some examplesPhysics of Fluids: 1.56PRE: 2.2J. Agr Food Chem: 2.1J. Chem Eng. Data: 0.95J. Chem Therm: 0.986J. Colloid Interf Sci : 1.58J. Food Eng: 1.21J. Fluid Mechanics: 1.81J. Int. Heat Mass Transfer: 1.23J. Memb Sci: 2.081J. Solut Chem: 0.75Phys Chem Liquids: 0.4Biosensors Bioelectronics: 2.94J. Food Eng. : 1.21Europhys. Letters: 2.07J. Catalysis: 3.27Chem Mat: 4.37ANAL CHEM: 5.2Chem Ing Sci: 1.5J. Chem techn Biot: 0.9J. Ind Eng Chem: 1.25Colloid Surfaces A: 1.44Macromolecules: 3.61Langmuir: 3.09J Phys Chem B: 3.67J Chem Phys: 2.9JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: 5.2PNAS: 10.2Biophys. Journal: 4.46NATURE: 30.98Colloid Polym Sci: 1.22

Seminars 2004

Definitions

- Objectives: What?

- Methodology: How?

- Results: output, objective information

- Discussion: analysis and comparison with known results

- Conclusions: inferences, what to do next, impact...

Seminars 2004

…putting our research on paper

- Title: indicate main discoveries, make it SEXY!- Abstract: reflect main story, call attention, brief!- Introduction: introduce topic, terminology,

existing research, focus of the paper- Methodology: provide detail to repeat the experiement- Results: provide graphics and numbers, compare different

“treatments”- Conclusions & Discussion: give answers to objectives,

explain discrepancies and unexpected findings, state importance of discoveries, outlook, implications

- References: give a list of related literature and information sources

Seminars 2004

…writing stile

- Title: short and simple- Abstract: past tense and passive voice, concise, no citations,

no tables, no graphics- Introduction: present tense and past tense for literature

review- Methodology: past tense, take care about units, variables (SI)- Results: past tense,- Conclusions & Discussion: present tense (past tense if you

relate to results), allows scientific speculation- References: depends on journal but author/editors must

be included

Seminars 2004

...Example of Homework

RESEACH OBJECTIVE Why did FC Barcelona lose last Sunday in

Sevilla?

SUBOBJECTIVESIs the referee a Real Madrid supporter?Was Ronaldihno thinking about dancing salsa?What was the pressure of the ball? How was the state of the peach and how this influences the players?

LITERATURE REVIEWLooking for the state of known factsComment the state of known facts

REFERENCESWrite them down

Seminars 2004

Literature review

- Classification and evaluation of what accredited people have written

- What should we do?

a) We need ability to find information b) Use the library, electronic libraries, etcc) Reference programs

Seminars 2004

Do you love reviewing?

- We must recognise relevant information

- We must make a selection according to OUR needs

- We must identify controversy…this is a driving force

- We must report the existing literature and evaluate it

Seminars 2004

…strategy of reviewing

Bibliographic research

We have got a lot of time

We have NOT got a lot of time and…

that is normal!

- Look in indifferent kind of journals- Look for reviews and specific papers- Read papers

- Look for GOOD journals- Look for reviews: they also refer to “old” papers- Read abstracts and decide which paper to read

Seminars 2004

…Hopefully most of the time

- What are the authors trying to answer?- Is the research important, innovative…?- How were the data measured?- What information do you get of the sample?- What are the data?- What are the conclusions?- Do you understand and believe the data, the explanation and the findings?- Can you use this work for your own research?

Seminars 2004

…and we ask ourselves…

- Questions that the literature review answers

- How good are my skills?

- Have I analysed the literature?

- Is part of this literature contrary to my perspective, or point of view

- Is my literature review useful for other people?

Seminars 2004

Let´s make beer

Importance of hops (or yeast) a) to enhance foam stability and b) beer taste

Hops are perennial plants... ...and they have been used...

...for beer production...

Seminars 2004

…Tutorials

Monday 22nd November…from 3 until 9.00 pm…

ANY TIME YOU WANT!!

Come and visit (Room 215)

and remember:

Smiling is HEALTHY!!

Seminars 2004

References

LiteratureG. Couvalis, The Philosophy of Science, SAGE publications, London 1997 T. Kuhn, The structure of scientific revolutions, Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1970A. A. Einstein and L. Infeld: The evolution of physics, Simon and Schuster Inc, New York, 1966B. Brison, A short history of nearly everything, Transworld Publishers, London, 2003R. Tarnas, The passion of the western mind, Pimlico, London, 1991M. H. Shamos, Great experiments in physics, Dover, New York, 1959

Literature search:ISI Web of Science: http://go5.isiknowledge.com/portal.cgiElectronic journals: http://www.etse.urv.es/bibweb/index.phphttp://www.endnote.com

Patent search:American patent database: http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html European paten office: www.european-patent-office.org/

Scientific writinghttp://www.pfos.hr/~hengl/RT/Hengl_RT_0902.pdfhttp://www.writing4science.com/B. Gustavii, How to write and illustrate a scientific paper, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003

Ethics:R. Bell, Impure science: fraud, compromise and political influence in scintific research,, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1992