References

Notice that the end of each article has a LONG list of references.  This is because identifying where information came from is an important part of making sure we have the right information. And, it's important that we always give credit to the people who did the original work. In this class, you will be asked to identify where you got all your information from. You won't have to use any special formatting, but you should always tell me where the information came from. 

The Assignment

Assignments will always have both "Core" and "Level Up" sections. This gives you a choice in how much work you want to do for each assignment.

• Start with the Core Concepts. Getting all of those correct will earn a B (8 points).  Getting most of those correct correct will earn a C (7 points).
• If you would like to aim for an A (10 points) – also complete the Level Up section.

Core Concept

Let’s practice identifying the parts of a good scientific study. Pick ONE of the following articles to answer the questions:

• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0125813Post-Operative Benefits of Animal-Assisted Therapy in Pediatric Surgery: A Randomised Study
• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0228756Effect of restricting bedtime mobile phone use on sleep, arousal, mood, and working memory: A randomized pilot trial
• https://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE3386.pdfThe Impact of Open Educational Resources on Various Student Success Metrics
• You are also welcome to use another article from a scientific journal that has the components identified below. Please provide a link to the article you are analyzing.

Answer these questions about the article you selected:

1. Identify the hypothesis
2. Identify the control and test group(s)
3. Identify the dependent variable(s)
4. Identify the experimental variable(s). [This is also called the independent variable.]
5. Identify at least three control variables
6. Summarize the results
   1. Write a short article summarizing the study and results. This would be like something you'd find in a reputable blog or magazine.  Think about how you might explain this information to your friends. Focus on being clear and accurate. Your summary should be about 4 – 6 sentences. 
   2. Give your article a good title.
7. Design the next experiment based on the findings.  This could address a result that wasn't clear, test a new application of this information, ask another related question, etc.  In your explanation include:
   
   1. Hypothothesis
   2. Control and test groups
   3. Dependent, experimental, and control variables

Level up

Click-bait! One of the ways to get people to click on a link is to make the headline sensational.  These types of articles will misrepresent the results of scientific studies by using a small kernal of what was found in the actual study and drawing incorrect conclusions. The Wikipedia article on clickbait may help.  An example may also help.  An article in Mother Jones titled The Scary New Science That Shows Milk is Bad For You states: "Another sweeping study…found that women who drank two and a half or more glasses of milk a day had a higher fracture risk…" However, if you follow the link to the research article, their abstract ends with the following statement "Given the observational study designs with the inherent possibility of residual confounding and reverse causation phenomena, a cautious interpretation of the results is recommended."

Answer these questions about the article you selected from the "Core Concepts" area above (not the articles linked in the paragraph):

1. Write a couple of sentences that misinterpret the results of the article (or take it beyond the scope of what the researchers found).
2. Give your click-bait article an extravagant title.
3. Explain what parts of your click-bait article are relatively accurate and which parts are misleading