Now with school over and our research officially beginning, I have started to collect data. Or, at least started to try to. I got really sick over this weekend and had to go to the hospital numerous times because I could not breathe, and today was finally the day I was feeling better and finally got the appropriate medication last night. So, while I was able to collect some data last week (I have two patients done so far), I am behind track on what my original plan was. This scares me as I still have 22 data sheets to analyze and cannot go back to work till Wednesday due to my bronchitis.
There are two solutions to this problem and I am going to start by focusing on the first one: powering through. I will try to power through and get better as soon as possible (it is looking like Wednesday is the day I won't be contagious/ confined to my bed and tissues and gross coughing) and try my best to analyze the results, coming in in the mornings and staying late after. And if I fail to analyze patients in time, I can always try to cut down the number of participants in my study. Mrs. Haag says this is a last resort type option so I will see how option 1 pans out.
In terms of my methods and literature review, I am relieved to have that completely done and awaiting comments. I was able to get some people to read it before I turned it in, so hopefully the technical jargon and dense writing was fixed with their comments.
Without going to school, I can see myself falling victim to forgetting deadlines or not allocating enough time for certain parts of the project without the discipline school schedules have. I see the solution to these problems as keeping a calendar, making sure my work times will still enable me to complete my research work on time, and the meetings with Mrs. Haag definitely refocusing me on my path each week, althought I cannot rely solely on that. I will try to keep to a sleeping, working, and doing research schedule that benefits all three areas.
Now that I have more time, I can focus on how I plan to organize my results into tables in my actual paper. I have some sort of idea of how this will work, but I am still not sure. I have been looking at sources in my folder and sources I used to replicate and make my own method to see how they organized their results and trying to find the best way to do so. It seems that with a table, I will need to provide some sort of an objective conclusion of the results, just to make the data more digestible and comprehensive for the reader. If it is just a bunch of scores for each category, people are going to be confused at what the means. Furthermore, in the actual conclusion I have to find a way to draw a bigger conclusion, tying together all the smaller conclusions to something that is tangible and makes sense. This is all very vague now because I am still in the beginning of data collection.
I am most stressed and nervous that getting sick is going to compromise my research and I hope this problem can be rectified. Any advice would be greatly helpful. I also must allocate time this week to write up my abstract which is due on Friday. Hopefully, writing this abstract will not only refocus me in my research, but allow me to look at my research from a wider angle and thus help me when I am writing my conclusions.
There are two solutions to this problem and I am going to start by focusing on the first one: powering through. I will try to power through and get better as soon as possible (it is looking like Wednesday is the day I won't be contagious/ confined to my bed and tissues and gross coughing) and try my best to analyze the results, coming in in the mornings and staying late after. And if I fail to analyze patients in time, I can always try to cut down the number of participants in my study. Mrs. Haag says this is a last resort type option so I will see how option 1 pans out.
In terms of my methods and literature review, I am relieved to have that completely done and awaiting comments. I was able to get some people to read it before I turned it in, so hopefully the technical jargon and dense writing was fixed with their comments.
Without going to school, I can see myself falling victim to forgetting deadlines or not allocating enough time for certain parts of the project without the discipline school schedules have. I see the solution to these problems as keeping a calendar, making sure my work times will still enable me to complete my research work on time, and the meetings with Mrs. Haag definitely refocusing me on my path each week, althought I cannot rely solely on that. I will try to keep to a sleeping, working, and doing research schedule that benefits all three areas.
Now that I have more time, I can focus on how I plan to organize my results into tables in my actual paper. I have some sort of idea of how this will work, but I am still not sure. I have been looking at sources in my folder and sources I used to replicate and make my own method to see how they organized their results and trying to find the best way to do so. It seems that with a table, I will need to provide some sort of an objective conclusion of the results, just to make the data more digestible and comprehensive for the reader. If it is just a bunch of scores for each category, people are going to be confused at what the means. Furthermore, in the actual conclusion I have to find a way to draw a bigger conclusion, tying together all the smaller conclusions to something that is tangible and makes sense. This is all very vague now because I am still in the beginning of data collection.
I am most stressed and nervous that getting sick is going to compromise my research and I hope this problem can be rectified. Any advice would be greatly helpful. I also must allocate time this week to write up my abstract which is due on Friday. Hopefully, writing this abstract will not only refocus me in my research, but allow me to look at my research from a wider angle and thus help me when I am writing my conclusions.
Hey Sunskruthi!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what happened... wow, bronchitis sounds terrible. Hope you're doing better!
I agree with Mrs. Haag's point that ideally you should maintain the power of your study by maintaining the number participants you originally intended. Perhaps altering your schedule to increase your workload for a few days could help you recover the lost time.
Regarding your results section, I think that you can include the "scores" for each category, as long as you explain what each score and category represents in your introduction or methods. I would definitely look at ways of aggregating the data for each patient. For instance, if you are measuring the effect of the treatment, you could subtract the scores for each category to determine the effect. Plots, as opposed to tables, may be your best friend. Just a thought!
Moreover, regarding your data analysis, have you decided what statistical test you are going to use? If you are finding the difference in scores before and after treatment, I think a 1-prop t-test may be your best bet. What have you found in similar studies?
Good luck with your research, and hope you feel better!
Yash
(195)
Aw, Sunskruthi feel better!! And don't stress too much about your schedule because that might make it worse. You seem to have a solid plan to work longer hours and the drive to do whatever is necessary to finish it our research, so I am sure you will still pull through. Like you said, keeping a calendar and a daily task schedule for yourself will be extremely useful, and I would also make sure you have clear communication with your advisors and Ms. Haag on what you have/can get done. Also, even though you are sick and can't get data, I would start planning or outlining other sections of your paper and trying to get a clear picture of what all you will need in your results section. Also, for the discussion section maybe brainstorm - what are some potential answers and significance to your question. Good luck getting better and back on track!!
ReplyDeleteHi Sunskruthi,
ReplyDeleteNot all ships sail smoothly, so don't feel bad if you are in rough waters. Currently, I think the best course of action is to plan out the optimization of your process. If you can't get your hand dirty and analyze the data, make sure that you are 100% efficient when carrying out your trials Wednesday.
I agree with Mrs. Haag on the topic of sample size. For a study as small as yours, every extra data point matters in the legitimacy of the study. The reader of the paper at the end of the day has no idea how much effort each individual trial took, rather they only see the sample size. Fewer samples may leave a bad impression in May. Try to simplify your analysis process if necessary, as Yash suggested.
There are plenty of statistical analyses if you end up with numbers at the end of your study. Don't sweat it boi, you got this.
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Ashwath V.
I agree with Yash's suggestion that perhaps we can increase the workload for a couple of weeks in order to get all of the data points. It seems echoed in all of your classmates' comments that it'll be imperative for you to get as many data points as you possibly can, so while you may have to go into overdrive for a bit, it'll be worth it in the end.
ReplyDeleteAs Audrey said, please keep in constant contact with me, to keep yourself accountable and to allow for help, advise, and feedback.