NEUR 2001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sample Size Determination, Inductive Reasoning, Scientific Method
19 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Scientific: systematic approach (by steps) to find answers, starts with observations, produces questions & answers techniques, may combine elements from the non-scientific methods, better quality answers & higher confidence in validity. Tips: pick a topic you find interesting, do background reading, keep an open mind, one step at a time. Identify area of interest: what is the research question, what makes a good idea, get ideas from multiple sources. Publishable: must have comprehensive knowledge of what is known to figure out what is unknown, source of ideas, past research = most common source for scientists. Generalize a conclusion based on few observations by inductive reasoning. Bottom-up reasoning where a limited number of observations lead to ideas: question everything -- something unexpected may not be an error. Twitter, ads, etc: non-scientific publications bay be biased/ untrue, debunk tenacious claims, research ideas from daily life experiences, research that solves problems -- applied research.
