Dynamic Research Design

Experimental design is a process by which a researcher takes a hypothesis, designs an experiment to test for the hypothesis, collects the data from the experiment, analyzes it and draws conclusions about the results. It is used to determine cause and effect and is used in all forms of science from physics and biology to psychology and sociology.

In our Penny Lab, we wanted to extend what we were told to do with experimental design. We’re doing this because we wanted to prove what he thought our hypothesis had been, and a hypothesis can not be true unless it can be tested. We investigated what variables made the Penny Lab easier, or harder. As a class we decided to investigate variables like, dropping the penny from the same height, and applying the same pressure to the penny for each drop. But first we had to know what variables were, and which variables we needed to use in the experiment. The variables were, the independent variable, dependent variable, the experimental group, and the control group. We investigated this to show how much water a penny could hold, but we introduced

Describe the experimental method, state its advantages and disadvantages, and distinguish between independent and dependent variables.

Describe the experimental method, state its advantages and disadvantages, and distinguish between independent and dependent variables.

Experimental research concentrates on how and why something happens. It is the evaluation of how an independent variable (a manipulated factor) affects a dependent variable (an observed factor). The outcome can be affected by a number of elements; obtaining random and representative samples of the study population, experimenter bias and extraneous variables.

In the United Kingdom alone, 150 new born children per year suffer from life threatening, mitochondrial diseases. These diseases vary in severity from person to person, making them difficult to diagnose, and they inflict an array of ailments such as neurological problems, muscle weakness, visual or auditory impairments, heart, liver, and kidney disease,

Experimental design research tends to use math and statistics to try to prove or disprove a hypothesis. Within an experimental design most of the research is controlled and leaves little room for error. One advantage of experimental design is that it is hard to disprove the results. However, a disadvantage is that because the conditions are controlled that makes the results too perfect. If the same experiment was conducted in an uncontrolled setting, such as the real world, the results would vary.

Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress have been consistently observed in brains of PD patients. There is increasing pharmacological and genetic evidence sustain a link between PD and mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction, particular a deficit in mitochondrial complex I (Franco-Iborra et al., 2015). Accidental exposure to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), an mitochondrial complex I inhibitor, has been known to result in acute and irreversible syndrome that was almost indistinguishable from PD (Calne and Langston, 1983; Langston and Ballard, 1983). Later on, mitochondrial complex I inhibition has been identified in the brains of sporadic PD patients (Schapira et al., 1990). In addition, chronic systemic inhibition of mitochondrial complex I by pesticide rotenone has been found to link to sporadic PD (Betarbet et al., 2000). Interestingly, mitochondrial complex I deficiency has been found not only in the postmortem substantia nigra but also in cerebral cortex (Schapira et al., 1990), which is consistent to the cortical glucose hypometabolism observed in PD patients. Indeed, the pathology of PD has been found to involve several brain regions other than the SNc and many neurotransmitters other than dopamine (Lang and Obeso, 2004a, b). PD models using MPTP and rotenone have now been used extensively in PD research (Beal,

The discovery from the Scripps Research Institute in Florida shows promising results in tackling down the cause of Parkinson’s, and their outcomes led to a funding by the National Institutional Disorders and Stroke Research (NINDS). Research staff within the campus discovers that many diseases that relate in twisting a protein from its original structure will result in a cellular death but it isn’t due to the deformed shape. According to the article “Scripps Florida Scientists' 'Mad Cow' Discovery” (2015), one primal cause that leads to Parkinson’s is the lack of “NAD+” which later prohibits the proper energy function of the mitochondria. Researchers further delved into the study to find out this is preventable, by providing the misshaped protein

A. SIGNIFICANCE. Our goal is to screen chemical libraries to identify compounds that modulate mitochondrial transport in hippocampal and cortical neurons. This study is significant in four ways: (1) There is an urgent need to develop CNS (Central Nervous System) active drugs. CNS disorders are not only staggeringly complex but are poorly treated diseases (Palmer and Stephenson, 2005). In the United States alone the annual cost for stroke, depression, Schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease are currently estimated to be over $250 billion annually (Pangalos et al., 2007). Despite the advances in translational medicine and pharmaceutical research little progress has been made in developing CNS therapeutics. Improving CNS drug discovery efforts is an urgent goal as an estimated 1.5 billion people suffer from CNS-related diseases worldwide. Unfortunately only a handful of new drugs have been brought to the market with very few in the pharmaceutical pipeline (Kissinger, 2011; Schoepp, 2011; Abbot, 2011). The majority of pharmaceutical companies have recently announced a shift from supporting internal drug discovery efforts in favor of academic and government partnerships (Schoepp, 2011). At Scripps Florida we have close interaction of state of the art high throughput small molecule screening and cutting-edge neuroscience research. Thus we are in a unique position to address the challenges in developing CNS therapeutics. (2) Mitochondrial dysfunction is part of the pathophysiology of

Throughout this course I have learned many things about research at an introductory level. Research is a critical part of all of our lives in many ways. God blesses each of us with a degree of common sense and we all learn from observing others even as babies, we learned behaviors and skills by observing our parents. Walking through experiences throughout life teach us a lot we need to know as well but sometimes we have to take a better approach when we need to learn about certain things. Many of us know that what works in some situations or with certain individuals doesn’t always work or is the safest option for another situation. Controlled and precisely organized study allows scientists to compare and examine contrasting methods and concepts, also helps them to discover various approaches and be able to learn from individual’s behaviors and experiences. I will act as the case study throughout this paper in order to observe what I have learned about.

To develop problem solving and experimental skills, for example, information is accurately processed and presented, experimental procedures are planned, designed and evaluated properly, producing valid results, recording results, and valid conclusion is drawn.

True experimental research design includes random selection and group assignment of participants, manipulation of variables and observing the effect that the manipulation has on the dependant variable to establish whether a cause and effect relationship is present between the variables (Follmer Greenhoot, 2003, pp. 92-93). An example of a commonly used true experimental research designs, are experiments used for testing the effects of new pharmaceuticals.

The research design used in this study was correlational. The correlational design allows the determination of existence or degree of relationship between two variables. In this study gender was used as the nominal independent variable and hours spent in in Pinterest weekly was the dependent variable. The correlational research method was chosen because it allows relevant evidence to be collected and the data collected is directly related to the research question. This type of study manages variations, identifies relationships between variables, and produces answer to the research question. The purpose of the research had to reflect on the research design in order to reveal whether or not there was a statistical significance, in this case

Quantitative research design is the standard experimental method of most scientific disciplines. These experiments are sometimes referred to as true science, and use traditional mathematical and statistical means to measure results conclusively. They are most commonly used by physical scientists, although social sciences, education and economics have been known to use this type of research. It is the opposite of qualitative research. Quantitative experiments all use a standard format, with a few minor inter-disciplinary differences, of generating a hypothesis to be proved or disproved. This hypothesis must be provable by mathematical and statistical means, and is the basis around which the whole experiment is designed. Randomization of any study groups is essential, and a control group should be included, wherever possible. A sound quantitative design should only manipulate one variable at a time, or statistical analysis becomes cumbersome and open to question. Ideally, the research should be constructed in a manner that allows others to repeat the experiment and obtain similar results.