This week students have been working on their data analyses and struggling to remember how to use SPSS. They have begun to make connections between different variables and literature; it is exciting to watch them gain a deeper understanding.
In our lab meeting this week I talked a little about the idea that research should be enjoyable and interesting. I think it is an important reminder that sometimes you need to take a step back from the intensity of data analyses and theory and just enjoy the intellectual challenge. It is fun to realize that you can get answers to your questions in the data sitting in front of you. Sometimes the answers are no (it is not statistically significant), but you now know more than you did before!
It is also important to remember that just because you did not find statistical significance in your sample – it does not necessarily follow that you could not find it in a larger or different sample. Keep track of those ideas that you have and test them again in later studies. Sometimes as researchers we forget that our samples are really not a random selection from the population (even though we hope that is true), these were the people that were willing to participate. Those individuals who were not willing to be a part of the study may be quite different.
This point became very clear this past week when we asked our lab students to give us more info about their minority recruitment. We only had a few minority participants, and wondered how many minorities were contacted to be participants in the study. It appears that many were contacted but refused to be interviewed or to offer possible referrals. So we must be cautious in interpreting our results, they may not apply to non-Caucasians.
Lee Stadtlander
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