Interpreting Research Studies
Written in 2006, this concise four-page guide addresses how to interpret research studies, including listing twelve important questions to ask about a study’s purpose, its author, and the significance of its results, among other things. These are key questions for animal advocates to ask themselves when evaluating secondary research or conducting their own studies.
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From the introduction: “Social science research, with its focus on human behaviors, relationships and social institutions, can be a rich source of material for journalists, policymakers and program administrators.
Indeed, social science findings have their greatest impact when they are useful to—and used by—groups such as these, who can channel research into practice to improve people’s (animal’s) lives.”
And here are the twelve questions to answer, “What makes the study important?”
- Do the findings make sense?
- Who conducted the research and wrote the report?
- Who published the report?
- Did the researcher select an appropriate group for study?
- If comparison groups are used, how similar are they?
- What has changed since the information was collected?
- Are the methods appropriate to the research purpose?
- Does the study establish causation?
- Is the time frame long enough to identify an impact?
- Could the data be biased as a result of poor research design?
- Are the results statistically significant?
Click here to access the complete guide (PDF file, 227k), “Interpreting Research Studies,” from Jennifer Nadeau and Sharon Camp of the Guttmacher Institute (2006).