The Design of Experiments in Neuroscience

by Mary Harrington

• ISBN13: 9781412974325
• ISBN10: 1412974321
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-09-13
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

'œYou are about to start on a great adventure. You are going to transition from reading about science to becoming a scientist.' -From the PrefaceUsing engaging, disarming prose, author Mary Harrington shows neuroscience students how to go about selecting a topic, designing an experiment, analyzing the results, and publishing a paper. This text effectively illustrates basic research methods and design principles by uniquely using relevant examples from neuroscience such as the principles of design of fMRI studies, the use of transgenic mice, and conditional gene knockouts. The author also addresses basic professional ethics, fundamental statistics and data analysis tools, the range of possible experimental designs (from simple descriptive studies to multifactorial designs), and ways to control unwanted variables and avoid common pitfalls.Key FeaturesAddresses the range of possible experimental designs to help students learn both how to design a new study and how to understand previously published research. Expanded 'œCheck Your Understanding' and 'œThink About It' exercises appear at the end of each chapter New chapter on becoming an independent investigator A new Appendix C contains a sample manuscript that has been formatted for publication 'œ12-step Program for Reading Journal Articles' guides students to focus on the important elements of the paperThis text is intended as either a core or supplemental text for both undergraduates and graduate students studying research methods in Neuroscience, Neuroanatomy, Neurophysiology, Neurochemistry, or Biological Psychology.

Table of Contents

The Varieties of Scientific Experience

Ethics

Getting Started

Basic Research Designs

Controlling Extraneous Variables

More Than One Predictor Variable: Factorial Designs

Correlational Designs

Becoming an Independent Investigator

Working With Your Data

Writing a Research Paper

A Sample Paper

Review Questions and Exercises

Glossary

Answers to End-of-Chapter Questions

References

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