Types of research. Will this count?

[AestheticGod]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm thinking about doing a specific type of research related to social behaviors. I noticed that a lot of universities does online polling for their researches, where they would pay others around 10 cents to fill out 10 questions.

If i do this on my own (doing the research analysis+ask other people questions for statistical data) without a professors guidance, will it count as a "research"? I DON'T expect to get published, but will attempt to 😳

Also, my main concern is that there won't be any "chemical/science related procedures", it'll consist of data from past writers and surveys i ask other students. Just don't want adcoms to look at it and go "You're applying to medical school, not philosophy school, buddy." Hell i don't even know if this is a "research" or just some damn article lol with statistical data.

Will doing this be worth my time and energy?
EDIT: As far as the numbers goes for the amount of people I'll be surveying, it'll be around 250-500 students.

More info about research:

t's similar to a research article I read about before for a class. The team paid a bunch of college students to fill out surveys for a month, every two days about their daily interactions. Survey consisted of questions about daily activity and all that jazz.
The team gave a hypothesis and supported it with already published data+work, and then used the survey to come to a conclusion.
I'll be doing something of this nature.

 

[Bangersandmash]

What statistical analyses are you doing? Conducting a poll and tabulating results is not really research. I'd also encourage you to find a mentor and get approved through an IRB if you want it to be legitimate. Even if the mentor is just a faculty figurehead signing off on everything, you can't put your own contact information on a resume.

Social and behavioral research is certainly something to put on your resume, but I think you're going about it in the wrong way.

 

[red doctober]

It's hard to say based on the little amount of information you presented. Honestly though, there is no chance of this being published in a scholarly journal because there would be serious questions surrounding your project (ie IRB approval, funding, bias, etc.) You could be published in your local or college newspaper, but that hardly constitutes research. Your best bet would be to present your project proposal to trained, professional social psychologists, and hope to get supported by one of them.

 

[AestheticGod]

What statistical analyses are you doing? Conducting a poll and tabulating results is not really research. I'd also encourage you to find a mentor and get approved through an IRB if you want it to be legitimate. Even if the mentor is just a faculty figurehead signing off on everything, you can't put your own contact information on a resume.

Social and behavioral research is certainly something to put on your resume, but I think you're going about it in the wrong way.

Hmm, thanks for the comment, i can definitely get one or two professors to look over it (sociology & a philosophy professor.

As far as conducting a poll and just giving out results, I do plan on quoting/researching past articles & data to support the reason behind the surveys.



It's similar to a research article I read about before for a class. The team paid a bunch of college students to fill out surveys for a month, every two days about their daily interactions. Survey consisted of questions about daily activity and all that jazz.
The team gave a hypothesis and supported it with already published data+work, and then used the survey to come to a conclusion.
I'll be doing something of this nature.

 

[AestheticGod]

It's hard to say based on the little amount of information you presented. Honestly though, there is no chance of this being published in a scholarly journal because there would be serious questions surrounding your project (ie IRB approval, funding, bias, etc.) You could be published in your local or college newspaper, but that hardly constitutes research. Your best bet would be to present your project proposal to trained, professional social psychologists, and hope to get supported by one of them.

Sorry for these noob questions, I'm a bit new to this type of area.

Let's say i do present this research to a professor and he agrees to support it. What exactly does he need to do?

As far as the funding goes, I will be covering that part. And as far as bias goes, I'll be 100% sure to be unbiased as possible.

 

[red doctober]

Sorry for these noob questions, I'm a bit new to this type of area.

Let's say i do present this research to a professor and he agrees to support it. What exactly does he need to do?

As far as the funding goes, I will be covering that part. And as far as bias goes, I'll be 100% sure to be unbiased as possible.

He/she can help you with the administrative stuff and add professional input on the subject. The problem with funding it yourself is that it adds a conflict of interest, which many people will be skeptical about, and sorry your word to be unbiased won't be good enough. If you really believe in this project, best to do it right from the get-go.

 

[AestheticGod]

He/she can help you with the administrative stuff and add professional input on the subject. The problem with funding it yourself is that it adds a conflict of interest, which many people will be skeptical about, and sorry your word to be unbiased won't be good enough. If you really believe in this project, best to do it right from the get-go.

Thanks, is there any websites where I can find more information for this?

So do you agree that me doing this type of research would help me with med school or will it not matter unless I get published? I'm hoping for at least school newspaper publish :/

 

[red doctober]

Thanks, is there any websites where I can find more information for this?

So do you agree that me doing this type of research would help me with med school or will it not matter unless I get published? I'm hoping for at least school newspaper publish :/

I've never done research on human subjects, but I do know that there are a lot of hoops to jump through.

Again, I don't know enough about your project proposal to give an honest answer as to the significance, but I will say that it can only help, not hurt, your application.

 

[lovesfall]

I'm thinking about doing a specific type of research related to social behaviors. I noticed that a lot of universities does online polling for their researches, where they would pay others around 10 cents to fill out 10 questions.

If i do this on my own (doing the research analysis+ask other people questions for statistical data) without a professors guidance, will it count as a "research"? I DON'T expect to get published, but will attempt to 😳

Also, my main concern is that there won't be any "chemical/science related procedures", it'll consist of data from past writers and surveys i ask other students. Just don't want adcoms to look at it and go "You're applying to medical school, not philosophy school, buddy." Hell i don't even know if this is a "research" or just some damn article lol with statistical data.

Will doing this be worth my time and energy?
EDIT: As far as the numbers goes for the amount of people I'll be surveying, it'll be around 250-500 students.

More info about research:

Agree with others - you may be treading on "human subjects research" territory and if you don't involve IRB and you do human subjects research it might actually reflect poorly on you. If you get a mentor you can submit to IRB if needed or get an exemption but either way will legitimatize your project. If you need help figuring out how to get started feel free to PM me. I've worked with a lot of survey research and student projects and could help identify any regulatory pitfalls. Otherwise would recommend citiprogram.org - class on human subjects protection/history of research regulations.

 

[Tropicana100]

Each type of study design has its advantages. Using surveys and polls is probably the least reputable since these are very much subjective and susceptible to selection bias. Also, it likes more in the category of "social science" rather than biomedical sciences. If you're interested in medicine, I would conduct original research in clinical, translational, or basic sciences.