How To Read A Research Paper? (for Dummies)

Discussion in 'Education & Personal Growth' started by Kaput, May 9, 2018.

  1. Kaput

    Kaput Gold IL'ite

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    Thanks. I will keep an eye on this.
     
  2. Sunshine04

    Sunshine04 Platinum IL'ite

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    pubmed
     
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  3. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    Cancer Guide

    This site was started by Steven Dunn, who had kidney cancer, so obviously it is centered on that. However, it contains a lot of good information applicable to any serious illness and medical decision making. For example, see the following sections:

    Research your options
    Clinical Trials
    Clinical Trial Glossary
    Statistics

    Under statistics, see: The Median isn't the Message (Stephen Jay Gould)

    Note: Gould was a well known evolutionary biologist and the Agassiz professor of zoology at Harvard. He was also an excellent speaker, teacher and quite simply an amazing essayist. His essays, collected in a number of books, are extremely entertaining and well worth reading (I own all of them). For this thread, however, the essay above is important. Surprisingly, it is not as well written as it might have been - given Gould's talents - but still, it's useful and worth a little effort.

    If you are researching options for a serious illness, either your own or on behalf of a loved one, then I would suggest that you use this site as a starting point. Use it as a skeleton. Then adapt the various sections, by deleting cancer-specific information and filling in details for the particular condition you are interested in. That is a convenient way to get organized.

    Note that the site is out-of-date where cancer therapy is concerned. Use it only for background basics and for organizing your own research.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2018
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  4. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    Obviously, I have not read every word on the sites I might link to. In general, I will NOT link to trashy sites, but except for authoritative sites such as Pubmed and the like, please do not interpret any link as an unreserved endorsement!! Caution and common sense are strongly advised! Cancer Guide (linked above) is quite well done, but I cannot vouch for every word. When in doubt, check back here or with someone knowledgeable.
    :icon_writing::icon_pc: :beer-toast1:
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2018
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  5. Kaput

    Kaput Gold IL'ite

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    Thanks!! I am going through this site. It may take me weeks to read all the articles. Will be back with questions.
     
  6. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    One good way to organize your reading is to use that site as a scaffold. Keep the structure. Keep/copy over the general information (statistical ideas, an overview of clinical trials, for example). Delete anything entirely cancer-related (things that clearly do not apply to your situation), replace it with parallel information on the condition you are researching, gleaned from elsewhere. That way, you will build a reference resource for yourself; ideas will stick usefully in your mind.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2018
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