Newsgroups: bit.listserv.psycgrad
Date:         Tue, 15 Dec 1992 13:39:53 -0800
              <PSYCGRAD@UOTTAWA.BITNET>
From:         Tor Neilands <tbn@UTXVM.CC.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject:      Re: stats & science

Monika writes:

>Tor,
>In my department, and at least in my lab, our supervisor encourages
>independent research, and although the original idea for an experiment
>came from her, the consequent studies and contributions are expected to be
>completely ours.  In a way my research got off on a tangent that neither my
>supervisor, nor myself forsaw.  When it comes to writing, we write the whole
>paper, whether we are first or second authors.  My supervisor becomes only
>an editor, and believe me that is a great way to learn how to write properly.
>Occasionally, she writes part of a paper, and when it comes to a final copy
>we sometimes debate over how some sentences should be frased.
>
>Once again regarding "doing it all in grad school" vs "having it done by
>someone else for you": I would be very weary about those who widely
>accept the "help" from others when conducting their own research, at least from
>my experience.  Just recently one of us was hired to edit someoneys Ph.D thesis
>To our complete dismay, the individual in question had absolutely no
>knowledge about how to write in the APA style!  And we are not talking about
>margins or spacing!  There were some serious errors.  This person, it seems
>did not learn how to write and they are a month away from "obtaining"  their
>Ph.D!
>Are these the people I will be in competition with over grants?
>Scary thought!
>
>
>                                 _
>    ) (    Monika Trzcinska    _- o   ) (   054470@ACADVM1.UOTTAWA.CA
>   )   (----------------------- o o  )   (----------------------------
>    ) (                        -_ o   ) (
>                                 -
>   "The most important attitude that can be formed is that of a desire
>    to go on learning".
>                                                  Dewey (1938)

By contrast, some of our faculty delegate responsibilities to students--and
this department is one of the stronger departments in the country when it
comes to social psychology, at least (as measured by pubs in prestigious
journals, if you buy into that kind of thing. I'm not sure that I do, but
it's clear that the rest of the field does--most folks I've met from other
institutions respect the work that's been done here and the teams which
have produced the papers together).

Regarding your example of editing a manuscript, at least the person came to
someone presumably expert in writing for assistance, and thus the overall
quality of the manuscript was enhanced as a result of this assistance.

Again, it boils down to what the end goal is--I have no problem with
someone who seeks out assistance to improve the scientific merit of the
product(s) they produce, as long as they are up front about acknowledging
exactly what they did and how they went about doing it. Guess we'll just
have to agree to disagree on this one before it completely degenerates into
a "tastes-great/less filling" argument.

cheers,

Tor




Tor Neilands
Systems Analyst
Statistical Services Group
Computation Center
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX  78712

Phone: (512)-471-3241, Ext. 263

Internet:  TBN@Utxvm.cc.utexas.edu
___________________________________________________

"To thy own self be true".             --- Walt Whitman

"No matter what you call it, it's all just a game".
                                                   --- Master Wong
                                 "Once upon a time in china"

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I, I took
 the road less traveled by, and that has made all the
 difference".                                 --- Robert Frost
___________________________________________________

Disclaimer:  All of the views expressed above are solely
those of the author. Any relationship between my own
views and those of the University of Texas and/or The
Computation Center at the University of Texas are
due merely to regression to the mean.
____________________________________________________
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