Understanding the validity of data: a knowledge-based network underlying research expertise in scientific disciplines

Roberts, R.

doi:10.1007/s10734-015-9969-4

Understanding the validity of data: a knowledge-based network underlying research expertise in scientific disciplines

Roberts, R.

Authors

Rosalyn Roberts rosalyn.roberts@durham.ac.uk
Lecturer (Teaching)

Abstract

This article considers what might be taught to meet a widely held curriculum aim of students being able to understand research in a discipline. Expertise, which may appear as a ‘chain of practice’, is widely held to be underpinned by networks of understanding. Scientific research expertise is considered from this perspective. Within scientific disciplines, how research is conducted to solve different problems varies with concomitant effects on the validity of the data and the strengths of the claims made. Despite this variation, the overarching concepts of validity and reliability and the underpinning and interrelated network of more specific ‘concepts of evidence’ are applicable to understanding a wide range of research designs and the uncertainties in the resultant data and claims. These constituent ideas, which inter alia have been validated as relevant to professional and academic expertise, form an integrated knowledge base about evidence which can be visualised on a concept map. The network of ideas underpinning research expertise across scientific disciplines is outlined. Research from explicitly teaching the concepts of evidence is reported, and the implications for teaching and learning in science-based disciplines in HE are considered.

Citation

Roberts, R. (2016). Understanding the validity of data: a knowledge-based network underlying research expertise in scientific disciplines. Higher Education, 72(5), 651-668. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9969-4

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Dec 14, 2015
Online Publication Date	Jan 25, 2016
Publication Date	Nov 1, 2016
Deposit Date	Dec 18, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Jan 18, 2016
Journal	Higher Education
Print ISSN	0018-1560
Electronic ISSN	1573-174X
Publisher	Springer
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	72
Issue	5
Pages	651-668
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9969-4
Keywords	Concept mapping, Threshold concepts, Expertise Concepts of evidence, Research–teaching links, Uncertainty.

Files

Accepted Journal Article (2.3 Mb)
PDF

Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2016 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.