Science is Hard!

Remember back in the good old days when teachers said "Here's how this works! Just learn the process." and that was it?  I wont disagree that there's a certain element of boredom involved with that style of learning.  But this semester is teaching me that performing real science is so far beyond rote memorization.

It's not easy to get access to up there, huh?

Currently I'm working in a lab on my college campus.  I'm just an undergraduate research assistant but our project is relatively small so I get to handle all aspects of the actual research.  When I first volunteered for the position, I thought all the procedures and general direction of the project were pretty obvious.  We're doing a longitudinal study so it breaks up into neat little chunks.

But halfway through the semester I'm seeing all these sources of error!  I have a bit of OCD and sometimes I wonder whether that's a blessing or a curse for doing academic research.  Let's start with the fact that I do human research.  So we had to start by getting a big enough sample size.  We didn't have grandiose expectations yet you'd be surprised on how difficult it is to even get 10 people to it your research criteria.  There are all sorts of things that can eliminate a person from a psychology study.

And even when they do make it past initial screening, you have to remember that these are people you're dealing with.  People, unlike lab rats, have schedules and plans and can't be kept in a cage in the lab.  So you have to keep an eye on your participants and make sure they keep up with the requirements of the project.  This is particularly important for longitudinal studies.

Ah, and we must also remember the fallibility of technology.  For all the good its done us, our tech is never perfect.  You can have faulty wires or computer programs that wont run or even run out of materials.  Just today, my lab ran out of circular adhesives to use with the EEG and had to run a makeshift version of our preferred methods.  And I've had times when batteries nearly died and the electrical leads on the EEG decided to stop working.  There's just so many little places for a slip up to affect your data.

Obligatory cute baby picture!  Though really I meant to
say I'm still young in my training.

Yet, in a weird way I love that variability.  It makes science hard, but it also keeps it interesting.  You're always striving for the perfect run and the most accurate results.  And a truly good scientist learns to compensate for all the possible external factors.  Trying to design the cleanest. most efficient, most reliability study appeals as an interesting study for me.  But for now, I hope to continue to learn in my current position.