Probabilities of Biases in Dissemination of Research
Abstract
Any kind of research or evaluation dissemination needs to combine three aspects i.e. content, audience, and delivery medium. The importance of structure, precision, clarity, and objectivity of content will be emphasized throughout the research. Dissemination is the final part of the research and evaluation process, and it is equally important for practitioners reporting on the findings of their research to their funder or wider group, i.e. research students submitting their work for assessment to academic boards, or anyone that has to present orally often complex findings in front of audience. Here in this paper the authors have discussed about the various aspects of such as Elements of Dissemination in Research and Probabilities of Biases in Dissemination of Research. References:
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Payal Bhatia
Key Words: Dissemination, Research
Introduction
Research Dissemination
Research is the formal, systematic application of the scientific method to the study of problems; educational research is the formal, systematic application of the scientific method to the study of educational problems (Gay, 2009). Dissemination is the final part of the research and evaluation process, and it is equally important for practitioners reporting on the findings of their research to their funder or wider group, i.e. research students submitting their work for assessment to academic boards, or anyone that has to present orally often complex findings in front of audience. Any kind of research or evaluation dissemination needs to combine three aspects i.e. content, audience, and delivery medium. The importance of structure, precision, clarity, and objectivity of content will be emphasized throughout the research. The choice of dissemination depends upon its intended audience, that is the need of the society/funding organization and any collaborators, the context of the study, and likely readership or group being reported to.
Elements of Dissemination in Research
In creating dissemination, researchers should consider several questions which are very much important, they are
Probabilities of Biases in Dissemination of Research
a. Reporting bias
It occurs when studies with multiple outcomes report only some of the outcomes measured
This bias is due to the incomplete reporting within published studies. Pocock et al. (1987) found that the median number of reported end points was six per trial. They also discussed selective reporting of results and related issues of subgroup analyses, repeated measurements over time, multiple treatment groups, and multiple tests of significance.
b. Time lag bias
The process of publication is too complex and involves several important aspects. Preparation of research proposal to publication covers so many other aspects like approval, funding, completion of follow-up, submission of manuscripts to a journal, and final publication in peer-reviewed journals. When the speed of publication depends on the direction and strength of the study results, this is referred to as time lag bias.
c. Literature bias
Sometimes findings or the content presented in different reports are different than those presented in journals, workshop, seminars and conferences or any other place.
d. Publication bias
It occurs when the full publication of studies those have been initially presented at conferences or in other informal formats is dependent on the direction and/or strength of their findings.
e. Language bias
Now a day’s English language is given much more importance. Many international journals are published in this language only. This journal has greater impact factor.
f. Citation bias
In published articles, references to other studies are cited for various reasons, for example, to show the importance of a research question, to borrow methods and techniques, or to give positive credit to the material referenced. The chance of a study being cited by others may be associated with many factors like the journal impact factor, nationality of authors, working partnerships, etc. Citation bias occurs when the probability that a study will be cited is associated with the study result. Shadish & et al. (1995) randomly selected one citation from each of 283 articles published in three psychological journals and asked each author about the most important reason for citing the selected references. It was found that citation was most commonly used to support the author’s argument, while study quality was not considered in most cases.
g. Duplicate (multiple) publication
Duplicate, redundant, repetitive or multiple publications are defined as submission of similar manuscripts to more than one journal or the republication of the same data in two or more journals. It has been estimated that 10–25% of the published literature in biomedical sciences represents duplicate or redundant publications. The publications may overlap partially or completely, representing a similar portion or major component of a study, and may share the same hypotheses, methods, results and/or discussion.
h. Place of Publication bias
In this review, this is defined as occurring when the place of publication is associated with the direction or strength of the study findings. For example, studies with positive results may be more likely to be published in widely circulated journals than studies with negative results. The term was originally used to describe the tendency for a journal to be more enthusiastic towards publishing articles about a given hypothesis than other journals, for reasons of editorial policy or readers’ preference.
i. Media Attention bias
Media attention bias occurs when studies with striking results are more likely to be covered by newspapers, radio and television news. The overly optimistic portrayal of the scientific findings to the public affects the public participation in policy discussions and creates unrealistic expectation of the potential benefits of a new scientific development.
Combs and Slovic (1979) found that the coverage by two newspapers in the USA about causes of death was not related to the statistical frequency of their occurrence. The newspaper over emphasized homicides, accidents and disasters, and under reported diseases as causes of death. Violent accidents and homicides make more interesting and exciting stories than diseases.
Suggestions
Conclusion
Dissemination is the final part of the research and evaluation process. There is various form of dissemination: written reports; oral presentations; and representation of research in the media. In each and every form of dissemination there may probability of certain kind of biases. Dissemination of research findings is likely to be a biased process, although the actual impact of such bias is still uncertain, depending on specific circumstances. Therefore, the potential problem of research dissemination bias should be taken into consideration by all who are involved in evidence based decision making.
Asst. Professor,
Shri I. J. Patel M.Ed. Course,
Mogri, Anand
E-mail: payalbht@yahoo.co.in
M-9913561148
Brijesh B. Darji
Project Fellow,
CASE,
The M. S. University of Baroda
E-mail: brijesh.darjee@gmail.com
M- 9427539888
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