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Research Contribution – Thesis Guide

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Research Contribution

Definition:

Research contribution refers to a novel and significant addition to a particular field of study that advances the existing knowledge, theories, or practices. It could involve new discoveries, original ideas, innovative methods, or insightful interpretations that contribute to the understanding, development, or improvement of a specific research area.

Research Contribution in Thesis

In a thesis , the research contribution is the original and novel aspect of the research that adds new knowledge to the field. It can be a new theory , a new methodology , a new empirical finding, or a new application of existing knowledge.

To identify the research contribution of your thesis, you need to consider the following:

• What problem are you addressing in your research? What is the research gap that you are filling?
• What is your research question or hypothesis, and how does it relate to the problem you are addressing?
• What methodology have you used to investigate your research question or hypothesis, and why is it appropriate?
• What are the main findings of your research, and how do they contribute to the field?
• What are the implications of your research findings for theory, practice, or policy?

Once you have identified your research contribution, you should clearly articulate it in your thesis abstract, introduction, and conclusion. You should also explain how your research contribution relates to the existing literature and how it advances the field. Finally, you should discuss the limitations of your research and suggest future directions for research that build on your contribution.

How to Write Research Contribution

Here are some steps you can follow to write a strong research contribution:

• Define the research problem and research question : Clearly state the problem or gap in the literature that your research aims to address. Formulate a research question that your study will answer.
• Conduct a thorough literature review: Review the existing literature related to your research question. Identify the gaps in knowledge that your research fills.
• Describe the research design and methodology : Explain the research design, methods, and procedures you used to collect and analyze data. This includes any statistical analysis or data visualization techniques.
• Present the findings: Clearly present your findings, including any statistical analyses or data visualizations that support your conclusions. This should be done in a clear and concise manner, and the conclusions should be based on the evidence you’ve presented.
• Discuss the implications of the findings: Describe the significance of your findings and the implications they have for the field of study. This may include recommendations for future research or practical applications of your findings.
• Conclusion : Summarize the main points of your research contribution and restate its significance.

When to Write Research Contribution in Thesis

A research contribution should be included in the thesis when the research work adds a novel and significant value to the existing body of knowledge. The research contribution section of a thesis is the opportunity for the researcher to articulate the unique contributions their work has made to the field.

Typically, the research contribution section appears towards the end of the thesis, after the literature review, methodology, results, and analysis sections. In this section, the researcher should summarize the key findings and their implications for the field, highlighting the novel aspects of the work.

Example of Research Contribution in Thesis

An example of a research contribution in a thesis can be:

“The study found that there was a significant relationship between social media usage and academic performance among college students. The findings also revealed that students who spent more time on social media had lower GPAs than those who spent less time on social media. These findings are original and contribute to the literature on the impact of social media on academic performance, providing insights that can inform policies and practices for improving students’ academic success.”

Another example of a research contribution in a thesis:

“The research identified a novel method for improving the efficiency of solar panels by incorporating nanostructured materials. The results showed that the use of these materials increased the conversion efficiency of solar panels by up to 30%, which is a significant improvement over traditional methods. This contribution advances the field of renewable energy by providing a new approach to enhancing the performance of solar panels, with potential applications in both residential and commercial settings.”

Purpose of Research Contribution

Purpose of Research Contribution are as follows:

Here are some examples of research contributions that can be included in a thesis:

• Development of a new theoretical framework or model
• Creation of a novel methodology or research approach
• Discovery of new empirical evidence or data
• Application of existing theories or methods in a new context
• Identification of gaps in the existing literature and proposing solutions
• Providing a comprehensive review and analysis of existing literature in a particular field
• Critically evaluating existing theories or models and proposing improvements or alternatives
• Making a significant contribution to policy or practice in a particular field.

Advantages of Research Contribution

Including research contributions in your thesis can offer several advantages, including:

• Establishing originality: Research contributions help demonstrate that your work is original and unique, and not simply a rehashing of existing research. It shows that you have made a new and valuable contribution to the field.
• Adding value to the field : By highlighting your research contributions, you are demonstrating the value that your work adds to the field. This can help other researchers build on your work and advance the field further.
• Differentiating yourself: In academic and professional contexts, it’s important to differentiate yourself from others. Including research contributions in your thesis can help you stand out from other researchers in your field, potentially leading to opportunities for collaboration, networking, or future job prospects.
• Providing clarity : By articulating your research contributions, you are providing clarity to your readers about what you have achieved. This can help ensure that your work is properly understood and appreciated by others.
• Enhancing credibility : Including research contributions in your thesis can enhance your credibility as a researcher, demonstrating that you have the skills and knowledge necessary to make valuable contributions to your field. This can help you build a strong reputation in the academic community.

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Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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• How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

Published on October 12, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on November 21, 2023.

A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why it’s important, and how you will conduct your research.

The format of a research proposal varies between fields, but most proposals will contain at least these elements:

Introduction

Literature review.

• Research design

Reference list

While the sections may vary, the overall objective is always the same. A research proposal serves as a blueprint and guide for your research plan, helping you get organized and feel confident in the path forward you choose to take.

Table of contents

Research proposal purpose, research proposal examples, research design and methods, contribution to knowledge, research schedule, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research proposals.

Academics often have to write research proposals to get funding for their projects. As a student, you might have to write a research proposal as part of a grad school application , or prior to starting your thesis or dissertation .

In addition to helping you figure out what your research can look like, a proposal can also serve to demonstrate why your project is worth pursuing to a funder, educational institution, or supervisor.

Research proposal length

The length of a research proposal can vary quite a bit. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis proposal can be just a few pages, while proposals for PhD dissertations or research funding are usually much longer and more detailed. Your supervisor can help you determine the best length for your work.

One trick to get started is to think of your proposal’s structure as a shorter version of your thesis or dissertation , only without the results , conclusion and discussion sections.

Download our research proposal template

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Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We’ve included a few for you below.

• Example research proposal #1: “A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management”
• Example research proposal #2: “Medical Students as Mediators of Change in Tobacco Use”

Like your dissertation or thesis, the proposal will usually have a title page that includes:

• The proposed title of your project
• Your supervisor’s name
• Your institution and department

The first part of your proposal is the initial pitch for your project. Make sure it succinctly explains what you want to do and why.

Your introduction should:

• Introduce your topic
• Give necessary background and context
• Outline your  problem statement  and research questions

To guide your introduction , include information about:

• Who could have an interest in the topic (e.g., scientists, policymakers)
• How much is already known about the topic
• What is missing from this current knowledge
• What new insights your research will contribute
• Why you believe this research is worth doing

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As you get started, it’s important to demonstrate that you’re familiar with the most important research on your topic. A strong literature review  shows your reader that your project has a solid foundation in existing knowledge or theory. It also shows that you’re not simply repeating what other people have already done or said, but rather using existing research as a jumping-off point for your own.

In this section, share exactly how your project will contribute to ongoing conversations in the field by:

• Comparing and contrasting the main theories, methods, and debates
• Examining the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches
• Explaining how will you build on, challenge, or synthesize prior scholarship

Following the literature review, restate your main  objectives . This brings the focus back to your own project. Next, your research design or methodology section will describe your overall approach, and the practical steps you will take to answer your research questions.

To finish your proposal on a strong note, explore the potential implications of your research for your field. Emphasize again what you aim to contribute and why it matters.

For example, your results might have implications for:

• Improving best practices
• Informing policymaking decisions
• Strengthening a theory or model
• Challenging popular or scientific beliefs
• Creating a basis for future research

Last but not least, your research proposal must include correct citations for every source you have used, compiled in a reference list . To create citations quickly and easily, you can use our free APA citation generator .

Some institutions or funders require a detailed timeline of the project, asking you to forecast what you will do at each stage and how long it may take. While not always required, be sure to check the requirements of your project.

Here’s an example schedule to help you get started. You can also download a template at the button below.

Download our research schedule template

If you are applying for research funding, chances are you will have to include a detailed budget. This shows your estimates of how much each part of your project will cost.

Make sure to check what type of costs the funding body will agree to cover. For each item, include:

• Cost : exactly how much money do you need?
• Justification : why is this cost necessary to complete the research?
• Source : how did you calculate the amount?

To determine your budget, think about:

• Travel costs : do you need to go somewhere to collect your data? How will you get there, and how much time will you need? What will you do there (e.g., interviews, archival research)?
• Materials : do you need access to any tools or technologies?
• Help : do you need to hire any research assistants for the project? What will they do, and how much will you pay them?

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement .

Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.

I will compare …

A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement , before your research objectives.

Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.

A PhD, which is short for philosophiae doctor (doctor of philosophy in Latin), is the highest university degree that can be obtained. In a PhD, students spend 3–5 years writing a dissertation , which aims to make a significant, original contribution to current knowledge.

A PhD is intended to prepare students for a career as a researcher, whether that be in academia, the public sector, or the private sector.

A master’s is a 1- or 2-year graduate degree that can prepare you for a variety of careers.

All master’s involve graduate-level coursework. Some are research-intensive and intend to prepare students for further study in a PhD; these usually require their students to write a master’s thesis . Others focus on professional training for a specific career.

Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.

Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.

The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.

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McCombes, S. & George, T. (2023, November 21). How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved September 8, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-proposal/

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WTO / Education / 11 Perfect Academic Research Statement Examples (with Guide)

11 Perfect Academic Research Statement Examples (with Guide)

Academic documents are often needed as we progress through our lives and careers. Among the most commonly used academic documents is the research statement . A research statement is usually a document not exceeding three pages that convince the board or school on a research topic. This document aims at explaining what the research you are about to conduct is about and what you hope to find out by the end of it. The document is, for the most part, short, well defined and robust.

Samples & Examples

Academic Research Statement Examples guide researchers in organizing their thoughts, presenting their ideas effectively, and highlighting the significance of their work. To further enhance convenience, here are free downloadable templates that will enable you to easily access and adapt them to suit their specific needs.

Purpose of Research Statement

The research statement is as mentioned above aimed at convincing the reader on the essence of the research you are about to start. It usually covers the main points on your plans and expected results in brief. When done properly, it should explain why you think the research is relevant, what you expect to find, what factors you plan to consider during your research, methodologies, and data collection methods , what your motivation is, and how it can benefit other academic subjects or researchers.

How a Research Statement Works for You

A research statement allows your readers to understand your potential, expertise, and skill in the field you may want to conduct your research in. By doing this; you can explain how your research can help them as well as the common good. It is used for various purposes. One common use is in helping in the hiring process.

Once a panel can determine your level of experience and expertise, they can then know whether you are a good fit to work as part of a research project. It is also a good way of gaining funding. The statement is usually an overview of a research proposal . When done right, it has the potential to encourage an investor to fund your research.

How to Write a Research Statement

For a research statement to get its message across, a good format is required, poor formatting may have you lose structure and deliver your points in a disorderly fashion. A great statement should follow the following format:

Introduction

As any other academic document, a research statement needs a good introduction. The introduction aims at defining your research agenda . This section allows you to convince your reader that you are strong and ready to embark on the research challenge. You can state your previous achievements, foundation, as well as express your passion in the subject matter. This section can detail your expertise on the research topic and any other ongoing research topics that may aid your research.

State your focus

This section works to identify the problem your research aims at solving. You can state what the problem is, why the research has not been undertaken before by other people, how you plan to work on the challenge as well as the approach you plan to use.

Importance of your research and academics

As part of convincing your reader, this section aims at making them understand how your previous experience and interests can help in the research. This section convinces your reader that you are the right person for the job.

 Summarize

As part of your conclusion, this section works to summarize your earlier mentioned points. This includes your research goals and project.

Proper delivery of the statement will convince your reader of your ability to undertake the challenge as well as your long-term goals. Following the above-described flow assures a flow of information that best explains all points needed in a systematic manner.

Format of Academic Research Statements

The objective of the research statement is to introduce yourself to a search committee. Which will most likely contain scientists both in and outside your field of study, and get them excited about your research.

To encourage people to read the statement:

• Use bullets
• Make the margins a reasonable size
• Make it one or two pages long, three at most
• Use informative section headings and subheadings
• Use an easy to read font type and size

Writing a great and effective research statement is not as easy as it may sound; even the most seasoned practitioners encounter problems and challenges daily. The statement needed might seem obvious to them but difficult to describe to non-specialists. One may not have thought about how to quantify it or how to justify the required statement concerning other agencies or national priorities. A serious challenge to them might not even be on a decision maker’s radar screen.

If, at first, you fail to succeed, don’t lose hope. If your statement is not selected, try to find out why. If possible, get the reviewer’s comments. Were they able to understand your research statement? If not, what could you have done differently to make it easily understandable to them? Did they consider it as a good statement but not a top priority or high potential payoff? Do not be embarrassed or discouraged by constructive reviews; they are the best guidance you can get to write better statements .

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How to make an original contribution to knowledge

“The thesis can address small gaps within saturated research areas.”

When PhD candidates embark on their thesis journey, the first thing they will likely learn is that their research must be a “significant original contribution to knowledge.” On the face of it, the idea seems simple enough: create something new, establish a niche for oneself, further science and add some important piece to the sum of human understanding. And yet, there is little to no consensus as to what exactly this phrase means. This lack of consensus is particularly challenging for students, as it opens them up to risk in matters of external review and their graduate school progression.

Aside from the risk it poses to student’s success (for example, attrition), an ill-defined standard for the contribution to knowledge creates risks for the student during the external examination of the thesis. This can happen in two ways.

First, an external examiner may have biases towards pet theories or concepts and may dismiss the work if he or she does not agree with the opinions presented. Arguably more disastrous, supervisors themselves may recommend that a thesis be put forward for defence which the external examiner feels is not significant. This misplaced confidence can result in the entire work being disregarded, or the shattering award of a conciliatory master of philosophy.

Fortunately, there are ways to both clarify the concept of a significant original contribution to knowledge and to prepare to defend it.  After all, “to escape with a PhD, you must meaningfully extend the boundary of human knowledge. More exactly, you must convince a panel of experts guarding the boundary that you have done so,” says Matt Might, an assistant professor at the University of Utah and author of The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D .

The first step for PhD students is to recognize that a thesis will be built on other people’s work in a rigorous, precise way and is not expected to lead to an immediate and fundamental paradigm shift in the field. On this point, the best PhD theses investigate a circumscribed area, rather than overselling the originality or expertise. The significant original contribution emerges from small gaps within saturated research areas as novel interpretations or applications of old ideas. The researcher can accomplish this in many ways, for example, by creating a synthesis, by providing a single original technique, or by testing existing knowledge in an original manner. Although the thesis has to be innovative, this doesn’t necessarily mean revolutionizing the existing discourse; there is also value in adding new perspectives.

Similarly, and partly because of the time required to complete a doctoral degree, students must resist becoming wrapped up in what they’re looking at in the moment and thus forgetting the big picture. This is especially true for people writing manuscript-style theses in the natural sciences, which represent many small parts of an overarching idea and contribution.

To mitigate this tendency to digress, and to supress any panic around a “crisis of meaning,” doctoral students should at all times be able to summarize their significant original contribution in two sentences. From an examiner’s perspective, it is critical to include this in the dissertation itself – nailing it in the second sentence of the abstract allows the examiner to focus on the justification and verification of this statement. Having a well-bounded and clear idea of one’s contribution contextualizes the work and can protect the student from undue criticism.

Ultimately, it is up to the individual candidates to justify their significant original contribution. Being aware of the indistinctness of these criteria, they must make a concentrated effort to keep track of this contribution, be able to defend it and keep it at the forefront of their minds when their confidence begins to flag. This is always an iterative process, starting with a literature review and later comparing results against the significance of other works.

To protect themselves against overconfidence and insularity, students must look beyond their supervisor and department throughout their PhD program by trying to publish, presenting papers at conferences and discussing the work in as many spheres as possible to get feedback. These activities will not only serve to bolster the inward and outward argument for the research but will also help manage the risk of receiving a nasty surprise when it comes time to defend.

Making a small, significant contribution to knowledge remains the standard against which a PhD dissertation is measured; for their own sake and the sake of their research, students must learn to embrace it.

Heather Cray is a doctoral student in the department of environment and resource studies at the University of Waterloo.

Other stories that might be of interest:

• The PhD is in need of revision
• Margin Notes | PhD completion rates and times to completion in Canada

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Thanks for this issue raised here. it has been a problem eating me up. I am just finalising a doctoral in Mathematics, but the contribution to knowledge is not too clear to me. reading through this piece however kindled something in me. How I wish some specific s were given in the sciences, it could help further. thanks anyway.

Hi, thank you for this great article. I have read it a couple times and have saved it for future reference to help other colleagues.

Could you please clarify one thing? Thank you.

Are you saying that filling a gap is what will become the contribution to knowledge. I.e let’s say I notice that there is a limited exploration of x so the purpose of this study is to a b c. Is ABC my contribution to knowledge? Thank you in advance.

Very interesting article! At what point and to what extent would the “contribution to knowledge” be simply that? While I appreciate the relevance of your article, I agree with the above comment about vagueness. How DOES one relay the “knowledge” to research and make it applicable?

Oh, great! Thank you for this concise discourse. It demystifies the misunderstanding around Contribution to Knowledge. Very helpful.

I am a student in a professional doctorate program in the UK. I am having a great difficulty with my advisor on exactly this issue. What is the original contribution to knowledge of my project. I chose a Health Policy research project that will showcase the state of a certain health system with regards to oncology care and it will evaluate the quality of clinical care based on the current standard of care. This a study that hasn’t been done before and I feel that this is my original contribution to knowledge. My advisor insists that this is a needs assessment and that there is no original contribution to knowledge. This issue has been bringing me down for about 2 years now. I don’t know what to do. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Original contribution doesn’t have to be about inventing the wheel. It boils down to you looking at the gap in literature, theory and praxis which your work is filling. Look at what you have brought newly which previous studies have not considered. You perspective to the issue is the original knowledge you are bringing to the table.

How To Write a Significance Statement for Your Research

A significance statement is an essential part of a research paper. It explains the importance and relevance of the study to the academic community and the world at large. To write a compelling significance statement, identify the research problem, explain why it is significant, provide evidence of its importance, and highlight its potential impact on future research, policy, or practice. A well-crafted significance statement should effectively communicate the value of the research to readers and help them understand why it matters.

Updated on May 4, 2023

A significance statement is a clearly stated, non-technical paragraph that explains why your research matters. It’s central in making the public aware of and gaining support for your research.

Write it in jargon-free language that a reader from any field can understand. Well-crafted, easily readable significance statements can improve your chances for citation and impact and make it easier for readers outside your field to find and understand your work.

Read on for more details on what a significance statement is, how it can enhance the impact of your research, and, of course, how to write one.

What is a significance statement in research?

A significance statement answers the question: How will your research advance scientific knowledge and impact society at large (as well as specific populations)? 

You might also see it called a “Significance of the study” statement. Some professional organizations in the STEM sciences and social sciences now recommended that journals in their disciplines make such statements a standard feature of each published article. Funding agencies also consider “significance” a key criterion for their awards.

Read some examples of significance statements from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) here .

Depending upon the specific journal or funding agency’s requirements, your statement may be around 100 words and answer these questions:

1. What’s the purpose of this research?

2. What are its key findings?

3. Why do they matter?

4. Who benefits from the research results?

Readers will want to know: “What is interesting or important about this research?” Keep asking yourself that question.

Where to place the significance statement in your manuscript

Most journals ask you to place the significance statement before or after the abstract, so check with each journal’s guide. 

This article is focused on the formal significance statement, even though you’ll naturally highlight your project’s significance elsewhere in your manuscript. (In the introduction, you’ll set out your research aims, and in the conclusion, you’ll explain the potential applications of your research and recommend areas for future research. You’re building an overall case for the value of your work.)

Developing the significance statement

The main steps in planning and developing your statement are to assess the gaps to which your study contributes, and then define your work’s implications and impact.

Identify what gaps your study fills and what it contributes

Your literature review was a big part of how you planned your study. To develop your research aims and objectives, you identified gaps or unanswered questions in the preceding research and designed your study to address them.

Go back to that lit review and look at those gaps again. Review your research proposal to refresh your memory. Ask:

• How have my research findings advanced knowledge or provided notable new insights?
• How has my research helped to prove (or disprove) a hypothesis or answer a research question?
• Why are those results important?

Consider your study’s potential impact at two levels: 

• What contribution does my research make to my field?
• How does it specifically contribute to knowledge; that is, who will benefit the most from it?

Define the implications and potential impact

As you make notes, keep the reasons in mind for why you are writing this statement. Whom will it impact, and why?

The first audience for your significance statement will be journal reviewers when you submit your article for publishing. Many journals require one for manuscript submissions. Study the author’s guide of your desired journal to see its criteria ( here’s an example ). Peer reviewers who can clearly understand the value of your research will be more likely to recommend publication. 

Second, when you apply for funding, your significance statement will help justify why your research deserves a grant from a funding agency . The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), for example, wants to see that a project will “exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved.” Clear, simple language is always valuable because not all reviewers will be specialists in your field.

Third, this concise statement about your study’s importance can affect how potential readers engage with your work. Science journalists and interested readers can promote and spread your work, enhancing your reputation and influence. Help them understand your work.

You’re now ready to express the importance of your research clearly and concisely. Time to start writing.

How to write a significance statement: Key elements 

When drafting your statement, focus on both the content and writing style.

• In terms of content, emphasize the importance, timeliness, and relevance of your research results. 
• Write the statement in plain, clear language rather than scientific or technical jargon. Your audience will include not just your fellow scientists but also non-specialists like journalists, funding reviewers, and members of the public. 

Follow the process we outline below to build a solid, well-crafted, and informative statement. 

Get started

Some suggested opening lines to help you get started might be:

• The implications of this study are… 
• Building upon previous contributions, our study moves the field forward because…
• Our study furthers previous understanding about…

Alternatively, you may start with a statement about the phenomenon you’re studying, leading to the problem statement.

Include these components

Next, draft some sentences that include the following elements. A good example, which we’ll use here, is a significance statement by Rogers et al. (2022) published in the Journal of Climate .

1. Briefly situate your research study in its larger context . Start by introducing the topic, leading to a problem statement. Here’s an example:

‘Heatwaves pose a major threat to human health, ecosystems, and human systems.”

2. State the research problem.

“Simultaneous heatwaves affecting multiple regions can exacerbate such threats. For example, multiple food-producing regions simultaneously undergoing heat-related crop damage could drive global food shortages.”

3. Tell what your study does to address it.

“We assess recent changes in the occurrence of simultaneous large heatwaves.”

4. Provide brief but powerful evidence to support the claims your statement is making , Use quantifiable terms rather than vague ones (e.g., instead of “This phenomenon is happening now more than ever,” see below how Rogers et al. (2022) explained it). This evidence intensifies and illustrates the problem more vividly:

“Such simultaneous heatwaves are 7 times more likely now than 40 years ago. They are also hotter and affect a larger area. Their increasing occurrence is mainly driven by warming baseline temperatures due to global heating, but changes in weather patterns contribute to disproportionate increases over parts of Europe, the eastern United States, and Asia.

5. Relate your study’s impact to the broader context , starting with its general significance to society—then, when possible, move to the particular as you name specific applications of your research findings. (Our example lacks this second level of application.) 

“Better understanding the drivers of weather pattern changes is therefore important for understanding future concurrent heatwave characteristics and their impacts.”

Refine your English

Don’t understate or overstate your findings – just make clear what your study contributes. When you have all the elements in place, review your draft to simplify and polish your language. Even better, get an expert AJE edit . Be sure to use “plain” language rather than academic jargon.

• Avoid acronyms, scientific jargon, and technical terms 
• Use active verbs in your sentence structure rather than passive voice (e.g., instead of “It was found that...”, use “We found...”)
• Make sentence structures short, easy to understand – readable
• Try to address only one idea in each sentence and keep sentences within 25 words (15 words is even better)
• Eliminate nonessential words and phrases (“fluff” and wordiness)

Enhance your significance statement’s impact

Always take time to review your draft multiple times. Make sure that you:

• Keep your language focused
• Provide evidence to support your claims
• Relate the significance to the broader research context in your field

After revising your significance statement, request feedback from a reading mentor about how to make it even clearer. If you’re not a native English speaker, seek help from a native-English-speaking colleague or use an editing service like AJE to make sure your work is at a native level.

Understanding the significance of your study

Your readers may have much less interest than you do in the specific details of your research methods and measures. Many readers will scan your article to learn how your findings might apply to them and their own research. 

Different types of significance

Your findings may have different types of significance, relevant to different populations or fields of study for different reasons. You can emphasize your work’s statistical, clinical, or practical significance. Editors or reviewers in the social sciences might also evaluate your work’s social or political significance.

Statistical significance means that the results are unlikely to have occurred randomly. Instead, it implies a true cause-and-effect relationship.

Clinical significance means that your findings are applicable for treating patients and improving quality of life.

Practical significance is when your research outcomes are meaningful to society at large, in the “real world.” Practical significance is usually measured by the study’s  effect size . Similarly, evaluators may attribute social or political significance to research that addresses “real and immediate” social problems.

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Establishing Your Contribution

• First Online: 01 January 2014

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• David Evans† 4 ,
• Paul Gruba 5 &
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Think back to when you began your research project. In all likelihood, you wanted to do research because you were intrigued by or eager about something. Perhaps your ideas were vague or ill-formed, and even possibly you were happy to join any existing project in a broad area. But soon you developed a definite problem that you were working on, with the intention of making a contribution to your field.

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“Are You Always This Enthusiastic?”

Introduction

Research Going Forward?

This is a good place to remind you that my descriptions of research are to some extent fictionalized. That is, except where a citation is given, I have used real students and research questions, but have altered the research descriptions in ways that I feel preserves their ‘feel’ while making them both anonymous and more accessible to a general reader.

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Evans†, D., Gruba, P., Zobel, J. (2014). Establishing Your Contribution. In: How to Write a Better Thesis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04286-2_7

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What Does a Research Contribution Mean?

The research contribution is a statement or an essay that reflects the range of activities and outcomes undertaken and achieved by a researcher. The sample statement  has an average of 500 words so writing one must make sure to only include the most important details regarding the research and the researcher’s accomplishments.

How to Write a Research Contribution Statement

1. think about your accomplishments and interests.

Before you get into writing your research contribution statement, ask yourself some questions about your interests, intentions, experience, accomplishments, goals, and the field of study you’ve pursued, and its impact on your life. Write down your questions and answers when you are thinking over these questions. From your answers, highlight first your accomplishments in the researches you’ve done and the successes of your discoveries from it.

2. Create an Outline

The next thing to do is to start outlining your research contribution statement. Create an sample outline for your statement by organizing your main points. To guide you, you can read some sample contribution statement templates above to get a good idea about how to begin structuring your own statement and see if there are any samples that will inspire you in writing yours.

3. Write the Rough Draft

Now it’s time to write the draft of your contribution statement. Write about how the research you’ve done has contributed to the field of study you were focusing on or how did it benefit your school, yourself, and the subjects of your research. Make sure to use the first-person point of view when writing your statement. You could also study the following examples below to guide you on writing your research process into your contribution statement:

• Unique observation during the experimental phase.
• Improve an existing design review method to increase its efficiency.
• Propose solutions to the socio-economic development of the regional community.
• Develop technical solutions to increase social awareness in a chosen area.
•  Develop creative ways of retaining the cultural importance of the region.
• Develop a mathematical model for the design unit.
• Develop a software infrastructure to decrease the development cost of production.
• Design an analytical model which is innovative.
• Design a new approach for the problem on hand which improves the design model.

4. Let Others Review Your Statement

Once you’re done drafting your contribution statement, ask someone who you trust and who is qualified enough to sample review your work. You can ask your former professor, mentor, or former classmate to do it. Ask for their opinion and observations on areas that you should improve.

What are some research contribution examples?

Examples of research contributions are published papers presented at scholarly conferences, trade journals, book reviews , published reviews of your work, research reports, policy papers, public lectures , etc.

What are the contributions of research in science?

Conducting research is important for the development of scientific thinking. The research adds greatly to discovering new knowledge and advances all fields of case study forward.

What are the purposes of research?

The two purposes of research are to gather information and test existing theories.

Once you’ve let someone review your work and give constructive criticisms, start revising your statement. Base your edits on the points that need to be revised. Don’t forget to revise any grammatical and spelling mistakes. Make sure that your final research statement has an organized way of telling your research contribution and it is readable and easy to understand.

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How to Write an “Implications of Research” Section

4-minute read

• 24th October 2022

When writing research papers , theses, journal articles, or dissertations, one cannot ignore the importance of research. You’re not only the writer of your paper but also the researcher ! Moreover, it’s not just about researching your topic, filling your paper with abundant citations, and topping it off with a reference list. You need to dig deep into your research and provide related literature on your topic. You must also discuss the implications of your research.

Interested in learning more about implications of research? Read on! This post will define these implications, why they’re essential, and most importantly, how to write them. If you’re a visual learner, you might enjoy this video .

What Are Implications of Research?

Implications are potential questions from your research that justify further exploration. They state how your research findings could affect policies, theories, and/or practices.

Implications can either be practical or theoretical. The former is the direct impact of your findings on related practices, whereas the latter is the impact on the theories you have chosen in your study.

Example of a practical implication: If you’re researching a teaching method, the implication would be how teachers can use that method based on your findings.

Example of a theoretical implication: You added a new variable to Theory A so that it could cover a broader perspective.

Finally, implications aren’t the same as recommendations, and it’s important to know the difference between them .

Questions you should consider when developing the implications section:

●  What is the significance of your findings?

●  How do the findings of your study fit with or contradict existing research on this topic?

●  Do your results support or challenge existing theories? If they support them, what new information do they contribute? If they challenge them, why do you think that is?

Why Are Implications Important?

You need implications for the following reasons:

● To reflect on what you set out to accomplish in the first place

● To see if there’s a change to the initial perspective, now that you’ve collected the data

● To inform your audience, who might be curious about the impact of your research

How to Write an Implications Section

Usually, you write your research implications in the discussion section of your paper. This is the section before the conclusion when you discuss all the hard work you did. Additionally, you’ll write the implications section before making recommendations for future research.

Implications should begin with what you discovered in your study, which differs from what previous studies found, and then you can discuss the implications of your findings.

Your implications need to be specific, meaning you should show the exact contributions of your research and why they’re essential. They should also begin with a specific sentence structure.

Examples of starting implication sentences:

●  These results build on existing evidence of…

●  These findings suggest that…

●  These results should be considered when…

●  While previous research has focused on x , these results show that y …

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You should write your implications after you’ve stated the results of your research. In other words, summarize your findings and put them into context.

The result : One study found that young learners enjoy short activities when learning a foreign language.

The implications : This result suggests that foreign language teachers use short activities when teaching young learners, as they positively affect learning.

 Example 2

The result : One study found that people who listen to calming music just before going to bed sleep better than those who watch TV.

The implications : These findings suggest that listening to calming music aids sleep quality, whereas watching TV does not.

To summarize, remember these key pointers:

●  Implications are the impact of your findings on the field of study.

●  They serve as a reflection of the research you’ve conducted.              

●  They show the specific contributions of your findings and why the audience should care.

●  They can be practical or theoretical.

●  They aren’t the same as recommendations.

●  You write them in the discussion section of the paper.

●  State the results first, and then state their implications.

Are you currently working on a thesis or dissertation? Once you’ve finished your paper (implications included), our proofreading team can help ensure that your spelling, punctuation, and grammar are perfect. Consider submitting a 500-word document for free.

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/images/cornell/logo35pt_cornell_white.svg" alt="example of research contribution"> Cornell University --> Graduate School

Research statement, what is a research statement.

The research statement (or statement of research interests) is a common component of academic job applications. It is a summary of your research accomplishments, current work, and future direction and potential of your work.

The statement can discuss specific issues such as:

• funding history and potential
• requirements for laboratory equipment and space and other resources
• potential research and industrial collaborations
• how your research contributes to your field
• future direction of your research

The research statement should be technical, but should be intelligible to all members of the department, including those outside your subdiscipline. So keep the “big picture” in mind. The strongest research statements present a readable, compelling, and realistic research agenda that fits well with the needs, facilities, and goals of the department.

Research statements can be weakened by:

• overly ambitious proposals
• lack of clear direction
• lack of big-picture focus
• inadequate attention to the needs and facilities of the department or position

Why a Research Statement?

• It conveys to search committees the pieces of your professional identity and charts the course of your scholarly journey.
• It communicates a sense that your research will follow logically from what you have done and that it will be different, important, and innovative.
• It gives a context for your research interests—Why does your research matter? The so what?
• It combines your achievements and current work with the proposal for upcoming research.
• areas of specialty and expertise
• potential to get funding
• academic strengths and abilities
• compatibility with the department or school
• ability to think and communicate like a serious scholar and/or scientist

Formatting of Research Statements

The goal of the research statement is to introduce yourself to a search committee, which will probably contain scientists both in and outside your field, and get them excited about your research. To encourage people to read it:

• make it one or two pages, three at most
• use informative section headings and subheadings
• use bullets
• use an easily readable font size
• make the margins a reasonable size

Organization of Research Statements

Think of the overarching theme guiding your main research subject area. Write an essay that lays out:

• The main theme(s) and why it is important and what specific skills you use to attack the problem.
• A few specific examples of problems you have already solved with success to build credibility and inform people outside your field about what you do.
• A discussion of the future direction of your research. This section should be really exciting to people both in and outside your field. Don’t sell yourself short; if you think your research could lead to answers for big important questions, say so!
• A final paragraph that gives a good overall impression of your research.

Writing Research Statements

• Avoid jargon. Make sure that you describe your research in language that many people outside your specific subject area can understand. Ask people both in and outside your field to read it before you send your application. A search committee won’t get excited about something they can’t understand.
• Write as clearly, concisely, and concretely as you can.
• Keep it at a summary level; give more detail in the job talk.
• Ask others to proofread it. Be sure there are no spelling errors.
• Convince the search committee not only that you are knowledgeable, but that you are the right person to carry out the research.
• Include information that sets you apart (e.g., publication in  Science, Nature,  or a prestigious journal in your field).
• What excites you about your research? Sound fresh.
• Include preliminary results and how to build on results.
• Point out how current faculty may become future partners.
• Acknowledge the work of others.
• Use language that shows you are an independent researcher.
• BUT focus on your research work, not yourself.
• Include potential funding partners and industrial collaborations. Be creative!
• Provide a summary of your research.
• Put in background material to give the context/relevance/significance of your research.
• List major findings, outcomes, and implications.
• Describe both current and planned (future) research.
• Communicate a sense that your research will follow logically from what you have done and that it will be unique, significant, and innovative (and easy to fund).

Describe Your Future Goals or Research Plans

• Major problem(s) you want to focus on in your research.
• The problem’s relevance and significance to the field.
• Your specific goals for the next three to five years, including potential impact and outcomes.
• If you know what a particular agency funds, you can name the agency and briefly outline a proposal.
• Give broad enough goals so that if one area doesn’t get funded, you can pursue other research goals and funding.

Identify Potential Funding Sources

• Almost every institution wants to know whether you’ll be able to get external funding for research.
• Try to provide some possible sources of funding for the research, such as NIH, NSF, foundations, private agencies.
• Mention past funding, if appropriate.

Be Realistic

There is a delicate balance between a realistic research statement where you promise to work on problems you really think you can solve and over-reaching or dabbling in too many subject areas. Select an over-arching theme for your research statement and leave miscellaneous ideas or projects out. Everyone knows that you will work on more than what you mention in this statement.

Consider Also Preparing a Longer Version

• A longer version (five–15 pages) can be brought to your interview. (Check with your advisor to see if this is necessary.)
• You may be asked to describe research plans and budget in detail at the campus interview. Be prepared.
• Include laboratory needs (how much budget you need for equipment, how many grad assistants, etc.) to start up the research.

Samples of Research Statements

To find sample research statements with content specific to your discipline, search on the internet for your discipline + “Research Statement.”

• University of Pennsylvania Sample Research Statement
• Advice on writing a Research Statement (Plan) from the journal  Science

How to write a PhD in a hundred steps (or more)

A workingmumscholar's journey through her phd and beyond, what exactly is a ‘contribution to knowledge’.

I have pondered on this particular question a great deal over the last few years. I don’t think I have an answer, to be honest, because I really don’t know what counts as a ‘contribution to knowledge’ in PhD work. I suspect it means different things in different fields of study. Perhaps for a scientist there is more pressure to say something original? Or is there less? Does your PhD thesis have to say something no one else is saying (or very few are)? Is that what counts, broadly, as a contribution to knowledge? And what body of knowledge are you contributing to? To what end?

I think that some of the answers to these questions begin to form when you decide on a research question and you start narrowing down the theoretical framework for your study that becomes the lens through which you see your (and lots of other peoples’) research. You begin to work out, at any rate, why you want or need to do this research and where it fits within the field in which you are working. What body of knowledge and why. And depending on the questions you want to answer and the theories and methods you choose to use, you could be potentially making a bigger or smaller contribution to that body of knowledge, if by contribution is meant ‘something original or not-oft said that sheds new light on these questions or the use of these theories or methods in research like this’.

That is what I have taken ‘contribution to knowledge’ to mean, and it’s a big ask. There are several things you have to do with a PhD in order to just get the thesis done, never mind impress the hell out of your examiners and prove yourself worthy of the degree. You need to be able to read with a goodly amount of skepticism and have the ability to critique, question, summarise and synthesise ideas and arguments; you need to be able to write not just well, but also persuasively and with flair, I think; you need to be able to create a research design that is guided by the theory (which you have had to understand and connect into a coherent framework that can carry you into the data gathering and analysis coherently), and you need to employ that design to gather data ethically and organise it logically; and then you need to analyse that data in stages, connecting back to your theoretical framework so as to find answers and create a language for your reader to use to interpret this data in the way you intend (and the theory guides you to) (see Bernstein 2000; Maton 2013); and finally you need to reach conclusions that show not just that you understand what you have written about but also, and here’s the kicker,  how what you have done impacts on your field of study.  So, the going is pretty tough just getting all the pieces in place and connected together before you have to tell your reader the ‘so what?’ and ‘now what?’ of your research.

I must say I really struggled with these two questions connected to this idea of contributing to knowledge: ‘so what?’ and ‘now what?’ So many times, especially towards the end I had to firmly shush the voice in my head saying ‘there is no point to your research. This has been done already. You are not saying anything new here. No one really wants to read this stuff’ (and things like that). I was really worried that the voice was right and that I was not actually saying anything that people would want to read; that my work was not in any way, even small, challenging or advancing knowledge or understanding in my field. I still wonder if the voice is right, sometimes.

I think I wonder because much is made of this contribution at PhD level. PhD work seems to matter so much more than MA work, even though many MAs probably do more exciting research than some PhDs. Perhaps it is the level of the qualification that they will confer on you if you succeed, or what it says about your ability to do the even more important post-doctoral research and work? I am not sure. What I have realised, though, is that originality in the social sciences is tough. I think the most that many PhD students can hope for is to choose an angle on a particular, probably well-known problem that only a few people are really looking at in-depth, and say something that provokes thinking and that shows that they have what it takes to do more interesting and sound research as they grow into their post-doc careers. A friend said to me that the PhD is an exercise, albeit a fairly sophisticated one, of applying theory to a problem using some form of data (empirical etc), and reaching a sound and hopefully interesting conclusion. This oversimplifies the PhD process, but it has helped me to keep things in perspective when the voice (see above) gets really loud. My PhD does not have to be the equivalent of E=mc² to be good enough.

I am making a contribution to knowledge by joining the conversation, claiming a voice and a stance, and being brave enough to argue for it. I am not saying things nobody has ever said or thought, and I am not inventing anything new. But I’m in the field now, and I have shown in my thesis (I hope) that I am capable of doing research at this level and of growing further. And perhaps that is good enough for now.

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[…] postgraduate research (any academic research perhaps) is for: to make a novel, valuable and needed contribution to knowledge in your field or study and/or practice. Often, particularly in the social sciences, we are taking […]

[…] understand where and how your study fits into the field. And, particularly at doctoral level, the contribution to knowledge your study can […]

[…] blog stats recently (one of my many procrastinations last week), I noticed that my post on what a contribution to knowledge is has garnered many hits in the last 2 years especially. That a doctoral study has to make a novel […]

Thank you for sharing your own experience. I am encouraged by your write-up.

Thank you for your post, I recognise many of the struggles, particularly in social sciences. I just finished my implications and contributions sections and cannot help but feeling that it is not enough after so many years of research! I have, however, been using the contributions framework from this article and find it super helpful – perhaps others might find it useful too… ‘What do introduction sections tell us about the intent of scholarly work: A contribution on contributions’; Nicholson, J., LaPlaca, P., Al-abdin, A., Breese, R. & Khan, Z., 1 Aug 2018, In : Industrial Marketing Management. 73, p. 206-219.

Thank you Hanna. I found that article really helpful to straighten out my thinking on this. After reading it, I wound up re-writing the whole first section of my conclusion one week before submission.

i just read this write up and i think it is motivating. sometimes one finds himself in a fix after assessing your work but from today i will appreciate my efforts and press on to perfection. thank you for the heads up

Thanks, Patience. Be careful of perfection, though. The saying ‘Perfect is the enemy of good’ is often very true in doctoral studies. Try and aim more for good writing, and you will get there. Good luck.

Such great website

Amazing blog thanks for sharing today on this blog

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The Impact of Academic Research on Industrial Performance (2003)

Chapter: 7. the contributions and impact of academic research.

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

7 The Contributions and Impact of Academic Research Significant contributions have been made by academic researchers in all five of the industries examined in this study. Each industry illustrates a unique pattern of industry-university research collaboration and different ways academic contri- butions are used. The study also reveals some crosscutting areas of academic research that are important to overall industrial performance. In addition, the mechanisms by which academia contributes have changed as traditional patterns of industry-university interaction such as contract research, cooperative re- search, and personnel exchanges have been augmented by new modes of inter- action. Industry provides more than financial support for academic research, and academic research contributes more than technological advances to industry, although some contributions are difficult to measure in dollars. A comparison of patterns of interaction reveals a number of ways industry, academia, and govern- ment could realize even greater benefits through university-industry interaction. PATTERNS OF UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY INTERACTION Finding 7-1. The nature of university-industry interactions varies from industry to industry as well as among companies within a given industry and individual academic institutions. Each of the industries studied has a distinctive environment and poses differ- ent challenges for university researchers. In building infrastructure for network systems, universities have historically been test beds for new concepts and capa- bilities. For the medical devices and equipment industry, fundamental 205

206 THE IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH ON INDUSTRIAL PERFORMANCE multidisciplinary research involving physical sciences and engineering, com- bined with academic medical centers, provides a critical environment for re- searching, developing, testing, and improving devices and for conducting the clinical trials necessary to obtaining regulatory approval, all in an atmosphere of close industry-university collaboration. In the aerospace industry, the mature, highly concentrated airframe, propulsion, and launch-vehicle sectors have a fairly narrow range of interactions with academic research, often using consulting agree- ments and contract research to develop better process methodologies and tools. By contrast, the less mature unmanned aerial vehicles sector of the industry looks to academic research for technical support, as well as for new concepts and understanding. In the transportation, distribution, and logistics services industry and the financial services industry, a sizeable cultural gap remains between in- dustry and R&D in general, and academic research in particular. As a result, although academic research has had a significant impact on both, neither industry has developed interfaces with academic research comparable to those of the medical devices and equipment industry or the network systems and commu- nications industry. The wide variety of university-industry research interactions in these five industries makes it difficult to make generalizations. With the notable exception of multicompany research centers at universities, most financial support by industry is negotiated company by company. Companies have different needs and abilities to interact with academic researchers, and universities have differ- ent resources to devote to research of value to industry. Generalizations about what works best for all industries and universities should, therefore, be made very cautiously. THE NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEM Finding 7-2. The academic research enterprise is a major component of the national innovation system in the United States. The core competencies of aca- demic research help sustain and leverage innovation to the benefit of industry. Box 7-1 summarizes the innovation systems) for the five industries, which are innovative to varying degrees and in different ways that tend to change over time. R&D is only one element of their innovation systems but can be very important. Overall, the U.S. innovation system has many strengths: · Open labor markets allow technically trained and educated people to move relatively freely between and among universities and industry. · Reasonably robust review processes, coupled with a variety of support mechanisms ranging from peer-reviewed government grants to venture capital decisions, help to maintain high-quality research.

THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH 207 . A large number of research structures and mechanisms, both internal and external to the university (e.g., academic departments, research centers, industry laboratories, start-up companies), provide multiple pathways for the commercialization of new ideas. A strong market and consumer demand for new technologies provides strong commercial incentives for introducing new technologies and, there- fore, strong incentives for funding research to create them. The research culture in the United States fosters innovation by supporting the movement of ideas and people among a broad range of diverse research

208 THE IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH ON INDUSTRIAL PERFORMANCE sectors and structures. Even though research is often essential to innovation, there is rarely a linear progression from a research result to advanced development to product development to economic return. Ideas and people tend to bounce around, and new ideas are sometimes stymied by political or business impediments and forced to find alternative routes to implementation. CONTRIBUTIONS OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH Contributions of academic research to the five industries studied include: graduates trained in modern research techniques; fundamental concepts and "key ideas" resulting from basic and applied research; and the development and testing of tools, prototypes, and marketable products, processes, and services. The sources of these contributions include engineering, the natural sciences, com- puter sciences, mathematics, social sciences, behavioral sciences, management studies, and policy sciences. Graduates Trained in Research Finding 7-3. University-based research provides an education/training ground for entrants into the industrial workforce. Integrated research and education helps maintain the flow of human resources from universities that contributes to an educated, trained industrial workforce. University graduates and faculty are also involved in many technology-based, start-up companies. Students trained in research are a major component of academia's contribu- tion to industrial performance. U.S. universities are the primary source of people with research training and experience, including undergraduates, graduate stu- dents, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty. Individuals with research training are highly valued by industry, whether or not they are involved in research for the companies that hire them. In addition to the specific body of knowledge acquired through academic research, industry values research experience because it re- quires abilities that are prized in any technical endeavor: self-motivation, prob- lem solving, teamwork, an understanding of related research, contacts with other researchers and colleagues, the ability to organize material, and the ability to overcome setbacks. Research-trained industry employees also enhance a company's capacity to absorb new ideas, including the results of research, even if the company does not conduct its own research. Academic researchers also participate in new companies. Many technology- based start-up companies emerge from academic research and continue to attract research graduates as they grow. Many high-technology clusters around the coun- try have developed around one or more research university.

THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH Contributions from Basic, Long-Term Research 209 Finding 7-4. Contributions from basic, long-term academic research in a broad spectrum of disciplines have figured prominently in industry performance. Portfolio theory, linear programming, derivative-pricing theory, and pros- pect theory, all of academic origin, have laid the foundation for whole new families of financial products and services. Academic contributions to linear and integer programming and queue theory are the building blocks of the information-management and decision-support technologies at the heart of the integrated-logistics revolution. Medical devices, such as magnetic resonance imaging machines and pacemakers, are based on the contributions of fundamen- tal research from multiple disciplines in the natural sciences and engineering. In the network systems and communications industry, universities have made im- portant research contributions to the development of digital subscriber-line tech- nology, third-generation wireless communication, computer graphics, databases, search engines, generalized processor sharing, parallel processing, traffic man- agement, and stable broadcast networking. In aerospace, contributions of basic research include: the theoretical basis for flight controls for unmanned aerial vehicles; Shannon's information theory (e.g., as applies to communication with aircraft, spacecraft, and satellites); electromagnetic antenna theory; linearized unsteady-flow analysis; composite-laminate theory; improved understanding of fiber-matrix interactions in composite materials; superplasticity; and real-time decision systems using artificial intelligence. Basic, long-term research is essential to the university's role as creator of new knowledge and understanding. The committee's review of these five indus- tries confirms that the results of basic research in a wide range of disciplines eventually find their way by diverse paths into many aspects of commercial life. Contributions from Applied Research Finding 7-5. Academic researchers in applied research and the academic re- search infrastructure are directly involved in the development of industrial tools, prototypes, products, and production processes, as well as the delivery of prod- ucts and services. The five industries in this study provide a variety of examples of the contribu- tions of applied research (see Box 7-2~. Sometimes applied research is protracted and has cumulative, incremental results. An example might be continued improve- ments in computational fluid dynamics as a tool for modeling airflow. Another would be the long-term contributions of academic researchers to improved produc- tion processes and product performance in electronic storage devices.

210 THE IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH ON INDUSTRIAL PERFORMANCE The ability to solve discrete practical problems is also valuable in countless projects performed for individual companies. Short-term research projects, stu- dent projects, and consulting projects to solve specific, important problems in industry are based on formal and informal relationships between companies and faculty. Many companies nurture relationships with multiple universities, often relying on local institutions to solve technical problems or to advise the company's engineering staff on potential solutions. Examples include assistance in produc- tion scheduling in logistics, simulations of airflow and nondestructive evaluation of materials in aerospace, and models for pricing derivatives and securities in

THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH 211 financial services. Most universities consider this an important aspect of the service role of the university and encourage these interactions. Research centers, especially those with industrial participation, are another avenue by which universities perform both "directed" basic research and applied research that helps industry. In 1993, almost 70 percent of industry's financial support for university research flowed through some 1,100 university-industry research centers, which have become the dominant form of industry support for academic R&D (Cohen et al., 1998~. The best known examples are the engineer- ing research centers (ERCs) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) since the mid-1980s. NSF currently funds 20 ERCs in four broad categories: bioengineering; design, manufacturing, and product development systems; earth- quake engineering; and microelectronic systems and information technology (NSF, 2001~. Industry participation and industry's help in defining problems that are of interest to many companies, have greatly increased the impact of academic research centers.2 Key Ideas Finding 7-6. Sustained interactions between academic research and industry have been a source of "key ideas" that have generated significant technological opportunities through a fusion of knowledge of the possible and knowledge of what needs to be done. Specific contributions of academic research basic and applied represent key ideas derived from sustained interaction between academic research and industry. Key ideas and the major technological opportunities or breakthroughs that result from key ideas are often the product of cumulative research inter- actions and advances involving the flow of ideas and people back and forth across the boundaries between universities and industry. Examples of key ideas include: the TCP/IP Internet protocol, the web browser, routers, index funds and deriva- tives, decision-support technologies, pacemakers, and magnetic-resonance imag- ing. (For a graphic illustration of the interaction between academic and industry research on key ideas leading to major technological advances in information technology see Figure 2-1.) Contributions from Multi-industry, Indirect, and Complementary Research Finding 7-7. Academic research in a given field or discipline may contribute directly or indirectly to more than one industry; and many innovations result from complementary advances in more than one field of research. Many contributions of academic research to an industry are mediated through other disciplines or embedded in technologies, products, and services derived

212 THE IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH ON INDUSTRIAL PERFORMANCE from other industries. Basic research in physics, biology, and chemistry has led to new knowledge and capabilities in microelectronics, genetic engineering, and other fields that have directly contributed to the creation of high-value, high- technology products and services. Contributions from academic research to major cross-sector technologies, such as information technology, have directly benefited many industries. For example, information technology is critical to the technical and market performance of aircraft and has profoundly changed the structure and performance of the financial services, as well as the transportation, distribution, and logistics services industries. Similarly, intelligent sensors, computer-aided diagnosis, and robotics are the basis for many new medical de- vices. Research in materials science and bioengineering has enabled advances in products and processes in many industries. The five industry studies have also underscored the multidisciplinary char- acter of many innovations in products and services. For example, the develop- ment of new medical devices relies heavily on advances not only in the life sciences, but also in the physical sciences and engineering. Many service inno- vations in the network systems and communications industry have depended on complementary progress in engineering and physical, social, and behav- · 1 ora1 sciences. Contributions from the Social Sciences Finding 7-8. Many valuable contributions to industry have resulted from aca- demic research in the social, behavioral, management, and policy sciences. Network Systems and Communications Industry Academic business schools have long been concerned with making the ben- efits of information technology available to businesses. Through research, a num- ber of approaches and techniques have been developed, including decision- support systems, the implementation of information technology for strategic ad- vantage, computer-supported cooperation, productivity research, and software development methodologies. Deregulation, partly a response to academic re- search in economics, has affected all five of the industries in this study to varying degrees. Economics research on network externalities and Internet economics has helped to define business strategies for electronic businesses and Internet service providers. Organizational aspects of communications service companies are the focus of attention in new information-management schools and programs. Re- search by psychologists and social scientists has explored how people use com- puter and communication systems and the effects of these systems on people and organizations. An excellent example is a classic study by Card et al. (1983) showing how cognitive psychology can be used to estimate human performance when interacting with a computer.

THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH Medical Devices and Equipment Industry 213 Research in engineering, the natural sciences, the social sciences, risk analysis, and business are likely to be of increasing importance to medical information systems. In addition, clinical research studies that help determine the acceptance or rejection of new medical devices require a broad-based approach that incorporates a variety of disciplines. Aerospace Industry In a broad sense, academic research on production and management systems, typically performed by business faculty, has had an enormous impact on all manufacturing industries. Concepts that have contributed to recent increases in productivity in manufacturing, such as total quality management, workforce em- powerment, supply-chain integration, and just-in-time production, were identi- fied and disseminated by academic researchers. The Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is an example of multidisciplinary research with strong industry participation. Focused on strate- gies for applying lean manufacturing and management concepts to aerospace, LAI includes research in several engineering disciplines, economics, behavioral science, computer science, marketing, management, and other disciplines. Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics Services Industry The research most relevant to integrated logistics is in operations research, an area associated with engineering schools, applied mathematics departments, and business or management programs. Human factors research and consumer research are also important to the industry. Financial Services Industry The financial services industry has a history of benefiting from economics and business research rather than research in natural sciences and engineering. Leading examples are the Nobel prize-winning work in economics by Markowitz and Sharpe on portfolio theory, by Scholes and Merton on pricing derivative securities, and by Koopmans and Kantrovich on linear pricing models. Academic research in the social sciences has contributed to an understanding of large data sets and consumer behavior. In addition, academic researchers have been instru- mental in analyzing legal and regulatory restraints on financial services. VECTORS OF CONTRIBUTION Finding 7-9. Numerous diverse, robust, and often mutually reinforcing vectors link academic research to the five industries.

214 THE IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH ON INDUSTRIAL PERFORMANCE The traditional idea of universities as places that educate students and con- duct basic research is, at best, incomplete. Ideas and people are carried by mul- tiple vectors between academia and industry. These vectors include the direct hiring of students, graduates, and faculty by industry; temporary exchanges of researchers; faculty consulting arrangements; sabbaticals; research grants and contracts; institutional mechanisms at universities (e.g., research centers, consor- tia, industrial liaison programs); technology licensing; spin-off companies; publi- cations; conferences; and short courses. The modes or pathways are summarized in Box 7-3. IMPACT OF CONTRIBUTIONS Measuring the quantitative impact of specific innovations on the perfor- mance of a firm or an industry is extremely difficult because performance in the market is determined by synergies between multiple innovations and other fac- tors, both internal and external. Isolating the contribution of academic research is at best an inexact science. Therefore, this study was designed from the outset to provide a qualitative assessment. Panels for each industry relied on informed opinion, informal surveys of industry and academic leaders, workshop discus- sions, and expert judgment to assess the impact of academic research on in- dustry performance. Network Systems and Communications Industry Academic research has had a substantial impact on this industry. The flow of researchers, ideas, and entrepreneurial activity between universities and industry, coupled with government support for research and test beds for infrastructure development, have been instrumental in the creation of new companies, services, and modes of business. As emphasis shifts to the deployment and maintenance of large-scale systems and the economical provision of services, the impact of uni- versity research may be moderated somewhat because research relevant to opera- tional networks is expensive and often proprietary. Many firms opt to hire ca- pable university researchers, rather than fund research at universities. However, the federal government continues to invest heavily in academic research on infor- mation technology, which is expected to generate results with long-term com- mercial impacts. Medical Devices and Equipment Industry Academic research has had a substantial impact on performance in this in- dustry. In addition to science- and technology-based research and innovation in universities, academic medical centers (AMCs) play a unique role. Industry and academia depend on each other for product development, testing, introduction,

THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH 215

216 THE IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH ON INDUSTRIAL PERFORMANCE and modification of medical devices at AMCs. Nevertheless, the impact could be even greater if there were a more systematic approach to educational partnerships between industry and universities. These partnerships might include the sharing of large, expensive medical research facilities and joint research and train- . . . . sing activities. Aerospace Industry Although many basic concepts and a good deal of the fundamental knowl- edge of aerodynamics were developed by academics, the impact of academic research on performance in the mature sectors of the aerospace industry has been relatively modest in recent years. The combination of aerospace corporations' strong research capabilities, concerns about intellectual property rights, an em- phasis on incremental improvements in products with long life cycles, and com- petitive pressures that demand improvements in production processes has limited the current value of academic research. However, industry and government labo- ratories that support the mature aspects of the industry continue to depend on graduates educated and trained at universities, and aerospace continues to be one of the most research-intensive industries. Less mature sectors, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and space-based information systems, where innovation is pro- ceeding rapidly, depend heavily on universities for research and innovation. Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics Services Industry The impact of academic research on performance in transportation, distribu- tion, and logistics services as a whole has been relatively modest. Basic re- search, some of it done in the 1950s with no logistics applications in mind, has had the greatest impact on the industry. Linear and integer programming and queueing theory are the building blocks of the information-management and decision-support technologies at the heart of the integrated-logistics revolution. Applied research in these fields has also made important contributions, such as large-scale optimization modeling, decomposition methods, network optimiza- tion, and advances in other areas of operations research. These successes not- withstanding, a large gap remains between technologies that could have a tre- mendous impact and technologies that actually have had an impact. Overall, there is not enough demand from the industry or capacity in the industry to take advantage of research results. Financial Services Industry Academic research has had a substantial impact on certain aspects of the financial services industry, especially on novel financial products and services. The financial instruments, investment management, and decision-support tools

THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND IMPACT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH 217 created in academia or through public-private partnerships have been critical to new products, business lines, and more efficient transactions, and hence to the success of the industry. Furthermore, a significant component of modern finan- cial services would not be possible without the fundamental mathematical tools developed for or adapted to financial problems by academia. Research has fo- cused on linear programming models in economics, portfolio theory, and pricing derivative securities. University research has greatly impacted financial services despite the lack of a well developed, organized R&D system focused directly on problems and issues related to financial services. NOTES 1Drawing on Lundvall's (1992) definition of national innovation systems, the committee defines an industry's system of innovation as "constituted by elements (people, capital, organizations, et al.) and relationships that interact in the production, diffusion and use of new, and economically useful, knowledge" within a given industry. 2At the end of the funding period for NSF-supported engineering research centers, most ERCs will become self-sustaining. Currently there are 16 self-sustaining ERCs. REFERENCES AUTM (Association of University Technology Managers). 2002. AUTM Licensing Survey, FY 2001. Northbrook, Ill.: AUTM. Card, S.K., T.P. Moran, and A. Newell. 1983. The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Cohen, W.M., R. Florida, L.P. Randazzese, and J. Walsh. 1998. Industry and the Academy: Uneasy Partners in the Cause of Technological Advance. Pp. 171-199 in Challenges to Research Uni- versities, R. Noll, ed. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution. Lundvall, B.L. 1992. National Systems of Innovation: Towards a Theory of Innovation and Inter- active Learning. London: Pinter Publishers. Nelson, L. 2000. Many Forms of Technology Transfer from Universities. Viewgraph presented at the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Colloquium, Washington, D.C., April 2000. NSB (National Science Board). 2000. Science and Engineering Indicators 2000. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. NSF (National Science Foundation). 2001. Engineering Research Centers: Partnerships for Competi- tiveness. Arlington, Va.: National Science Foundation.

Drawing on the findings of sector-specific workshops, e-mail surveys, research literature, expert testimony, and committee and panel members' expertise, this National Academy of Engineering study assesses the qualitative impact of academic research on five industries—network systems and communications; medical devices and equipment; aerospace; transportation, distribution, and logistics services; and financial services. The book documents the range and significance of academic research contributions to the five industries—comparing the importance of different types of contributions, the multi- and interdisciplinary nature of these contributions, and the multiple vectors by which academic research is linked to each industry. The book calls for action to address six cross-cutting challenges to university-industry interactions: the growing disciplinary and time-horizon-related imbalances in federal R&D funding, barriers to university-industry interaction in service industries, the critical role of academic research in the advancement of information technology, the role of academic research in the regulation of industry, the impact of technology transfer activities on core university research and education missions, and the search for new pathways and mechanisms to enhance the contributions of academic research to industry. The book also includes findings and recommendations specific to each industry.

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4+ SAMPLE Research Contribution Statement in PDF | MS Word

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Research Contribution Statement

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Contribution In A Sentence: 100 Examples for Great English

Today, we’ll take a look at 100 examples of contribution in a sentence to help you understand how to use the word effectively. These examples will show you different ways to incorporate contribution into your daily English usage. Practice these sentences to enhance your vocabulary and fluency.

Contribution in a Sentence

Here are the first 25 examples of contribution in a sentence . Read each one carefully and repeat them to practice your pronunciation.

• Her contribution to the project was very important.
• He made a big contribution to the research paper.
• The team appreciated his contribution during the meeting.
• Each member’s contribution was noted in the report.
• They celebrated her contribution to the community.
• His financial contribution helped buy new equipment.
• The volunteers’ contribution was key to the event’s success.
• She won an award for her outstanding contribution.
• The contribution of every participant was vital for the study.
• Jake recognized her contribution to the team’s success.

Related: Committee In A Sentence: 100 Examples for Great English

• His creative contribution was essential for the project.
• The company values the contribution of each employee.
• She made a significant contribution to the charity.
• The committee discussed the impact of his contribution.
• His contribution to the discussion was very helpful.
• They highlighted her contribution in the annual report.
• The sponsors’ contribution was crucial for the festival.
• Each person’s contribution was important to the group effort.
• The project’s success was due to everyone’s contribution.
• Her contribution to the research was groundbreaking.
• He was proud of his contribution to the team’s success.
• The community’s contribution was clear at the event.
• They thanked the volunteers for their generous contribution.
• His contribution to the campaign was crucial for its success.
• The organization acknowledged every contribution with thanks.

Related: Career In A Sentence: 100 Examples for Great English

Sentences with Contribution: More Examples

Here are more sentences with contribution. Continue practicing these sentences to build your English skills.

• Her contribution to the book was a detailed chapter.
• The contribution of data was crucial for our analysis.
• He made a valuable contribution by providing advice.
• The team leader praised everyone’s contribution.
• The project thrived thanks to everyone’s contribution.
• His contribution helped clarify several points in the meeting.
• They celebrated her contribution to the project’s success.
• The funds contributed accelerated our progress.
• She was recognized for her early contribution to the initiative.
• The company made a large contribution to local charities.
• His innovative contribution was noted in the final report.
• The volunteers’ contributions made the event successful.
• She felt proud of her contribution to the achievements.
• The community’s contribution was vital for the park’s construction.
• They detailed his contribution in the project’s conclusion.
• Her artistic contribution was featured in the exhibition.
• The contribution of technology improved our process.
• He stressed the importance of every contribution in his speech.
• The team’s ideas contributed to a successful outcome.
• They appreciated her financial contribution to the cause.
• The contribution of time and effort showed in the final product.
• His contribution to the debate was insightful.
• The organization relied on each member’s contribution.
• Her contribution was key in reaching the project’s goals.
• They thanked everyone for their generous contribution to the event.

Contribution in a Sentence: Part 3

Here you’ll find the next set of examples for contribution in a sentence. Keep practicing these sentences to improve your English proficiency.

• His early contribution laid the foundation for the project.
• The volunteers’ contribution was highlighted in the event’s success.
• She made a remarkable contribution to the fundraiser.
• The team’s success was due to everyone’s contribution.
• His contribution to the strategy helped refine the plan.
• They made sure every contribution was recognized.
• The contribution of each partner was crucial to the collaboration.
• Her scientific contribution advanced the research.
• The project benefited greatly from his technical contribution.
• The organization celebrated each contribution during the ceremony.
• His contribution to the policy was influential.
• She was honored for her contribution to the research field.
• The community’s contribution to the park was greatly appreciated.
• The contribution of each participant was noted in the report.
• His financial and personal contribution supported the center.
• They expressed gratitude for every contribution made.
• Her contribution to the book’s editing was vital.
• The committee valued each member’s contribution.
• His contribution to the art project was acknowledged.
• The team’s achievements were a result of everyone’s contribution.
• She made a substantial contribution to the product’s development.
• The contribution of the research team was crucial for the findings.
• They recognized his contribution to the company’s success.
• Her contribution was key in meeting the project’s milestones.
• The organization praised the contribution of its volunteers.

Contribution Questions

Here are 25 questions using the word contribution. Answer these questions in full sentences to practice your English.

• What is a significant contribution you have made to a project?
• How do you acknowledge someone’s contribution in a team?
• Why is it important to value each person’s contribution?
• How can someone make a meaningful contribution to a community?
• What types of contributions are valued in a workplace?
• How do you measure the impact of someone’s contribution?
• What can be done to encourage more contribution from team members?
• How do you document a contribution in a report?
• How does a contribution affect the success of a project?
• What role does feedback play in recognizing contributions?
• How can contributions be recognized beyond verbal praise?
• What are some examples of non-monetary contributions?
• How do you ensure every contribution is fairly acknowledged?
• Why might a person’s contribution be crucial to a project’s success?
• How does collaboration enhance individual contributions?
• What challenges might arise in recognizing contributions?
• How can you effectively communicate the importance of a contribution?
• What strategies can be used to track contributions in a project?
• How does recognizing contributions impact team morale?
• What are the benefits of acknowledging contributions publicly?
• How can you incorporate contributions into a project plan?
• What methods can highlight a person’s contribution?

Contribution Paragraph

Here is a paragraph using the word contribution. Use it for inspiration in your writing!

A contribution is more than just an addition; it’s a vital part of any project. Each person’s contribution can greatly influence the outcome. Recognizing and valuing these contributions helps to motivate team members and creates a positive environment. Whether through ideas, support, or hard work, every contribution plays a crucial role in achieving shared goals. Acknowledging contributions builds stronger relationships and encourages continued engagement and effort.

Contribution in a Sentence: A Useful English Noun Practice

I hope you found these examples of contribution in a sentence helpful! For more English practice, explore other resources on this website. Here are 3 final examples for today’s word:

• Her contribution to the community garden made a big difference.
• They were grateful for his generous contribution to the charity.
• The team celebrated the successful contribution of every member.

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Article Contents

Sample and sample size, what is a “small” sample size, what happens with a small sample size and why is it not ideal, author contributions, conflicts of interest, data availability.

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Why is a small sample size not enough?

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Ying Cao, Ronald C Chen, Aaron J Katz, Why is a small sample size not enough?, The Oncologist , Volume 29, Issue 9, September 2024, Pages 761–763, https://doi.org/10.1093/oncolo/oyae162

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Clinical studies are often limited by resources available, which results in constraints on sample size. We use simulated data to illustrate study implications when the sample size is too small.

Using 2 theoretical populations each with N  = 1000, we randomly sample 10 from each population and conduct a statistical comparison, to help make a conclusion about whether the 2 populations are different. This exercise is repeated for a total of 4 studies: 2 concluded that the 2 populations are statistically significantly different, while 2 showed no statistically significant difference.

Our simulated examples demonstrate that sample sizes play important roles in clinical research. The results and conclusions, in terms of estimates of means, medians, Pearson correlations, chi-square test, and P values, are unreliable with small samples.

A sample comprises the individuals from whom we collect data and represents a share of the population ( N ) for whom we want to draw conclusions (eg, women breast cancer).

The sample size ( n ) is the number of individual people, experimental units, or other elements included in a sample, and is a central concept in statistical applications to clinical research. Given that researchers often have limited resources (financial and personnel) and time to conduct a study, it is not feasible to collect data from an entire population and, in some cases, only possible to obtain information from a seemingly small sample of individuals.

There is no universal agreement, and it remains controversial as to what number designates a small sample size. Some researchers consider a sample of n  = 30 to be “small” while others use n  = 20 or n  = 10 to distinguish a small sample size.

“Small” is also relative in statistical analysis. For example, in genome-wide association studies and microbiome research, although the sample size ( n ) is often in the hundreds or even thousands of observations, the number of markers ( p ) of interest (eg, single-nucleotide polymorphisms) is typically in the hundreds of thousands, creating a “large p small n ” conundrum that necessitates the use of advanced statistical techniques for analysis. 1

To illustrate some points, we use simulated data representing 2 different theoretical populations (group 1 and group 2) 2 with a normal distribution for each of the populations ( N  = 1000 for each). Group 1 population has an asymptotic mean = 0 and SD = 1, while the group 2 population has an asymptotic mean = 0.5 and SD = 0.5. This is the entire population and therefore represents the “truth.” Now we randomly select 10 values (10 data points) from each of the normal distributions and perform a (nonparametric) Wilcoxon rank-sum test (also known as Mann-Whitney U test) to examine whether both groups come from the same population or have the same shape. We repeat this exercise multiple times ( Figure 1 ).

(A) Two random samples of n  = 10 each were drawn from 2 normally distributed populations each with N  = 1000. Population 1 has means 0 and SD 1, and population 2 has mean 0.5 and SD 0.5. (B-D) Images illustrate new random samples using the same methodology as in panel (A).

These 4 results do not support a firm conclusion as to whether the 2 population distributions are either statistically the same or different. Why? Because in 2 of the random samples drawn, as shown in Figure 1a , 1b , the median values differ between the 2 groups, suggesting the population distributions are significantly ( P value < 0.05) different; still, in the other 2 random samples, as shown in Figure 1c , 1d , the medians are close together, which suggests the population distributions are similar (the P values are much larger than .05).

Results from further simulations (not shown) demonstrate that once the sample size reaches n  = 50, the results from the Wilcoxon rank-sum test (with continuity correction) begin to approach those of the 2-sample t -test (with Welch correction for unequal variances), which indicates that the randomly drawn samples are starting to follow a normal distribution. As the sample size increases, the results of the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and 2-sample t -tests continue to converge. This yields an explicit confirmation of the large sample theory (asymptotic approximation).

These observations are directly relevant to clinicians and clinical research. For example, an investigator wants to compare the survival outcomes of patients with stage 1 lung cancer treated with lobectomy or stereotactic body radiation therapy. With small sample sizes (eg, 10 patients in each treatment group), there can be random variation in the results; thus, multiple studies of small sample sizes might provide different/opposite findings. With larger sample sizes, such random variation would be reduced and thereby provide more valid results.

This same concept also applies to estimates of other statistics, including the Pearson correlation coefficient r , chi-square test, and related P values.

Our simulated example demonstrates that sample sizes play important roles in clinical research. The results and conclusions, in terms of estimates of means, medians, Pearson correlations, chi-square test, and P values, are unreliable with small samples. Even when “statistically significant”, small sample size studies might provide spurious results. Thus, caution is needed when interpreting results from small studies.

Ying Cao performed the data simulations. All authors contributed to the conception and design, manuscript writing, revision of the original submission, and final approval of the manuscript.

None declared.

The authors indicated no financial relationships.

The data were created by computer algorithms in software R Core Team, 3 therefore not directly related to any clinical resources or patients.

Hastie T , Tibshirani R , Friedman J. Chapter 18 . In: The Elements of Statistical Learning: Data Mining, Inference, and Prediction . 2nd ed. Springer Series in Statistics . Springer ; 2016 .

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Halsey L , Curran-Everett D , Bowler S , et al. . The fickle P value generates irreproducible results . Nat Methods . 2015 ; 12 ( 3 ): 179 - 185 .

R Core Team . R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing . R Foundation for Statistical Computing ; 2022 . https://www.R-project.org/

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