Alex Petrovic – Australian Science

Market Research: Science vs. Art

Alex Petrovic — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 00:15:09 +0000

Market research – it’s the essential step that every business needs to take to maximise their chance of success. It’s a hugely complex study area, and market research companies are constantly trying to find new ways to get the best results. From online and field surveys to panel interviews and product testing, there are hundreds of ways to gather information about the market place.

Naturally, there is a lot of science behind this research. With billions of dollars invested by businesses into market research, it’s essential that there is some science to back it up. But increasingly, art and creativity is playing a more prominent role.

What is market research?

Market research in itself is a science. At its core, it is about collecting qualitative and quantitative data about customers and the target markets of a particular product or service. The key purpose of market research is to ensure a business or product stays ahead of its competition. The goal once the data is collected is to analyse, interpret and assess what the market wants and needs; it also looks at competition and the size of the need. Using this assessment, businesses can work out how best to market their product. (Small Business Development Corporation, 2014)

Despite the overall purpose of market research being quite simple, there is not just one way to achieve the end result. In the era of the internet, businesses are becoming more competitive than ever before – and at a much faster rate. Market research needs to be more innovative and creative to stay ahead.

Psychology and market research

Many of the world’s largest market research company hire psychologists to develop and analyse market research plans. Qualified consumer psychologists specifically look at the behaviours of shoppers and try to work out why they are making the decisions that they do.

Psychologists are the perfect fit for market research, says psychologist Graham Chant. “Psychology training is extremely useful in market research. In fact, it could be argued that it is one of the few areas that make use of the board range of psychology skills,

Cite this article:
Petrovic A (2014-04-11 00:15:09). Market Research: Science vs. Art. Australian Science. Retrieved: May 02, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/research-2/market-research-science-vs-art/

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The post Market Research: Science vs. Art appeared first on Australian Science.

The Science of Translation

Alex Petrovic — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 05:37:50 +0000

Language is a fascinating and complex part of human society. Not even the most esteemed linguists can put a number on how many languages there are in the world – not to mention the various dialects within those languages (Linguistic Society, 2014).

What’s most interesting – and what poses the biggest challenges for translators – is that words don’t always have the same meaning in every language. As such, words are not ‘just words’ – they have a cultural and historical background, that only those who grew up immersed in the language can truly understand.

This ambiguity across languages and dialects is a huge challenge for scientists, in particular, and has been the focus of several research projects. If a scientific study is in French, how can one be certain that its English or Chinese counterpart, for example, holds the same meaning as the original author intended?

Studies into Translation

Naturally, a lot of scientific translations have been done. Almost every significant study or piece of research done around the world is likely to have been translated into another language for scholars to read.

Several studies have looked at the discrepancies, and consequences, that have arisen from poor translation. Examples include a study conducted in 2011 (Shuttleworth, M.) investigated the translations of 1354 sections of text published across 62 Scientific American articles in several different languages, while Sharkhas (2009) did a quality assessment of English-Arabic translations in popular science. Both found that the key discrepancies related to cultural variations and semantic differences.

The Translator journal published a very interesting special issue that looked at some of the key studies surrounding science and translation in 2011, which included Shuttleworth’s study.

Machine translations

Millions, perhaps billions, of dollars have been thrown into computer-generated translators over the past few decades. But you only need to have a little experience of using the popular Google Translate tool to know that there is still a long way to go. Unfortunately we’re still not at a stage where scientists can put full faith into automated translators.

Despite how incredibly far we have come over the last 40 years, the same problems exist in translation – language is just too complex. Philipp Koehn, a machine translation researcher at the University of Edinburgh School of Informatics told the BBC, “Language is always ambiguous, so you can’t always use rules, and new vocabulary is always coming in, so you need someone to continually maintain those rules.” (BBC, 2012)

The future of translation

Considering how much has been achieved in the science of translation over the past few decades, there is no doubting we are moving forward and getting closer to more accurate translations.

There is still a while to go until scientists can fully trust computer-generated translations, however, because in many cases there can significant consequences to poor translations. Imagine if a medical textbook given to new doctors mixed up some key theories?

So, while travelers, businesses and language students already have access to fantastic tools for everyday translations that are close to reliable, scientists will keep on researching and developing for many years to come.

Other useful References:
http://www.simpletranslation.com/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3204888/

Cite this article:
Petrovic A (2014-04-01 05:37:50). The Science of Translation. Australian Science. Retrieved: May 02, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/education/the-science-of-translation/

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The post The Science of Translation appeared first on Australian Science.

The Detrimental Effect of Brain-Drain on the Scientific Community

Alex Petrovic — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 00:17:34 +0000

A highly educated and highly skilled workforce is a valuable resource for any country. Having top-level professionals in several key fields – be they engineers, medical doctors, physicists or programmers – is as important to a country’s development as its natural resources. Sadly, a lot of countries can’t offer a tangible incentive for either professors working in higher education institutions or skilled professionals that have received training in such institutions. For this reason the brunt of the country’s brain power migrates to more developed countries, such as Australia, where they have the opportunity to improve, use cutting edge technology and get a handsome reward for their work.

This means that developing countries – such as India and South Africa – often find themselves in a paradoxical situation where they need to improve the social and financial situation in order to keep their intellectual elite, but they need that same highly skilled workforce in order to work out the problems and improve the conditions within the country. Developed countries, on the other hand, benefit greatly from the phenomenon of brain-drain as they see a steady increase of highly educated and technically proficient professionals from both the local populace and those coming in from different countries.

It has been shown over and over again that out of the total number of students who come from developing countries to study in universities in America, Canada, UK or Australia, only a small number actually return home. This is great news for developed countries – they provide optimal conditions for the local populace to receive higher education, but they also get young, intelligent people from across the globe who come and stay, as well as fully trained professionals who actually received their training abroad and come looking for a job. Thus, the scientific community becomes saturated and there is a lot more competition – which leads to only the very best being at the forefront of their respective fields. For this reason there is constant innovation and improvement, so countries such as Australia take the lead when it comes to technological development while some countries with the weaker economies that actually have a pretty good education system lag behind.

The Australian government strives to make it easy for these talented individuals to come into the country, offering a migration program that enables people to earn visas based on their skills. There is such a huge influx of skilled professionals that many professions reach full saturation and are removed from the Skilled Occupations List (SOL), which means that at this point Australia has more skilled professionals available in certain sectors than it actually needs. While this is a great for Australia, countries in dire need of skilled professionals get left out of the equation and are faced with more banal problems. Brain-drain only increases the gap between developed and developing countries, which leads to a lot of very important problems – e.g. famine and disease – being overlooked or inadequately addressed. There is no simple solution for this technological monopoly, but we have to start thinking on a more global level if we are to progress to the next step in our evolution as an advanced civilization.

Cite this article:
Petrovic A (2013-12-14 00:17:34). The Detrimental Effect of Brain-Drain on the Scientific Community. Australian Science. Retrieved: May 02, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/australia-2/the-detrimental-effect-of-brain-drain-on-the-scientific-community/

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Things Every Young Scientist Should Know About Industrial Science

Alex Petrovic — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 00:26:26 +0000

Pretty much every industry has some glaring problems that have yet to be addressed – change comes slowly, but it does come and we strive to improve. However, with the scientific industry some of the problems are not that obvious or easy to resolve. As you would expect from a group of highly educated and skilled intellectuals, things tend to get a bit complicated. While some people are content to be academics and focus on teaching, a number of scientists feel that there is much more opportunity to actually make a difference in the industrial sector and the fact that there is more money involved is a great motivation as well. However, a career in science involves some sacrifices.

For instance, working for a company means that a scientist doesn’t have a lot of freedom when it comes to research. You will be paid to do to a job, and like with any job the higher-ups will expect results and have you follow strict rules. Higher education also means devoting yourself full-time to studying and researching, all the way through your mid and late twenties. So those looking for a job will need to wait quite a bit before they earn their doctorates.

It’s a very competitive environment

The nature of the industry itself doesn’t always allow for a relatively seamless transition from studying to getting a job. Simply put, there is a lot of competition. Companies have a big pool of skilled scientists to choose from and there are a lot of highly educated immigrants with PhD’s coming to the country. The Australian government is providing incentive for scientists from all over the world to come to Australia, where they have a job waiting for them. This means that young scientists will be up against a huge number of very capable competitors. Employees are often needed for a part-time position or are recruited for a particular project, so even if a person gets chosen out of the mass of eager scientists they don’t necessarily have job security.

It’s often hard to keep up with technology

As previously mentioned the technology used in a number of different fields evolves very rapidly and keeping up with it requires constant training. On the most basic level, even things like data entry and writing reports requires a proficiency and digital literacy, and not everyone feels comfortable with the software. A lot of the time employers will assume that everyone already knows how to use existing software optimally or they expect you to catch up on the fly. For someone who has already spent a good part of their life studying and improving their knowledge in a very specialized area this presents an additional burden and can lead to dissatisfaction and lack of motivation. Companies that offer training can keep their employees engaged and improve productivity, but this way of getting everyone up to speed is often neglected. More often than not people will be left to their own devices.

All in all, devoting life to science is a noble cause, and there is both money to be made and an opportunity to produce some tangible results in the field of industrial science, but starting a career in this field is a difficult endeavor that requires tons of dedication and patience.

Cite this article:
Petrovic A (2013-12-12 00:26:26). Things Every Young Scientist Should Know About Industrial Science. Australian Science. Retrieved: May 02, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/australia-2/things-every-young-scientist-should-know-about-industrial-science/

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The post Things Every Young Scientist Should Know About Industrial Science appeared first on Australian Science.

The Most Useful Science Student Books for AU Universities

Alex Petrovic — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 07:09:10 +0000

Student life can be a bit of a struggle – you are at your prime, young and energetic, and you need to balance studying, fun and work, all the while trying to make ends meet on an often limited budget. Be that as it may, Australia still has some of the best universities in the world, which offer great learning opportunities to their students. When it comes to science there are a lot of options to choose, but keeping in mind that students often have to make due on a tight budget I will look into some useful general textbooks that cover all the important basics and some cost-effective purchase options. These are all textbooks that offer great information on the core principles in their respective fields and can give students a very strong scientific foundation which they can expand upon as they progress in their studies. Within this article I am going to focus just on two science fields: Bioscience and Chemistry.

Biosciences Textbooks

Biosciences are particularly interesting scientific branches that offer deeper insights into the way we are built, how our bodies work and how our body chemistry can be manipulated to improve health and fight disease. They also offer great career opportunities. Some great bioscience textbooks include:

Pharmacology for Pharmacy and the Health Sciences – a great choice for those that want to learn about the clinical use of drugs and their effects on the human body on a cellular level. This textbook can help you built a solid knowledge base in pharmacology.
Essentials of Human Nutrition – a good overall choice for those who wish to familiarize themselves with the field of nutrition. The textbook gives a broad overview of the field.
Chemistry for the Biosciences – an overview of the core concepts of chemistry and how they affect the biological world. The textbook contains numerous analogies and real world examples which help those studying biological and biomedical science get a good understanding of this crucial information and allow them to later build upon this knowledge.

Chemistry Textbooks

Chemistry is an integral part of our daily lives and even laymen will cross paths with some of its laws during simple daily tasks. Some great textbooks every chemistry student should have by his or her side include:

Inorganic Chemistry, Sixth Edition – a comprehensive and easy to read textbook that covers all the fundamental principles as well as practical applications.
Organic Chemistry: a mechanistic approach – this textbook provides a great insight into the nature of organic compounds and their reactions and serves as an introduction into more complex subjects and deeper research.
Atkins’ Physical Chemistry, Tenth Edition – an easy to read textbook that will allow you to quickly find all the information you need on physical chemistry. It contains information on areas such as thermodynamics, quantum theory, molecular structure and chemical kinetics.

Many of these books you can find online and the best thing is that you can actually get used textbooks from older students, or you can get eBook versions which are significantly cheaper or you can even rent textbooks for a limited time, e.g. for a month when preparing an exam.

All in all, these textbooks will provide you with enough material to develop a strong understanding of the basic scientific principles that you will need to call upon many times during your studies.

Cite this article:
Petrovic A (2013-08-30 07:09:10). The Most Useful Science Student Books for AU Universities. Australian Science. Retrieved: May 02, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/australian-universities/the-most-useful-science-student-books-for-au-universities/

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