Contact
Biography
My background is in cognitive psychology and the science of human attention. I started working in academic research in 2004 and spent the first 10 years of my career measuring reaction times and eye movements. My PhD was on how humans allocate their attention to written words. In 2015 I came to Dundee dental school and entered the murky waters of interdisciplinary working. The measurement of human attention turned out to be an excellent education in the general practice of research involving humans. Here at the dental school, I deliver lectures, practical classes and one-to-one coaching on various aspects of the research process. I am the dental school’s research integrity lead and provide confidential advice on the responsible conduct of research.
Research
I collaborate on staff and student research projects and this has resulted in a number of publications with me as a co-author. Examples of topics covered include:
- The use of Wikipedia in dentistry
- Estimating age and sex from tooth morphology
- 3D modelling in forensic dentistry
- The challenges associated with bite-mark analysis
- Comparing different types of wire for use in orthodontics
- Facial aesthetics
- Infant mortality associated with cleft lip and palate
Teaching
I am available by appointment to provide face-to-face coaching in research and statistical methodology to staff and students within the dental school. I deliver lectures and practical classes as part of the dental undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum. My courses provide an introduction to thinking like a scientist. Key topics covered include:
- Are you asking questions you genuinely wish to hear the answers to?
- Understanding different types of inference
- Slaying the “Data Blob” – the horrific beast that kills student research projects
- Understanding descriptive statistics
- What do p-values actually mean?
- Common mistakes made by researchers, or why most published science is nonsense…