Digging Deeper
Research is hard work. Researchers may spend months, years, or even decades collecting data. Sometimes when researchers analyze that data and try to present it in a handful of published pages, it can be difficult to include every single thing they did, or to discuss all the problems they encountered in the experiment or study.
Luckily, we know that it is good to ask more questions, even of published research. Doing so gives you practice in critical thinking, a skill that is beneficial in any endeavor. After you read "Can Stress Prolong Pregnancy" and maybe try your hand at the original article, "Post-term birth as a response to environmental stress," think of some potential questions about the data, hypotheses, and conclusions that the researchers presented and see if you can come up with any holes in the study. Print out or copy down the questions below and think or write out your answers. When you’re done, visit our “Digging Deeper: Stress and Gestation” PDF to see what we came up with.
Questions:
Want us to add something to an article’s Digging Deeper page? Send us your suggestions.
Additional images via Wikimedia Commons. Pregnant belly image by Milan Nykodym.
Taylette Nunez. (2016, November 04). Digging Deeper: Stress and Gestation. ASU - Ask A Biologist. Retrieved January 17, 2025 from https://askabiologist.asu.edu/evmed-edit/stress-timing-birth/dig-deeper
Taylette Nunez. "Digging Deeper: Stress and Gestation". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 04 November, 2016. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/evmed-edit/stress-timing-birth/dig-deeper
Taylette Nunez. "Digging Deeper: Stress and Gestation". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 04 Nov 2016. ASU - Ask A Biologist, Web. 17 Jan 2025. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/evmed-edit/stress-timing-birth/dig-deeper
Does stress increase the chances of post-term pregnancy? After reading our version of the story and the main linked article, check out the Digging Deeper PDF for our input.
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