Strengthening Research Engagements in Dentistry

LENGTHS   When creating reading materials, questionnaires and surveys, keeping in mind the principle of “first impressions” can be crucial.   One such factor that influences our first impressions is the overall length of reading materials.   Even before we’ve had a chance to start reading, our brain forms an opinion on the material at hand based on its LENGTH or number of pages.   Who wants to spend time reading a 25-page article when a 2-page summary of the same is readily available? Why do you think journal articles come with 100–200-word abstracts?   Refer to the document images attached (Let’s use the same document images as before).   At a glance, which looks more time-consuming to read? Document 1:  OR Document 2: 

All of us have the same 24 hours in a day, but not all of us have the same energy or time to spend reading materials that aren’t urgent or absolutely necessary for our day-to-day activities or work. The human mind is a wonderful and amazing tool that helps us manage our limited time by finding ways to maximize efficiency. One such trick our brains use is to prioritize tasks by ease, using “first impressions” as an inherent hack. When providing reading materials to others, be it journal articles or blog posts, it can be extremely useful to keep this hack in mind. Always work to help the brains of our audience form favourable first impressions on our reading materials, texts, lists - anything, really. What factors would you consider when providing reading materials to your audience? 🤔

Designing a questionnaire for your study may seem easy; after all, once you have spent enough time gathering literature, all that's left is to identify key pieces of information and convert them in the form of questions. So it goes to stand that the more time you spend gathering relevant literature, the more content you collect to convert and reform as questions for your questionnaire tool. Still, how much is too much? Where do you draw the line and say "well, that should be enough"? Truth is, there is no real guideline. This is where your field experience comes into play. Depending on who you intend to gather information from, using your tool, your questionnaire can be as long or as short as you want it to be. But be warned that nobody likes to sit through and attempt to answer a never ending list of questions that hit hard on their brain cells. Does your tool target individuals who are generally too busy to even have time for themselves? Go for less. Do you plan t...

When formatting your CV or designing a questionnaire, a key concept often overlooked is the presence of NEGATIVE SPACES.   How often do you think about the lack of written matter in a document?   When crunching numbers and words, it is so easy to hone in on all the matter scattered around on your pages, but what makes it readable are the negative spaces that do not fill it.   Negative spaces can be strategically or non-strategically placed; they can be necessary or placed for aesthetic value. Strategically placed negative spaces serve to prevent overcrowding of information and stop you from feeling overwhelmed when you look at a document.   Ever wondered why certain texts, even when they are 25 pages long, feel easier to read and digest than some texts that are only 3 pages long but jam-packed and full of information? Consider the following document images attached. Which appears easier to read? Document A:  OR Document B: