Using free AI Consensus for results of research studies- AI tools for students

Dr J.
21 Jun 202304:12

TLDRThe video tutorial introduces 'Consensus,' an AI tool that assists students in finalizing their research projects. It accesses open-source databases to provide summaries and quotes from research papers, helping to identify relationships such as between social media use and jealousy in romantic relationships. Users can access abstracts and full texts, though access may require library accounts. The tool also offers a 'synthesize' feature, summarizing findings from multiple papers, indicating consensus and contradictions in research findings, aiding students in validating research questions and exploring further articles.

Takeaways

  • 🔍 Use the AI tool 'Consensus' to find ideas for research projects by querying academic topics.
  • 📚 Consensus has limited access to open source databases, unlike ChatGPT, which does not have access to academic databases.
  • 🔗 After querying, Consensus provides summaries and quotes from research papers, along with links to the source material.
  • 👀 Users can click on the provided links to view the abstract and potentially access the full text, which might require a library account or other credentials.
  • ⚠️ Be cautious as Consensus might sometimes summarize findings without specific citations, making it difficult to trace back to the original research.
  • 📅 You can set a time limit on the recency of articles you wish to review, helping to narrow down the search results.
  • 📊 The 'Synthesize' feature (free version limited to three uses per month) analyzes multiple papers and provides a summary of the overall consensus on a topic.
  • 📈 The synthesis shows the percentage of research findings that agree, possibly agree, or contradict the topic in question.
  • 🎯 This tool is particularly useful for validating research questions and developing a list of articles for further exploration.
  • 💡 For controversial topics, Consensus can highlight where research findings agree or disagree, aiding in understanding differing perspectives.

Q & A

  • What is the purpose of the tool 'Consensus' mentioned in the transcript?

    -The tool 'Consensus' is used to find ideas for final research projects by accessing summaries and quotes from specific research papers, particularly those related to open-source databases.

  • How does the 'Consensus' tool help in academic research?

    -Consensus helps by providing summaries from research papers, offering links to the papers, and showing the abstracts. It can also synthesize findings from multiple papers to give an overall consensus on a research question.

  • What is the limitation of the 'Consensus' tool when accessing full-text papers?

    -Access to the full text of papers may be limited, and users might need to sign in through their library account or use Google Scholar shortcuts to gain full access.

  • What is the potential issue with the information pulled from abstracts by the 'Consensus' tool?

    -The tool might sometimes summarize findings without providing specific citations, which can make it difficult to trace back to the original source.

  • How can users limit the recency of articles found by 'Consensus'?

    -Users can set a time limit to specify how recently the articles should be, thus narrowing down the search to more current research.

  • What does the 'synthesize' feature in 'Consensus' do?

    -The 'synthesize' feature analyzes multiple papers and provides a summary of the overall findings. It also indicates the percentage of studies that agree, show possibility, or contradict the findings.

  • How many syntheses are allowed per month on the free version of 'Consensus'?

    -On the free version of 'Consensus', users are allowed three syntheses per month.

  • What does the term 'consensus' in the context of the 'Consensus' tool refer to?

    -In the context of the 'Consensus' tool, 'consensus' refers to the general agreement among the research findings it analyzed regarding a specific research question.

  • How can the 'Consensus' tool assist in validating research questions?

    -The tool can help validate research questions by showing whether there is a general consensus among studies on the topic, indicating that the question is well-researched and valid.

  • What is the benefit of using 'Consensus' for developing a list of articles for further exploration?

    -Using 'Consensus' can help in developing a list of articles by providing quick access to relevant research summaries and citations, streamlining the process of literature review.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Research Tool Introduction

The speaker introduces a research tool called 'consensus' which is designed to assist in finding ideas for a final research project. The tool has limited access to open-source databases and can be used to query relationships between variables, such as the connection between social media use and jealousy in romantic relationships. It crawls for information and provides summaries and quotes from research papers, along with links to the source material. However, access to the full text may require a library account or other means. The tool also has a feature called 'synthesize' that summarizes findings from multiple papers, indicating the level of consensus among them. The speaker warns that the tool might sometimes provide summarized information without specific citations, which could be a limitation for researchers.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Consensus

Consensus is an AI tool that has access to open-source databases. It helps students find summarized information from research papers and provides links to the papers. It is used in the video to find answers to academic questions, such as the relationship between social media use and jealousy in romantic relationships.

💡Research Project

A research project is a structured investigation with a specific goal or question. In the video, students are guided on how to use Consensus to find ideas and relevant research for their projects. It highlights how this tool can aid in developing research topics.

💡Social Media and Jealousy

The video explores whether there is a relationship between social media use and jealousy in romantic relationships. Consensus finds evidence supporting this relationship from research papers and synthesizes the results. This example is used to demonstrate how the tool works.

💡Open-source Databases

These are publicly accessible databases that contain academic papers and research articles. Consensus accesses some of these databases to retrieve information, providing students with research summaries from open-access materials.

💡Abstract

An abstract is a brief summary of a research paper. In Consensus, students can read the abstract of a paper before deciding if they want to access the full text. It is an important feature that gives a quick overview of a study's findings.

💡Synthesizing Results

Synthesis in the context of Consensus refers to summarizing multiple research papers and giving an overall conclusion. In the video, the user asks whether social media contributes to jealousy, and the tool synthesizes the findings from 10 papers to provide a consensus.

💡Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes scholarly articles. The video suggests using Google Scholar to link to institutional accounts if students need full access to papers beyond the summaries provided by Consensus.

💡Citation

A citation is a reference to the source of information. The video mentions that Consensus sometimes pulls quotes from abstracts without a specific citation, which users need to be careful about. Citations are crucial for academic integrity.

💡Full-text Access

Full-text access refers to the ability to read the entire content of a research paper. The video mentions that students may not always get full-text access through Consensus and might need to log in via their library or other academic resources.

💡Controversial Findings

Controversial findings refer to research results that show conflicting evidence. The video explains that Consensus highlights studies with different conclusions to help users see where there is agreement and where there is contradiction in the research field.

Highlights

Introduction to using Consensus, an AI tool for research project ideas.

Consensus provides limited access to open source databases for research.

Example query: Relationship between social media use and jealousy in romantic relationships.

Consensus crawls and finds summaries from research papers.

Users can click on summaries to view source information, abstracts, and full text links.

Access to full text may require library account or Google Scholar shortcut.

Consensus may summarize findings without specific citations.

Users can limit the recency of articles for more relevant results.

Synthesize feature provides monthly summaries of research findings.

Synthesize analyzes multiple papers and provides an overall consensus.

Consensus shows the percentage of findings that agree, possibly agree, or contradict.

Tool is useful for validating research questions and developing a list of articles for further exploration.

Consensus helps students find ideas for research projects.

Consensus aids in identifying valid research questions.

Consensus assists in developing a comprehensive list of articles for research.

Consensus is a helpful tool for students to enhance their research capabilities.