Driving and Spotting: What Four-Wheel Driving and Research Have in Common
Four-wheel driving over uneven terrain requires two skills: driving and spotting. When the terrain is difficult, one person drives and the other spots. The driver is inside the vehicle, steering around obstacles, operating the gas and brake (sometimes simultaneously), and using advanced features like locking differentials and traction control. The spotter is outside the vehicle, examining the terrain from all angles, looking under the vehicle to check clearance, and planning the route. The spotter tells the driver which direction to go, when to start and stop, when to reverse, and when to power over an obstacle.
Recently, my husband and I bought a high-clearance four-wheel drive vehicle so we could get to places we want to hike. For the first time in my life, I wanted to drive off-road. I signed us up for a two-day course at the Prairie City Off-Road Vehicle Recreation Area.
Driving was fun! I was relaxed and calm, unworried by driving the most difficult routes of my life. I trusted my spotters (sometimes my husband, sometimes the instructor) to give me good directions and so avoid damage to the vehicle or injury to myself or the bystanders. Furthermore, I was good at it! I could work the gas and brake to keep the vehicle going at a slow steady speed over rocks, dips, and ridges. I could reverse with control so we didn’t lose more ground than needed. And I could hold the steering wheel steady so we kept on the planned route despite the uneven obstacles.
Spotting was both challenging and scary. I tried to imagine where the four wheels would go and how we could get around the tall rocks. Should we go around to the left or could we clear that center rock by keeping our tires high on the two sides? I thought I’d be able to plan our route by watching the other vehicles drive that course. I was wrong. Every vehicle is different: different length, different wheel distance, different torque. So, what works for one vehicle might be inappropriate for another. Moreover, watching the other vehicles increased my anxiety. One vehicle tilted sharply as it drove up the side-slope to avoid a boulder. Another vehicle wobbled up and down with one wheel four feet in the air! So, watching the other vehicles didn’t help me plan: it just made me more nervous about spotting.
Eventually, it was our turn. I’d put it off as long as I could. At first, I directed my husband to drive to the right, avoiding one nasty rock. That was the easy part. But then we came to the steep gully and the jutting rocks. I walked all around the vehicle, looking at things from every angle, and eventually picked a route. Several minutes later, I was proud that we’d completed the route without hitting any part of the vehicle on the terrain. With the mentoring of the instructor, we succeeded!
Like four-wheel driving, research requires two skills: driving and spotting. Driving includes creating online and in-person study materials, collecting data on MTurk or through in-person appointments, scoring tests, entering data, analyzing data with SPSS and R, writing your APA-style paper, and presenting your research at conferences. Spotting includes reviewing the literature to identify key themes, envisioning research questions that address holes in the literature, designing studies to test your hypotheses, and explaining the importance and implications of your results.
Both skills are essential. It does no good to ask large samples to complete beautifully formatted measures if the research question is trivial or the design does not allow causal inferences. This would be like the driver successfully powering up a side slope, because the spotter told them to, and then the vehicle tipping over. Similarly, elegant research designs from the driver are worthless if they are not implemented by the spotter: if the random assignment is not completed, if the standardized procedures are not followed, if the database is filled with data entry errors, if the statistical procedures are applied improperly. This would be like the spotter telling the driver to head right to avoid a trough, but the driver heading left, sticking a wheel right into the hole, and breaking the axle. Good research requires that drivers and spotters each do their job, that they trust each other, and that they work together to bring the research to fruition.
When a student first starts to do research, they won’t be good at either of these skills. Typically, they will work with a faculty or graduate student mentor who will act as both a spotter and a driving coach: the mentor will select the research question and guide the student in how to administer the study, analyze the data, and write the paper. The mentor will ensure that study protocols are fulfilled so that the participants are protected and so that the data can be validly used to answer the desired research question. As the student gains driving skills, the mentor will explain the research area, encourage the student to read key papers, and help the student craft their own research questions.
As the student completes their masters and moves on to their PhD, they are expected to generate their own research questions and study designs, while their mentor and thesis committee provide feedback and advice. At this point, the student often starts mentoring junior researchers on the nuts-and-bolts of completing a study, becoming a driving coach themselves. Completing the PhD is the benchmark that marks when a student is considered both a competent driver – able to collect and analyze data and present the results verbally and in written form – and also a competent independent spotter – able to select worthy research questions, design their own studies, and place those studies within the broader literature.
As you develop your research skills, work to develop both your driving and your spotting skills. Recognize that some of the necessary steps may be difficult or scary. Trust your mentors to help you learn the necessary skills without harm to yourself, your research participants, or your study quality. Finally, don’t imagine that this process ever finishes. When you enter a new research area, some of your driving and spotting skills will cross over, but many will not. Just as I needed mentors to teach me driving and spotting skills for four-wheel driving, when you enter any new research area, you will need new mentors who can teach you the technical skills and theoretical issues. Seek out partners and mentors whose skills complement your own so you can form an effective collaborative team.
Kimberly A. Barchard is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at UNLV and is the Director of the Interactive Measurement Group. She works to empower lab members to accomplish their personal and professional goals, particularly through the development of leadership, research, and organizational skills.