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I have replicated a method of interpolation recently proposed by certain author, and I want to tell him that I have done so. I suppose the author is interested in knowing that students are engaged with his work and are using his findings. But I'm unsure on how should I address him.

  • Should I just write to him saying that I have applied his method to new data and found the same results?
  • Should I also send him my work? Or is it too rude to send him the attachment (it is my thesis actually) because he may not be interested in reading it?
  • Should I also comment the results in the same email?

I don't know to which extent do I have to show him my results, because I don't wan't to overwhelm him but neither should he be the one asking for more info.

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    did you use the interpolation scheme to solve the same problem (or problem class) as the original author did? or was this a different application of the method?
    – costrom
    Commented Nov 22, 2016 at 20:26
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    It is an interpolation method for fertility rates. He developed it and applied it to fertility schedules from Europe and I'm applying it to data from Argentina, obtaining the same results. (He compares his method with others that are commonly used in demography, and proves his technique to be the one with the lowest mean square error)
    – Camila Burne
    Commented Nov 22, 2016 at 20:43

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Don't send your thesis unless requested. You may write to the author and say that you were interested to read his or her paper, that you applied the method to data from Argentina and you obtained similar results as described in the paper. You may give a little hint about any interesting quirks you found along the way but that is optional and if you do it, you must be very brief in this initial email. The author may be interested enough to write back enthusiastically, asking for more information, and then you can send a summary and your thesis. You may get a conference invite out of it. You may get an invitation to collaborate. You may get a reference to your thesis in this person's future work. You may get some new ideas for future work of your own. This email you will send will be a fun bit of icing on the cake for you, after a lot of hard work!

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I have had a similar situation a few times.

In your thesis, it is crucial to cite where your method comes from and how you are applying it to your study.

As for writing to the academic, there is nothing wrong with letting them know that you have successfully applied their method to another dataset, but even for this and to ask for them to verify your results, it is very important to seek advice from your advisor first.

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