Rationale
Differentiating Research Designs
Rationale
Psychology relies on a variety of research methods in order to come to a better understanding of behaviour and other phenomena. Most research methods can be classified either as true experiments or as non-experimental designs and it is important for you as a student of psychology to be able to clearly differentiate which type of design is being used in any specific study (for a review of designs, see pp. 43-66 in your textbook). One goal of the term assignment is for you to be able to find different studies relating to a specific topic and identify which type of research method the study uses to address the questions of interest.
A second goal of the assignment is for you to begin using APA (American Psychological Association) format to produce your written papers in the discipline. As part of the assignment, you must create an APA format title page and an APA format reference page. In sum, the assignment for this course will allow you to demonstrate that you can select appropriate research, correctly identify the key methodological elements of that research, and produce a document acceptable to disciplinary standards.
This assignment must be completed entirely by you alone.
Assignment
You will be assigned a specific topic relevant to the Psyc 100 curriculum (see Canvas by the end of the third week of classes). With your assigned topic area in mind, you should read the appropriate section of the textbook to fully understand the scope and parameters of your topic area (many of the topics will only be discussed in class later in the course).
Once you feel that you understand enough about the assigned topic, you will use
PsycINFO® (an abstract database that provides coverage of the psychological literature from the 1800s to the present) to find two empirical (original data collected), peer-reviewed research articles that you understand well enough that you can accurately identify the research designs being used.
One of these articles must be based on a true experiment while the other article must be based on a non-experimental study that examines the same general research hypothesis. [In addition, to ensure that not everyone uses the same articles, there will be further constraints on the articles including limiting them to a specific range of publication dates and requiring that at least one author of the article have a last name starting with a range of specific initials.] You will find your specific topic [with related restrictions] on Canvas by the end of the second week of classes.
Psyc 100D Summer 2018 Assignment Information 2 Step 1. Finding The Articles
An efficient way of finding published research that relates to your topic is to conduct a literature search using PsycINFO®. There are learning modules in Canvas that will provide you with specific instructions on using PsycINFO® to find articles relevant to your specific topic. The articles you use for this assignment must be listed in PsycINFO®– this is a way to ensure the scientific merit of the articles you select – however, you will need to judge whether or not the research reported is empirical or not, and truly experimental or not.
Finding the appropriate articles will be the most difficult part of the assignment – start your research early!
Format Notes: Formatting your Assignment
Nearly all manuscripts and published works in Psychology follow a standard set of conventions outlined by the American Psychological Association (APA). For authors wishing to publish research and students of psychology, these conventions provide a standard format so that ideas can be more accurately communicated. Instruction will be provided in class and you should complete the APA learning module in Canvas.
APA specifies 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins on all sides, double-spacing of all lines (title page and reference page included), 12-point Times (Times New Roman) font, and single-sided printed pages for manuscripts. Please do not use any document covers.
Step 2. Submission of Assignment
Once you have found two empirical articles (one true, one non-experimental) that meet the criteria you were assigned you will need obtain copies of the first page of each article and the pages from each of the articles that you will be annotating (see below). These pages can either be actual physical copies or electronic (viz., PDF) copies.
The pages from the articles that you submit will include your annotations (labels and highlighting or underlining) – these annotations will indicate the evidence supporting your judgment that the article is reporting a true experiment (or non-experimental) design assessing the same general research hypothesis. Your careful and concise annotation will guide the reader to the evidence in support of your claim that you have selected an appropriate article – highlighting or underlining excessive material demonstrates poor understanding of the content.
-2-
Psyc 100D Summer 2018 Assignment Information 3 Submission Alternatives: You can choose one of the following two options to submit your assignment. All Electronic Submission
If you’ve chosen to annotate electronic copies of your articles then these will be part what you will submit via Canvas (see this link https://goo.gl/KgF5Jy for information regarding annotating PDF files).
Your submission to Canvas will include:
· an APA-formatted title page (see Canvas for an example) listing your name, student number, and your tutor/marker’s (TM’s) name
· PDF files including the relevant pages of your two selected articles with appropriate annotations
· a reference page which includes APA-formatted references for your two articles. Your in-class submission will include:
· an APA-formatted title page (see Canvas for an example) listing your name, student number, and your tutor/marker’s (TM’s) name
· the paper copies of the relevant pages of your two selected articles with appropriate annotations
· a reference page which includes APA-formatted references for your two articles. This submission to Canvas will include:
· an APA-formatted title page (see Canvas for an example) listing your name, student number, and your tutor/marker’s (TM’s) name
· a reference page which includes APA-formatted references for your two articles.
-3-
Psyc 100D Summer 2018 Assignment Information 4 If you choose this alternative you will need to submit BOTH of the above components for your
assignment to be considered complete. This assignment contributes a total of 5% toward your final course grade. Step 3. Submitting the Assignment Your hardcopy or electronic submission should include the following in this order:
· an APA-formatted title page listing your name, student number, and TM’s name (see Canvas for an example)
· the annotated pages of the articles (either electronic copies of photos of the hand- annotated paper copies) o on the articles, identify and label by underlining/highlighting the specific elements of the study that make one a true experimental design, and for the other, a non-experiment design
· ▪for the experimental study you will need to identify and label the hypothesis/research question, the independent (IV) and dependent variables (DV), and the experimental method
· ▪for the non-experimental study you will need to identify and label hypothesis/ research question, the variables under investigation, and the method used
· an APA-formatted reference page listing the two articles you are have used for the assignment. Assignment Grading The assignment will be graded based on the appropriateness of the articles selected (empirical, true experimental and non-experimental designs, similarity of research hypotheses and goals), the quality of your annotation of the articles (accurate, concise, complete), and the conformity of your title and reference pages to APA standards (see Canvas). See following page for the Grading Guide used.
-4-
Psyc 100D Summer 2018 Assignment Information 5 Psychology 100 – Assignment
Differentiating Research Designs (contributes 5% toward final course grade) Name:____________________________________________
APA Format (8) Title page/Running head/Layout Pagination/Reference Page
Experimental Article (10) Abstract / Introduction Annotation Method Annotation (identify IV/DV)
Clear, accurate labels
Non-Experimental/Correlational Article (10) Abstract / Introduction Annotation Method Annotation (identify variables)
Clear, accurate labels
Relatedness of Hypotheses (8) Appropriateness of Articles
Correct identification of hypotheses Similarity in research goals / samples
Penalties : _________________________________________ (Late, incorrect dates, name, other, etc.)
(_____/8)
(_____/10)
(_____/10)
(_____/8)
(-______)
Total (36 Points) = _______
Some Definitions
Empirical: based on the collection of original observations (data) to answer theoretically derived questions in a systematic way – part of the scientific approach to knowing.
True experiment: an empirical design with three key characteristics: control, randomization, and manipulation. In the simplest designs, a researcher manipulates one variable (the independent variable – IV) to see the measured effect on a second variable (the dependent variable – DV), under conditions where one level of the IV can be experienced by one group and another level of the IV can be experienced by a second equivalent group (due to randomization), while holding all other influences on the groups constant (control). More complex designs, like repeated-measures designs, will have one group that experiences both (several) levels of the IV and the effect on the DV will be measured both (several) times. Other complex designs might have multiple IVs and DVs.
Non-experimental designs: by definition, any empirical design that is not a true experiment – this includes all descriptive, correlational, and quasi-experimental designs. They will not have true manipulations and/or true randomization.-5-
Blog ArchiveCopyright © 2019 HomeworkMarket.com Read More
Applied SciencesArchitecture and DesignBiologyBusiness & FinanceChemistryComputer ScienceGeographyGeologyEducationEngineeringEnglishEnvironmental scienceSpanishGovernmentHistoryHuman Resource ManagementInformation SystemsLawLiteratureMathematicsNursingPhysicsPolitical SciencePsychologyReadingScienceSocial Science