UNIVERSIDAD INTERAMERICANA

UNIVERSIDAD INTERAMERICANA

UNIVERSIDAD INTERAMERICANA DE PUERTO RICO

RECINTO METROPOLITANO

DEPARTAMENTO DE EDUCACIÓN Y PROFESIONES DE LA CONDUCTA

PROGRAMA DE PSICOLOGÍA

PROF. NOÉ GARCÍA

PSYCH 4971

Instructions for Assignments #2, #3 & #4

As part of writing the final text (the instructions for this will be sent in another document) and

preparing for the oral report, students need to to various reviews of the existing literature (or what we

call a Literature Review) on the subject matter they selected. The assignments (#2,#3 and #4) bear a

similar logic and organization. What varies is the focus in terms of the selection of literature reviewed.

I. General Instructions for assignments (#2, #3 &#4)

For each assignment you must hand in a Literature Review of a minimum of three (if you its

an individual work) to four (if its a group work) texts. Remember that the selection of literature

must be valid and consist of articles from a scientific/academic journal or chapters from a specialized

book(that either offers empirical studies or a systematic theoretical review) that elaborates about your

selected research topic. In this sense, only primary or secondary sources are valid for this type of

review. If you are ever unsure on the validity of the source, send me an e-mail and/or bring it to class to

assess it (please do this at least a few days before the due date to hand in said reviews). Remember that

a relatively good “rule of thumb” is that journals published from renown and respectable universities

and research institutions tend to go though rigorous editorial process (and tend to be peer-reviewed)

that safe-guard (at least in theory) from spurious, fallacious or wrongly made articles or studies.

A. Specific instructions regarding the format of the Literature Review

A review must never be reduced to simply reproducing the abstract. Each review should be one

(1) page long or at least a minimum of one to two (1-2) paragraphs (the maximum is relative, but it

shouldn’t generally be longer than two or three pages). You don’t have to use up a whole page per

review: if there’s still enough unused space you can continue on with your next review in the same

page (just leave at least a space between reviews). Before the reviews, at the top of the first page, there

should be a brief section in which you state your selected research topic and problem. The purpose of

this first literature review is that it should help you limit and identify the problem you want to review

(and possible changes you might due along the way, if needed). That is why I have asked you to try to

identify your possible research problem in a separate section.

The three (3) reviews, including the research topic and problem, should be handed in, printed

and stapled, following a Microsoft Word format, a letter size twelve (12) and a spacing of one and a

half (1.5) between sentences (or line spacing in the paragraph options). This assignment has a value of

fifteen (15) points.

B. Specific instructions regarding the organization and contents of the Literature Review

Each review must contain the following information, (which is based more or less, on Mertens [2010]

outline and suggestions [p.111]), but organized and written in the form of a paragraph (or paragraphs):

1. Instead of a “title”: the author, name of the article and source following the APA format.

a. Aside from this first point, the rest of the information must be written in the form of a

paragraph (in a precise and clear matter).

2. The topic and problem studied by the author or authors.

3. The paradigm, theoretical model, therapy, assessment or intervention discussed/evaluated.

4. The selection criteria and selection of publication (specially relevant when reviewing Meta-

Analyses and Systematic Reviews)

5. The design, which might include:

a. Type of sampling

b. Characteristics of participants

c. Data collection instruments and methods

6. Data Analysis Strategy.

7. Results.

8. Conclusions.

9. Your own evaluation of the text. This part is very important! Explain how this research might

be of interest to your own research and, if you find it agreeable, give any constructive criticisms

you can offer.

C. Special consideration regarding how to evaluate content

The prior divisions are a useful way to identify and organize the relevant information and data

when doing the necessary synthesis in a Literature Review. Still, not all articles are well organized or

transparent in their writing styles, and sometimes its good to take into considerations a few pointers and

ask ourselves a few questions to guide the process. Some things are learned along the way and its

impossible to completely standardize and homogenize this things (one cannot deny that scientists, the

same way as artists and politicians, have their own idiosyncrasies and styles, which is also part of the

creative process). That being said, I recommend the directions and observations given by Sternberg

(2006) when doing reviews. Also, in the case of Meta-Analyses its a good idea to take into

considerations the recommendations given by Bastian (2014), alongside the texts discussed in Unit I

(these appear the end, in the references).

II. Specific Instructions for each assignment

In reality the most important aspect of this accumulation of reviews is that they lead to the final

text, which should have enough information to compose an over-view on the state of a model, therapy,

instrument, assessment or subject matter. Some subject matters have more data and empirical studies

accumulated, and some, because of various reasons (associated with the nature of the subject matter,

model or methods needed), have less or are either less accessible or more difficult/complex to access in

terms of effectiveness, outcome and evidence. Still it is relevant to account for the state of it, and there

are always empirical studies (some more directly associated with Evidence-Based Practice than others,

that might employ certain qualitative methods whose quantity is hard to assess). For that reason, its is

important that the selection of literature (and always be selective in your Literature Reviews) has a

certain distribution of texts.

A. Distribution of texts in terms of method and content

For the sake of this class, and these assignments, you need to have the following distribution of texts,

from the total of nine (9) to twelve (12) articles reviewed:

1) At least have three (3) articles that are fairly recent (from the last five years).

2) At leas have three (3) articles that are Meta-Analyses (of your selected subject matter, model,

intervention, therapy or assessment) or at least Systemic Reviews (if you can prove that no Meta-

Analysis exist).

3) One or two (1-2) texts/articles that provide an overview or discussion, be it theoretical, historical or

empirical (a specific experiment or empirical study), associated with the subject matter.

4) The more specific you are in regards to a population, the better. That being said, it might be possible

that certain populations, in combination with certain subject matters, are not as studied as others

(although it is rather rare). If you are interest in a certain age, social group, nationality or gender, you

should have a sufficient quantity of texts that provides you with sufficient data and information. You

should have at least three (3) texts or articles that provide sufficient information regarding your

selection of population.

5) Obviously these number can overlap, so in many ways you have a relative flexibility in this scenario.

For example, you can have three meta-analysis, that are fairly recent and are specialized to the

population you are interested on, and two theoretical articles, one on the subject matter itself and

another on the model you are interested on. Here we have only five (5) articles and have covered the

minimum of bases required in terms of distribution and content. In this hypothetical case it is up to you

to decide how to distribute the rest of the texts (either more Meta-Analysis, Systemic Reviews,

empirical or experimental studies, theoretical discussions, etc.).

B. Suggested content for each assignment

This is organization and distribution of the Literature Reviews is completely suggestive and it is

meant solely as a way of organizing your texts which might prove to make the whole process more

accessible. Still, it is just a suggestion.

The second assignment, which is the first Literature Review, could just center on articles that

provide you with a theoretical overview or empirical studies regarding your selected subject matter.

The reasoning behind this is that such texts are rich in content, and sometimes can better guide the

students in terms of the main concepts, terminology and even techniques associated with the selected

subject matter/problem of study. This might be useful for students who are still unsure on certain

aspects or details regarding the subject matter.

The third assignment (second Literature Review) should center on Meta-Analyses or, if none

can be found, Systemic Reviews. This will give you a good idea on the present state of the subject

matter, problem, model, etc. From here, one can better pin-point the possibilities and limits of one’s

research interest. The fourth assignment (third and last Literature Review) should fill in the gaps

regarding the results of the prior review (for instance, one might’ve found in the prior Meta-Analysis

only studies that favor one’s selection of a model, therapy or intervention, so it might be a good idea to

look for rebuttals or possible oppositions-it is always a good idea to look for null hypothesis and even

articles that might oppose one’s views).

C. Dates for hand in each Literature Review

The second assignment is due on: April/02/2019

The third assignment is due on: April/23/2019

The fourth assignment is due on: May/14/2019

III. References

Bastian, H. (20/January/2014). Five key things to know about meta-analysis. Scientific American.

Retireved from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/absolutely-maybe/5-key-things-to-know-

about-meta-analysis/?print=true

Garg, A.X., Hackam, D., & Tonelli, M.(2008). Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: When one study

is just not enough. Clinical Journal American Society Nephrology: 253-260.

Sánchez-Meca, J. & Marín-Martínez, F. (2010). Meta-analysis in Psychological Research. International

Journal of Psychological Research 3(1): 150-162.

Sternberg, R.J. & Grigorenko, E.L.(2006). Review Articles for Methods. In Robert J. Sternberg (Ed.)

Reviewing scientific works in psychology (31-42). New Have: Yale University

Sternberg, R.J. (2006). Review Theory Articles. In Robert J. Sternberg (Ed.) Reviewing scientific

works in psychology (43-58). New Have: Yale University

Mertens, D. (2010). Literature Review and Focusing the Research. In Donna M. Mertens,

Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology (89-122). Los Angeles: Sage

Publications.

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