The focus of this paper is on the research methods that you chose to implement but there are other key components required, such as: a clear, well–‐defined, empirical research question, conceptual variables, operational definitions, sampling and recruitment procedures, selection of appropriate instruments and measurement, etc.
This project is a shortened version of an actual research proposal that would be created before you would conduct a research project. It may be used to inform your own future research, including possible studies for the Experimental Psychology course. (FULL DIRECTIONS IN DOCUEMENT)
1. Title page
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Include all information required for APA style
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We will work with an APA style template which will tell you what
to include!
2. Introduction (about 3-4 pages)
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Good introductions “sell” your specific research study– by the
time someone gets finished reading your introduction they should already know
what your study is going to address and should know why it is important. Sometimes this is referred to as a “cognitive
hook.”
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In the opening of the introduction you need to clearly demonstrate
why your general topic is important — often researchers do this by citing
statistics on the prevalence or significance of their given problem. Note: you
describe why this is important in general, to society or to psychological
science, not to you specifically.
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You will then write a literature review describing previous
research on the topic.
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It is important to not just summarize previous research, but to
use this research as background to create an argument in support of your study. A good argument has several
related points derived from a literature review that lead to a clear reason for
conducting your study. For example:
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The use of teams and group work is prevalent in school and in the
workplace
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Effectiveness of group work is important for organizational
success
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Conscientiousness is a personality trait that has been found to be
linked to increased individual work performance
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One possible role for conscientiousness in this context is on
social loafing behavior (decreased performance in a group)
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We need to understand if personality traits like conscientiousness
prevent workers from social loafing
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The current study explores the relationship between conscientiousness
and social loafing, and whether these affect performance in a group-work
scenario.
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Notice how the outline is shaped like a pyramid, it starts out
broad and narrows to a specific topic and question, and introduces the current
study.
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Using an outline like above you can easily develop each of these
bullet points into full paragraphs – this is where you weave in what you
learned from reviewing the 4+ articles you collect on your topic
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Each of your variables should have clear definitions, and you
should discuss why it is important to your study. For the example above you
would want to cite sources regarding conscientiousness, regarding group work,
and regarding social loafing. A variable should not show up in the method
section without any information on it in the introduction.
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In the closing of the intro you should clearly state your research
question and your research hypotheses, or what you expect to find.
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Please note that scientific papers rarely use quotes –‐ be prepared to paraphrase or
generalize the work of other scientists and reference them accordingly.
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The general rule for this class is no quotes allowed. The only reason to use quotes is to
highlight something specific about the language being used by a previous author. Please note that if you do take direct quotes
from an original work, you must put quotation marks around them, and reference
a specific page number. Note that this rule does not mean to simply remove the
quotation marks from your quotations! Use your own words, and not the words
from your readings.
3. Method (about 3-4 pages)
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The methodology section is where you give exacting details on how
your study would be conducted
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A well‐written
method section is like an instruction manual. If someone unfamiliar with your
topic can read your methods and immediately conduct the study on their own
without asking you any questions then you have done a good job
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Subsections in the methods are used to describe your:
participants, design, materials, and procedures necessary for conducting the
study.
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I will provide a specific list of components that need to be in
your method section later.
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Note that your method should not just be made up. You should base
it on previous literature. Take an existing methodology, questionnaire, or
test, and use it for your own purposes. Do not reinvent the wheel!
4. References (1-2 pages)
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You should have a separate reference page that provides citations
for all of the sources you used in your document
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Do not list a reference here unless you cite it directly in the
text of the report
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Once again, careful adherence to APA citation
style is critical for full credit
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We will cover proper APA reference style in Unit 5.
5. Appendix (optional; varies in length)
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In designing your study you will likely need to find some sort of
a survey, observational rating scale, or other materials. You do not need to
create these yourself, but are encouraged to use valid measures from other
researchers.
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If you find these materials, you will want to include them in an
appendix. This will be especially important so you (and I) can access the
materials this semester or after.
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Note: if your full materials
are available online, it is appropriate to provide a link in the appendix in
lieu of reproducing the materials in the Word document.
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