FINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT: Research Proposal This assignment is worth 150 points.
The final paper assignment is a research proposal. For this assignment, you must present a literature review, develop hypotheses, design a true experiment to test those hypotheses, discuss how you would collect and analyze data to test your hypotheses, and discuss the implications of your expected findings. No actual data collection is to take place.
Requirements: The proposal should follow APA format, including running head, page headers, and page numbers. Papers should be typed in 12 point Times New Roman font with 1” margins. Papers should be no longer than 15 pages of text (not including title page, abstract, references, figure caption, figures). Be sure to include:
1. Title Page – Running head, Title, Author, Author’s Institution (no need for keywords)
3. Introduction Paper #2 was designed to help you with the introduction for this research proposal. Please consider the feedback that you received on Paper #2 and make any necessary changes. Then cut anything that is irrelevant to the proposal. Finally, at the end of the introduction you should include your hypotheses, including explicit predictions about both main effects and about the interaction of the two independent variables (i.e., whether each main effect/interaction will be significant and the nature of the effect), and a discussion of why the variables should interact.
4. Method Your methods section should propose a research design that tests your hypotheses. Your research design must be a true experiment, including two independent variables (i.e., a factorial design). At least one of the independent variables must allow random assignment of subjects to conditions (you are allowed to include one Individual Difference Measure in your design, e.g. gender, ethnicity, or perhaps (for example) a group with depression versus a control group without depression). Proposals with a single independent variable will receive a maximum of 75 points. Describe your study in enough detail that someone else could replicate the experiment you have designed. You are also required to include the following sub-headings o Research Design – listing the IVs, levels of the IVs, between, within, or mixed design, and your DV. o Participants – How many and what sort of participants? o Materials – What would you need to run your study? o Procedure – What will the participants do?
Psych 301w – Pearson Summer 2015
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5. Results The Results section should show what the results would be if the experimental hypotheses were supported. Briefly describe what analyses would need to be performed and your design. Then go through and explain if you expect significant main effects and an interaction. Also describe the direction of these effects. Present a figure showing the predicted results. The results should be in the future tense. In other words, “I would expect to find…” or “It is predicted that…” 6. Discussion The Discussion section should briefly describe the implications of the expected results. Reminder: You didn’t do this study, so you need to write about it in the future tense, e.g., “The expected finding of a main effect for X would support the idea that…” It should also include a section where you describe a set of alternative results. What might your data look like if you do not find what you expected? What would you conclude if you found the data you expected? Your discussion section should also discuss any potential limitations of the study you presented (e.g., threats to Internal, External, Construct, or Statistical Validity). You may also want to note other directions that the research may go given the questions you raised. In other words, if you did your study and found what you predicted, what would be the next logical experiment to run? After you discuss the implications of your findings, the limitations of your study, and other related research questions that may be of interest, you should broaden your discussion to talk about why this is an important research question more generally, pulling out points that you wrote about in Paper #1. 7. References – A references page in APA format 8. Figure(s) – in APA format with an appropriate caption. This should be a bar graph that illustrates your predicted results.
Recall that all previous paper assignments (and the one’s coming up) were related to portions of your research proposal. You should review any comments you received on these assignments, and use these comments to improve your proposal. Review your lab notes to ensure that you include all necessary components for each section of the paper. The Purdue OWL website is a good source for formatting and content. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
IMPORTANT: You must submit your paper using the “Final Paper Dropbox” on the course ANGEL account. Every day late will cost you 5%.
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Final Paper Assignment – Psych 301w – Summer 2015 – Grading Criteria Sheet
NAME ________________________________________ SECTION _____
TITLE _______________________________________________________________________________________
APA-Style Title Page (5) _________
Abstract (5) _________
Introduction (25) _________
Problem statement (5) _______
Background (15) _______
Hypotheses (5) _______
Method (30) _________
Design (5) _______
Participants (5) _______
Procedure/Materials (20) _______
Results (20) _________
Proposed analyses (5) _______
Expected results (10) _______ Figure (placed after the References page (5) _______
Discussion (30) ________ Interpretation of results (10) _______
Threats to Validity (10) _______ Alternative Results (5) _______ Conclusion/ Future directions (5) _______
References (10) _________
Writing (25) _________
Clarity and grammar (10) _______
APA Format (15) _______
TOTAL (150) _________
If you turn in your paper late you will automatically lose 5% (7.5 points) for each day late.
