Introduction:
You are going to write a research report based on a survey. More details on the survey are below and in the supporting document, Information about the research.
APA style empirical research reports usually consist of six main content sections:
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Method
- Results
- Discussion
For this assessment, you need to write the Introduction section of a research report, and build an initial list of references for the References section of your research report. The other sections of the research report will be completed for Assessment 2.
The research question
The research will focus on the question:
Does social value orientation (as measured by the Triple Dominance Measure) allow us to predict people’s decisions in situations where their decisions could affect a large number of unknown persons (e.g. environmental, political, social issues affecting communities)?
Social value orientation (SVO) concerns the general preferences we have for the way we deal with other people, particularly in social exchanges where the decisions we make have an impact on others. One of the most widely used ways to measure SVO is the Triple Dominance Measure (TDM) published by Paul Van Lange and colleagues in 1997. We will use this measure and study how it works (it is a bit different to the kinds of questionnaires you might have seen before). A first step to making progress in this assessment, will be to ensure you understand this measure.
SVO has been found to predict a number of social behaviours, such as willingness to help strangers, donate to charity, etc. It is often used in studies of how individuals interact, but it has also been found to predict other kinds of more general behaviours with social implications, such as intention to recycle. In our study we will look at how it predicts people’s attitudes towards public and private transportation.
Further details about the research study are available in the Assessment area of Blackboard in the document entitled Information about the research.
You are welcome to participate in the research if you want to (you are likely to find this helpful in conceptualising the study design). The link to the survey is:
http://research.millisecond.com/firstyearpsych/SVOPrac2015.web
Writing the research report
The Introduction presents a short literature review of the research topic. This summarises relevant past research, and develops a logical argument that leads to a set of hypotheses about the anticipated results of the study. It does not matter whether you correctly anticipate your results; it only matters that the results you anticipate are based on previous empirical evidence or grounded in the psychological theory that you present in your Introduction. In order to conduct your literature review, you will need to locate and read research articles, and correctly cite and reference them.
Starting References You must locate, read, and use the following two sources in your report:
Journal Article: Development of prosocial, individualistic, and competitive orientations: theory and preliminary evidence
Authors: Paul Van Lange, Wilma Otten, Ellen De Bruin, and Jeffrey Joireman
Journal: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Details: Published 1997, Vol 73, No 4, Pages 733-746
Book Chapter:Self-interest and beyond: Principles of social interaction
Authors: Paul Van Lange, David De Cremer, Eric Van Dijk, and Mark Van Vugt
In the book: Social Psychology – Handbook of Basic Principles
Edited by: A.W. Kruglanski and E.T. Higgins
Year: 2007
Pages: 540-561
