2012 PSYC 2012 Critical THinking Assignment_1

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Critical thinking assignment from Psychology

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Correlation Project:

Lanier Technical College

PSYC 1010

Critical Thinking

Design Your Own Research StudyThe Assignment

The assignment is to complete a research study testing the psychological concept of your choice. You will conduct your research by surveying individuals that represent your designated population. You will work out your study, and write your paper following APA format. Data analysis must be completed and include graphs and inferential statistics.Picking your topic

For this project, you may choose to do an experiment, a correlation study, or case study experiment answering any question related to psychology. You must collect your data using either a survey or naturalistic observation and your method must meet the ethical criteria set by the IRB (me). What you will turn in

You will turn in a scientific paper describing your study. The paper should include the following:Title (Person 1) Scientific titles are descriptive and may be long. It doesnt need to be clever or catchy (but it can be). It must describe what youve studied.Abstract (Person 3) The abstract is a brief overview of the entire paper. Although it is at the beginning of your paper, you should write it last. It should include 1-2 sentences on each of the following: 1) summary of background research (from the introduction), 2) statement of the topic of your study (from Introduction), 3) statement of hypothesis (from Introduction), 4) summary of results, and 5) comment from discussion. It is usually 150 words or less.

Introduction (Person 1) The introduction contains 1) detailed background information on your topic, 2) a statement of your topic with a compelling argument for why this topic is interesting or relevant, 3) a statement of your hypothesis, and 4)the predictions for the results along with a rationale of how the predictions flow from the hypothesis. Background research should be cited with complete bibliographical information in a reference list at the end of the paper.Method (Person 2) This section details exactly how the researcher conducted the study and who served as participants. All the information necessary to repeat the study generally appears in this section. The Method section includes information about apparatus or instrumentation that was used for both the independent and dependent variables. The complete procedure used to administer the independent variable, control confounding variables, and measure the dependent variable is described in this section. This is also where you will explain how you fulfilled ethical obligations, such as informed consent, confidentiality, and debriefing. A copy of your standardized procedures should be included either in the text of the methods section or as an appendix referenced in the methods section. If you use a survey (or part of a survey) from another source, you must include an internal citation and list the source in the reference section.Results (Person 2) Researchers report what theyve found in this section. This includes data tables, graphs, and statistical information in addition to a written summary of the results. Tables and graphs should be labeled (Table 1) and include a caption.

Discussion (Person 3) The discussion section contains three main things: 1) a conclusion statement (was the hypothesis supported?), 2) a critique of the study, and 3) suggestions for further research or relevance. The bulk of the discussion focuses on #2 (critique). In your critique, you should analyze the strength of your conclusion by identifying possible sources of error or bias in your experiment and explain how these may have affected your data. You may also include alternate explanations for how to interpret your results. References (Person 1) Parenthetical citations (author, date) must be used to cite sources internally. Sources are listed alphabetically by last name of the first author with second line of each citation indented. You may use a bibliography tool such as http://www.carmun.com/easy-bibliography-formatting-APA-MLA.php to help you (select APA format).Logistics 12 point font, 1 inch margins, avoid passive voice, each section is separated and headed (i.e., Introduction), parenthetical notation, tables and graphs are labeled and captioned. Sample size should be at least 25 and you must submit all consent forms with your paper to receive credit.