Psyc 100D Assignment Differentiating Research Designs

Psyc 100D Assignment
Differentiating Research Designs

Rationale Psychology relies on a variety of research designs to better understand behaviour and other psychological phenomena. Most research designs can be classified either as true
experiments or as non-experimental designs and it is important for you, as a student of psychology, to be able to clearly differentiate which type of design is being used in any specific study (for a full review of research designs, see pp. 43-66 in your Schacter et al., 2014 textbook). One goal of the term assignment is for you to be able to find different studies relating to a specific, assigned topic and identify which type of research design the study author(s) used to address the questions of interest. A second goal of the assignment is for you to begin using APA (American Psychological Association) format to produce your written papers in the discipline. As part of the assignment, you must create an APA format title page and an APA format reference page. In sum, the assignment for this course will allow you to demonstrate that you can select appropriate research, correctly identify the key methodological elements of that research, and produce a title page and reference page acceptable to disciplinary standards.
This assignment must be completed entirely by you alone.
‘Designs’ Assignment (up to 18 points) You have been assigned a specific topic relevant to the Psyc 100 curriculum (see the Assigned Topics link on the Assignments page in Canvas). To learn more about your assigned topic, one successful approach would be to read the appropriate section of the textbook to fully understand the scope and parameters of your topic area (many of the topics will only be discussed in class later in the course).
Once you feel that you understand enough about your assigned topic, you will use
PsycINFO® (an abstract database that provides coverage of the psychological literature from the 1800s to the present) to find two empirical (original data collected), peer-reviewed
research articles that you understand well enough that you can accurately identify the
research designs being used. One of these articles must be based on a true experiment while the other article must be based on a non-experimental study that examines the same general research hypothesis. (In addition,
to ensure that not everyone uses the same articles, there will be further constraints on the
articles including limiting them to a specific range of publication dates (e.g., 1988-1991) and
requiring that at least one author of each article has a last name (family name) starting within a
specific range of letters, e.g., A-L) You will find your specific topic and restrictions by following the procedure explained in the Assigned Topics link on the Assignments page in Canvas. Step 1. Finding The Articles An efficient way of finding published research related to your topic is to conduct a search using
PsycINFO® (accessing PsycINFO® through the SFU Library is free – if you access it directly, there might be a fee for use and for printing articles). There is a learning module in Canvas that will provide you with specific instructions on using PsycINFO® to find articles relevant to your specific topic. The articles you use for this assignment must be listed in PsycINFO® – this is a way to ensure the scientific merit of the articles you select – however, you will need to judge whether or not the research reported is empirical or not, and truly experimental or not.
Note: Finding the articles is the most difficult part of the assignment – start early! Format Notes: Formatting your Assignment Nearly all manuscripts and published works in Psychology follow a standard set of conventions outlined by the American Psychological Association (APA). For authors wishing to publish research and students of psychology, these conventions provide a standard format so that ideas can be more accurately communicated. Instruction will be provided in class and you can complete the APA learning module in Canvas to learn more. APA specifies 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins on all sides, double-spacing of all lines (title page and reference page included), and 12-point Times (Times New Roman) font. For this assignment, double-sided printing is acceptable. Please do not use any document covers. Step 2. Completing the Assignment Documents Once you have found two empirical articles (one true experiment, one non-experimental) that meet the criteria you were assigned (topic, date, and name restrictions – any change to the criteria will need to be approved by your Teaching Assistant [TA]), you will need to obtain paper copies (print or photocopy originals – double-sided printing of the articles is acceptable) of the
complete articles (print directly from source – DO NOT copy and paste into a word-processed document – that is considered unacceptable academic conduct). You will submit the articles properly annotated (labels in English and highlighting or underlining) to indicate the evidence supporting your judgment that the article is reporting a true experiment (or non-experimental) design assessing the same general research hypothesis. Your careful and concise annotation will guide the reader to the evidence in support of your claim that you have selected an appropriate article – highlighting or underlining excessive material demonstrates poor understanding of the content. Your submission will include an APA-formatted title page (see Canvas for an example) listing your name, student number, and your Teaching Assistant’s (TA’s) name, followed by an APAformatted reference page listing your two articles, followed by the two annotated articles. This assignment may contribute up to 18 points to your total if both copies are submitted by the beginning of class (14:30) on Tuesday, October 25th. Late assignments must be submitted
to Dr. Day and may be worth up to 15 points if submitted by 15:00 on Oct. 26th., up to 12 points if submitted by 15:00 on Oct. 27th., up to 9 points if submitted by 15:00 on Oct. 28th., up to 6 points if submitted by 15:00 on Oct. 31st., and up to 3 points if submitted by 15:00 on Tuesday, Nov. 1st. (Please do not slide assignments under doors – they get lost.) Step 3. Submitting the Assignment
For a complete assignment, you will submit two copies. One copy, the paper hardcopy
will include the annotated articles. You will submit the hardcopy at the beginning of class on Tuesday, October 25th. The second copy of the assignment (only the material you have
written, i.e., title and reference pages) will be submitted electronically in Canvas. You will submit the electronic copy in Canvas by 14:30 on Tuesday, October 25th. The paper copy and the articles will be returned to you with comments; we will archive the electronic copy of your assignment as an antidote to cheating. Your paper hardcopy assignment submission will include the following in this order:  an APA-formatted title page listing your name, student number, and TA’s name (see Canvas for an example, printed double-sided is OK)  an APA-formatted reference page listing the two articles you are submitting  annotated paper copies of the articles (print your name on each) o on the articles, identify and label by underlining/highlighting the specific elements of the study that make one a true experimental design, and for the other article or study, a non-experimental design
 for the experimental study you will need to identify and label the hypothesis, the independent (IV) and dependent variables (DV), and the experimental method
 for the non-experimental study you will need to identify and label the hypothesis, the research question, the variables under investigation, and the method used Your electronic copy of the assignment (only the material you have written, i.e., title and reference pages) will be submitted in Canvas (in xxx.doc, xxx.docx, xxx.rtf or xxx.pdf format). Your assignment submission will include the following in this order: 1) an APA-formatted title page listing your name, student number, and TA’s name (see Canvas for an example), and 2) an APA-formatted reference page listing the two articles you selected and annotated.
Note: The Instructor and TAs will not respond to emails about the assignment within 24
hours of the due date and time – plan accordingly!
Assignment Grading
Your assignment will not be graded until both copies are submitted. The assignment will be graded based on the appropriateness of the articles selected (empirical, true experimental and non-experimental designs, similarity of research hypotheses and goals, within the date and author name restrictions), the quality of your annotation of the articles (accurate, concise, complete), and the conformity of your title and reference pages to APA standards (see Canvas). See the following page for the Grading Guide used. (Note: The assignment is worth up to 18 points toward your course total, but is graded out of 36 raw points for record-keeping simplicity.)
Psychology 100 – Assignment
Differentiating Research Designs (worth up to 18 course points)
Grading Guide
APA Format (8) (_____/8) Title page/Running head/Layout Pagination/Reference Page
Experimental Article (10) (_____/10) Annotations* within Abstract / Introduction Annotations* within Method (identify IV/DV) Annotations* within Results / Discussion *with clear, accurate labels
Non-Experimental/Correlational Article (10) (_____/10) Annotations* within Abstract / Introduction Annotations* within Method (identify variables) Annotations* within Results / Discussion *with clear, accurate labels
Relatedness of Hypotheses (8) (_____/8) Appropriateness of Articles Correct identification of hypotheses Similarity in research goals / samples
Penalties: _________________________________________ (-______) (Late, incorrect dates, names, etc.)
Total (36 raw points) = _______ Some Definitions Empirical: based on the collection of original observations (data) to answer theoretically derived questions in a systematic way – part of the scientific approach to knowing. True experiment: an empirical design with three key characteristics: control, randomization, and manipulation. In the simplest designs, a researcher manipulates one variable (the independent variable – IV) to see the measured effect on a second variable (the dependent variable – DV), under conditions where one level of the IV can be experienced by one group and another level of the IV can be experienced by a second equivalent group (due to randomization), while holding all other influences on the groups constant (control). More complex designs, like repeated-measures designs, will have one group that experiences both (several) levels of the IV and the effect on the DV will be measured both (several) times. Other complex designs might have multiple IVs and DVs. Non-experimental designs: by definition, any empirical design that is not a true experiment – this includes all descriptive, correlational, and quasi-experimental designs. They will not have true manipulations and/or true randomization.

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