PSY3311 Research Methods
Due: Monday, November 29 by 11:59p (uploaded to CANVAS as a Word doc).
Your assignment is to write an APA formatted research proposal, including all sections of a standard
published paper (Intro, Method, Results, Discussion, References, Tables/Figures). Because you will
not actually collect any data, you will write an “Expected Results” and an “Expected Discussion”
section, written as if you had collected the data and your results came out more or less as expected (as
you would for a grant proposal). Refer to the slides for Chapter 14, the example articles on CANVAS,
and your APA manual for specific information on what should be included in each section.
The specific topic of your study is up to you, or you can replicate one of the examples in the slides for
Chapter 6,7,8 or 9. It is recommended, however, that you discuss your potential topic with me (Dr.
McCormick) asap to ensure the feasibility of the study, how you might/should change it, and to make
sure that I will understand the purpose of the study when you turn in your paper. Just a few minutes of
feedback can make your proposed study much more realistic/impactful/meaningful/etc., which can
directly improve your grade. If you use a pre-laid out option from one of the chapters, the end-product
will be expected to be better to receive an equal grade, compared to a student who came up with their
own idea (even if I helped them with their own idea).
Requirements:
- APA format throughout (published journal articles are great guides for writing style)
- Propose either: 1) a correlational study consisting of at least three continuous variables, 2) a singlefactor experiment, or if you want extra credit, then 3) a 2X2 experiment. Maximum extra credit is one
letter grade but #3 is recommended for anyone planning to go to graduate school or who wants to get
more out of class. - 8-12 pages overall
- Cover/title page (1 page); Abstract (1 page); Intro (should be 2-4 pages); Method (1-2 pages)
Results (1 page); Discussion (1-2 pages); References (1 page); Tables/Figures (1-2 pages) - this is a rough guide; your method section may be longer or shorter than one page, as
with your results section. The most important thing is that you include all of the
information that is needed in each section, and you do it appropriately.
- Five or more references (published, peer-reviewed journal articles; no web pages, etc., unless from a
government source). References should be no more than 10 years old (i.e. 2010), unless approval is
given for an older source. - Report expected results appropriate for your study (will depend on your design)
- Discuss the implications of your expected results and directions for future research as though you
actually observed your expected results. - No quotes! In-text quotes are not acceptable for this assignment – reword it if needed.
- Include a basic APA formatted correlation table if choosing option #1 or a table with expected
means, SDs and other info from your expected results section for options #2 and #3 (see examples
online and make something similar); reference your table in the results or discussion section (as you
see in published articles and the examples provided). - Do not turn it in late!; late assignments will not be accepted.
Tips - Have fun! Try to think of a topic for which you have some intrinsic interest; research is much more
enjoyable when you care. - Start early and come to office hours if anything is unclear; even 10minutes of feedback can make the
difference between a “good” grade and a poor grade. It will not be acceptable that you had no idea
what to include in each section, that the correct info is in the wrong sections, that you wrote in a nonscientific manner, etc. I will give general feedback on each of these things if you bring something for
us to discuss (i.e. your paper/best attempt at completing the assignment on your own). - “Channel” the authors from the published examples on CANVAS when writing your paper;
scientific writing is not creative writing, and the “voice” used in your paper should be similar to the
example articles. Ask yourself: “How would they say it?” - Use your reference articles as a guide as much as possible; methodology, variable
operationalization, reference formatting, what to include in each section, which sections to include,
tables/figures??, etc., all can be discerned by consulting the published examples that were provided or
the ones you found for your study.
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