PSY-222-H5232 Research Methods 22EW5

Psy 222-4-2 Activity: Read a Research Paper

Overview

In this activity, you will practice the skill of reading a research study. This activity builds on the Module Two Activity assignment and prepares you for Project Two, where you will critique a research study.

Each rubric criterion below contains a word-count goal. These are guides to help you respond at the right level of depth and specificity.

Prompt

1. Summarize the research study’s purpose. Your response should be about 25 to 50 words.
2. Describe the relevance of the publication dates of the citations referenced for the research study. Your response should be about 25 to 50 words. Consider the following:
   • Are some of those cited sources recent (relevant to date of publication)?
3. Identify the type of claim the research study makes. Explain your response. Your response should be about 25 to 50 words. Consider the following:
   • Is the claim frequency based, association based, or causal?
4. Describe the research method used in the research study. Your response should be about 25 to 50 words. Consider the following:
   • Is the research method qualitative, quantitative, or mixed?
5. Describe the research study’s data collection method. Your response should be about 50 to 100 words. Consider the following:
   • Possibilities for data collection include surveys, observations, interviews, archive review, objective or biological measures, or some combination of those listed.
6. Describe the research study’s sample. Your response should be about 50 words. Include the following in your response:
   • Sample size
   • Sample characteristics
7. Describe one type of statistical analysis conducted in the research study. Your response should be about 25 words.
8. Describe one limitation from the research study. Your response should be about 25 to 50 words.
9. Describe how this research study could be used in personal and professional practice. Your response should be about 25 to 50 words. Consider the following:
   • How can the findings from this study be used by people in their work, personal lives, or to help others?

Guidelines for Submission

You will use your Soomo webtext writing template to complete the activity and download for submission. Sources should be cited according to APA style.

PSY-222-H5232 Research Methods 22EW5

Psy 222-6-2 Project Two Milestone: Choose a Paper to Critique

Overview

Throughout this course, you have been building and refining your data literacy skills. You have practiced identifying quality research studies, analyzing research studies, and planning for research design. All of these skills prepare you to critique research studies. For clarification on addressing any of the items below, use your Soomo webtext chapters.

In Project Two, due in Module Eight, you will critique a research study from the list provided on a psychology-related topic that most interests you. For this milestone, you will select the study you will critique and address the criteria below in preparation for submitting your project.

Prompt

Select a research study from the list provided in your Soomo webtext. For your milestone, you must address the rubric criteria listed below:

1. Select a peer-reviewed journal article and describe its relevance to you personally or professionally in about 50 to 75 words.
2. Describe the purpose of the peer-reviewed journal article in about 25 to 50 words.
3. Identify the major methodological design of the peer-reviewed journal article in about 25 to 50 words.
4. Identify strengths and weaknesses of the specific measurement used to operationalize one of the key variables in about 50 to 100 words.
5. Identify the key variables and how they were operationalized in the study (i.e., what measures were used) in about 100 to 150 words.

Guidelines for Submission

You will use your Soomo webtext writing template to complete the milestone and download for submission. Sources should be cited according to APA style.

Competencies

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:

• Determine an appropriate research methodology and design aligned to a research question
• Develop a research plan

Scenario

You are a research assistant for a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at a university. You have been asked to develop a research plan focused on one of the topics the faculty member is interested in studying.

For this project, you will review the topics provided by your faculty member and select the topic that interests you most. Then you will use the library to find relevant empirical and scholarly research studies to inform the research. Finally, you will develop a research plan to submit to your faculty member.

Directions

You will use your webtext writing template to complete this project. Select a topic from the list provided in your Soomo webtext. For your activity, you must address the rubric criteria listed below:

1. Determine the plan’s background introduction. Include the following details:
   1. The title of the plan
   2. Summary of three relevant empirical and scholarly research studies for the plan. Each summary should be about 150 to 250 words.
2. Develop a clear and specific research question that is relevant to the three research studies you chose. Your response should be about 25 words.
3. Develop a clear, specific, and testable hypothesis that corresponds to your research question. Your response should be about 25 words. Consider the following in your hypothesis:
   1. Your hypothesis should be informed by the claim you are making.
4. Describe aspects of sampling that you would want to consider while acquiring participants for your study. Your response should be about 100 words.
5. Select a design (experimental or correlational) for your proposed study that aligns with the research question and hypothesis. Your response should be about 100 words. Include the following details:
   1. Explain why you selected this design.
   2. Identify conceptual variables that align with the research question and hypothesis.
6. Select a measure to operationally define each of your conceptual variables. Your response should be about 100 words per variable. Include the following details:
   1. As you select a measure, also state whether it uses natural/laboratory observations, surveys, objective/physiological measures, interviews, etc.
   2. For each variable you measure, identify its scale of measurement.
7. Describe your type of analysis and the p value required to support your hypothesis. Your response should be about 50 words.
8. Develop the plan’s discussion content. Your response should be about 250 to 350 words. Include the following details:
   1. What you would expect to be the main finding of your study
   2. How you would know if your hypothesis was supported
   3. The potential implications of the findings
   4. A possible limitation of your proposed study
   5. Directions for future research

What to Submit

To complete this project, you must submit the following:

Research Plan
You will use your Soomo webtext writing template to complete the project and download for submission. Your plan must be a minimum of two pages. Sources should be cited according to APA style.

PSY-222-H5232 Research Methods 22EW5

Psy 222-8-3 Project Two

Competencies

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:

• Articulate the rationale for a psychological study
• Develop a research plan

Scenario

Data literacy is a vital component of psychology-related careers. Having the skills to understand, dissect, and critique research studies will benefit you in this course and beyond. For this project, you will critique a research study from the list provided on a psychology-related topic that interests you. Critiques are a balanced discussion of the research study, which means you will want to focus on both the strengths of the study and the limitations or areas of possible improvement. For your critique, you will analyze each section of the research study you select.

This project builds on the skills you practiced in your Module Two and Module Four activities, as well as the Project Two Milestone assignment.

Directions

You will use your webtext writing template to complete this project. Use the research study you selected in the Project Two Milestone. For your critique, you must address the rubric criteria listed below:

1. Analyze the introduction section of the research study in about 50 to 100 words. Include the following in your response:
   1. The title of the article
   2. The purpose of the study
   3. How the article’s introductory content is relevant and how it logically leads into the study
2. Analyze the method section of the research study in about 250 to 350 words. Include the following in your response:
   1. The study’s method and design
   2. The study’s primary hypothesis and claim
   3. How the method and design aligns with the primary hypothesis to reach a strong conclusion
   4. How the researchers made measurements and whether they were good choices for the conceptual variables
   5. How the researchers obtained participants, how many participants there were, and their characteristics
   6. The sampling characteristics (sample size, strategy, composition, etc.) as they relate to this study
3. Analyze the results section of the research study in about 50 to 100 words. Include the following in your response:
   1. The “big idea” of the analysis (compare means, look for relationships, assess frequency, etc.)
   2. How the primary hypothesis was supported
   3. The analysis used for the primary hypothesis
4. Analyze the discussion section of the research study in about 150 to 200 words. Include the following in your response:
   1. The major findings
   2. The strengths and limitations described in the study
   3. The conclusions and whether they were supported by the method that the researchers used
   4. Whether the claims and inferences the researchers draw seem appropriate, given their findings
   5. How the study could be improved or extended in future research
5. Explain how the findings of this research study could apply to your personal or professional life in about 50 to 100 words.

What to Submit

To complete this project, you must submit the following:

Research Paper Critique
You will use your Soomo webtext writing template to complete the project and download for submission. Your critique must be a minimum of two pages. Sources should be cited according to APA style.