PSY 510 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric
The attachements below are as follows: Module 2, 4, 6, and 8 and the Exemplar. Please combine all information into ONE polished Research paper.
Overview
The field of psychology is built upon rigorous research. Theories are constantly proposed, tested, supported, and invalidated through research studies communicated to the field via peer-reviewed research papers. As such, individuals in the field of psychology must be both informed consumers and educated producers of psychological research.
This course is the first in a sequence of two research methods courses. In this first course, you will create a research proposal centered on a testable research question. In the second course, you will actually conduct research around your research question, guided by your proposal, and using your classmates as your research participants. Keep in mind when creating your research question and proposal that the topic must be approachable and able to be answered by your colleagues. Research proposals that ask questions about diagnosable mental health disorders, suicide, or abuse of any kind will not be allowed, as these topics may be triggering for some students.
The project is divided into four milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Four, Six, and Eight. The final product will be submitted in Module Ten.
This assessment addresses the following course outcomes:
Evaluate research designs in published studies for their appropriateness in addressing psychological research questions
Synthesize peer-reviewed research in psychology for supporting testable research proposals
Propose data collection strategies for developing methodologically sound research proposals
Select appropriate data analysis methods for informing valid and reliable research results
Apply the American Psychological Association’s principles and standards for creating professional, ethically sound research proposals
Prompt
For this assessment, you will create a research proposal centered on a testable research question and hypothesis, substantiated with peer-reviewed research. In the following course, Research Methods II, you will actually conduct research around your research question, guided by your proposal. You are required to use your Southern New Hampshire University classmates as your research participants, so keep in mind when creating your research question and proposal that the topic must be approachable and able to be answered by your colleagues. You are prohibited from using anyone outside of Southern New Hampshire University for your study.
*** Classmates: Micala Valadez, Meredith Maierhoffer, Keisha Florence, Jaron Olson, Alexa Gregory*** PLEASE USE MY CLASSMATES LISTED HERE***
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
Problem Statement: Describe the general topic you will address and its importance and relevance to real-world issues.
Literature Review: In this section, you will use existing research on your subject and draw conclusions for informing your research proposal.
Summarize existing, applicable research in the field around your topic, utilizing peer-reviewed sources.
Identify the different research designs that have been used to generate knowledge on this topic, and describe how they differ.
Differentiate between the research designs for their advantages and disadvantages in addressing the research questions, providing specific examples from the research.
Evaluate the appropriateness of the research designs to the research questions, providing justification for your assertions. Which design seems most appropriate in addressing the question and why?
Summarize what is unknown or uncertain about your topic, synthesizing applicable existing research.
Discuss the appropriateness of the data analysis procedures used in the literature as they relate to the American Psychological Association’s principles and standards. Consider the assumptions made and presentation of data.
Research Question and Hypothesis
Create a testable research question based on your research about the topic.
Create a testable hypothesis based on your research question and research about the topic, explaining the extent to which the research supports your hypothesis.
Describe the variables that will be measured and manipulated in your study, and explain the selection of variables. Specifically, what independent and dependent variables will be used to test your hypothesis?
Proposed Methodology
Outline whom you plan to use as participants and how many participants you will need, providing justification.
Describe the materials (such as surveys) that will be used in your study and why these materials are most appropriate for your proposal, justifying claims with resources.
Describe the procedures you will use to collect your data and how these will appropriately address your research question.
Discuss the ethical concerns involved in your study and the steps you will take to remedy them. Consider who will be studied, what risks they will be exposed to, and what steps will be taken to maintain their responses’ confidentiality and obtain informed consent.
Data Analysis Plan
Explain what procedures you will use to prepare your raw data for analysis. If you have open-ended questions, how will they be coded? If you collected responses to multiple survey questions, how will the data be aggregated for analysis?
Propose general analytical procedures that you will use to analyze your data, and explain how these procedures will help obtain valid and reliable research results.
Describe which descriptive statistics that could be obtained from your data would be most informative in answering your research question and why.
Discuss how your proposed data analysis methods are ethical and aligned with the American Psychological Association’s principles and standards.
Anticipated Results: What do you expect the results of your study to be, and how do your expected results complement or contradict the results in previous literature?
Milestones
Milestone One: Topic Selection, Search Terms, and Preliminary Research Question
In Module Two, you will submit a description of the topic that you will focus on for the final project as well as a preliminary research question that will guide your paper. It is understood that your research question will likely change and evolve as you read the literature on your topic, but it is important to have a research question to guide your reading. You will also submit a list of search terms that you will use to find peer-reviewed articles on your topic in the Shapiro Library’s electronic databases. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Research Question, Hypothesis, and Annotated Bibliography
In Module Four, you will submit a revised description of the research question and hypothesis (or hypotheses) that will guide your research. You will also submit an annotated bibliography of at least six peer-reviewed sources. For each article, you will need to provide full bibliographic information, the abstract, and a summary of the key findings of the article and how they relate to your research question. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.In Module Four, you will submit a revised description of the research question and hypothesis (or hypotheses) that will guide your research. You will also submit an annotated bibliography of at least six peer-reviewed sources. For each article, you will need to provide full bibliographic information, the abstract, and a summary of the key findings of the article and how they relate to your research question. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.
Milestone Three: Problem Statement and Literature Review
In Module Six, you will submit your problem statement and literature review. In addition, you will revise your previously submitted research question and hypothesis based on the feedback from your instructor in Milestone Two. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Three Rubric.
Milestone Four: Methods, Data Analysis, and Anticipated Results
In Module Eight, you will submit your methods, data analysis, and anticipated results sections. The methods section should describe the participants to be studied and the methods to be utilized for the proposed research project. The data analysis section should discuss the basic plan for analyzing the data, and the anticipated results section should discuss the expected findings. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Four Rubric.
Final Submission: Research Proposal
In Module Ten, you will submit your final project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the Final Product Rubric.
What to Submit
Your research proposal must be 10–15 pages in length and adhere to standard APA formatting with double spacing, Times New Roman 12-point font, and one-inch margins. You must include a title page, citations, and a properly formatted reference page.
