SSC130: Essentials of Psychology
Instructions for Psychology Research Essay
To successfully complete this course, you must write a research essay based on information found in your textbook Psychology and your life by Robert S. Feldman and three (3) outside sources. Students will choose one of the three topics below and write an essay of six (6) complete paragraphs for or against the question being asked. After presenting both sides of the debate, students will make three (3) claims to support their thesis and convince the reader why their opinion is correct.
Topics
1. Media Violence: Does media violence cause violent behavior?
2. Eye Witness Testimony: Is eye witness testimony reliable in the court of law?
3. The Opioid Epidemic: Are doctors who over-prescribe narcotic pain medication causing the opioid epidemic?
Process: Where do I begin?
Pre-writing
· Choose one of the topics listed above. Pick the topic that seems most interesting to you or one you want to learn more about.
· Answer the question being asked: Yes or No? Do you agree or disagree? Write down your answers and state your opinion about the topic. As you research the topic/debate, your opinion may change. That is OK! Your opinion will evolve into your thesis statement.
· Do some free-writing. Jot down everything that you know about the topic. Write down whatever ideas come to you in any order. Brain-storm facts, impressions, emotions, reactions, everything that comes to mind when you think about your topic.
· Map the topic. Write down your topic in the middle of a blank sheet of paper. Draw a box or circle around the topic. Think of ideas that support the topic to sketch out around the central topic. Draw arrows, lines, and/or highlight to show relationships and to make connections between ideas. As you cluster, map and draw ideas, remember that you will need to develop three (3) claims to support your thesis.
· Ask questions! How do I explain the general topic? What is the debate all about? What are the two sides to this issue? What psychologists have researched this topic? What conclusions have psychologists agreed upon or argued about?
Research your topic
· Begin with your course textbook. Read about cognitive learning in module 17, and media violence specifically on pages 193-4. For eye witness testimony, review chapter 3: perception, and chapter 6 modules 18 and 19 about memory and forgetting. Module 14 explains drug use. Chapter 2: neuroscience and behavior, will remind you how substances can affect the body and brain.
· Look for resources in the Penn Foster library. You must use at least three (3) outside sources. Click here to access the Penn Foster Library’s Psychology page http://pflibrary.pennfoster.edu/c.php?g=590632
· You are required to explain both sides of the debate so be sure that you read sources that are for and against the topic.
· Find evidence to support your opinion. The types of evidence that support your thesis and claims can include: definitions, historical background, explanation of a process, facts, descriptive details, classification, compare/contrast, cause/effect, advantages/disadvantages, examples, problems, statistics and quotations.
· Take notes as you read. Put information in your own words whenever possible. You are arguing your opinion. Limit the number of direct quotations that you use in this essay.
· Record publication data for each source that you consult. Bookmark websites. You will need information about the author, publication date, website, URL, and date accessed for the required APA style reference page and citations.
· Create a general outline of the six (6) required paragraphs. Make sure that you are making three (3) claims and that each claim is supported by researched evidence.
Organization
These are the components your essay must include.
§ A title page (see below)
§ An introduction paragraph establishes the chosen topic and reveals what your essay will be about by indicating your focus, approach, and clearly stating your thesis. The thesis statement is your opinion on the topic and the side that you will argue in your essay. The thesis is the main point– which will be for or against the question being asked about your chosen topic. An effective thesis statement makes a specific assertion. For example, eyewitness testimony has been shown to be unreliable in the court of law. The thesis should be included in the introduction paragraph so that the reader knows what to pay close attention to and what to expect. Readers should know right from the beginning how the supporting reasons/claims relate to the main point.
§ The second paragraph of your essay will be a background paragraph. Here you will provide an in-depth explanation of the topic. Clearly present both sides of the debate. Tell the reader what kinds of research has been done on the topic and by whom.
§ The body of your paper is where you will present evidence that supports your thesis. The body should be three paragraphs long. You will write one paragraph for each of the three claims or reasons that you present to persuade the reader why your opinion about the topic is the correct one. Each claim must be supported by research; use your sources to substantiate, explain and provide detail to support each claim. Remember that each paragraph should contain a topic sentence (your claim) and be at least five (5) sentences long.
§ A conclusion paragraph re-states the thesis and summarize the three claims. The conclusion should be a reflection of your introduction. Do not add any new information to the conclusion that you have not previously used in the body of your essay.
§ References listing the course textbook and at least three (3) outside sources. The reference page must be presented in APA style as explained below.
Title page
The first page of your paper will be the title page. Tab down to begin typing your essay on the second page. Likewise after you have finished typing the conclusion paragraph, tab down to a new page for the reference page. The title page, essay, and reference page should be saved and submitted in a single file. Provide the following information on your title page:
§ The title of your chosen topic
§ Your name and student ID
§ SSC130: Essentials of Psychology
§ Research Essay Exam #
§ Penn Foster College/High School/Career School
§ Current Date
Developing the Body of Your Paper
As stated earlier, you are to choose ONE topic and create a well-thought out argument essay of six (6) paragraphs. Your essay should be roughly 750 to 1000 words and about 3-5 pages in length—these are general guidelines NOT specific numbers. After the introduction paragraph, you will write a background paragraph that presents both sides of the debate equally. This paragraph should provide all basic information about the topic as if the reader has no previous knowledge. Define any terms. Refer to any major theorists, such as psychologist Albert Bandura’s bobo doll experiment on observational learning and its findings about media violence. Explain to the reader the types of research that has been conducted on the topic.
Body Paragraphs 3-5 will present your claims or reasons why you agree or disagree with the topic question. Each of the topics requires that you provide the reader with at least 3 reasons why your opinion on the topic is correct. You will include one reason in each of the three paragraphs in this section. Begin each of these paragraphs with a stated claim that supports your thesis. An example claim may be: many patients who become addicted to narcotic pain medication look for illegal sources of the drug after their doctor stops writing prescriptions. You will then present research to support your opinion such as Dr. Nora Volkow’s report to the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control.
Formatting Your Paper
Format your essay by setting your paragraph line spacing to double-space 2.0 and use 1 inch margins. The APA recommends 12 pt. Times New Roman font. Include a header with a shortened title in all caps at the top left and page number at the top right of each page, like I did for this document. You are NOT required to include an abstract or subtitles.
Proof-read!
Remember that grammar counts! Be sure to re-read, revise and proof-read your essay for polished English grammar, spelling, capitalization, spacing, and mechanics. To see exactly how your essay will be scored, review the grading rubric found in the Digital Study Guide appendix.
Saving Your Document
Submit your assignment in one file with the title page, essay and reference page together. It is not the instructor’s job to copy and paste your work together for you. Save your document as a Microsoft word document or as Rich Text Format:
Student number_exam number_Last name
You must save your document as Microsoft word or rich text format. No other types of documents (pdf, works, open office, plain text, etc…) will be accepted. Save as .rtf or .dox only
For Assistance with APA style:
APA style reference page: All sources that are cited in the text MUST be included on the reference list at the end of your paper. This page is called references, NOT works cited and NOT bibliography.
Proper formatting for an APA style reference page requires that entries are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name or title if no author is available. Entries begin at the margin. Subsequent lines are indented by pressing ctrl+tab. Do not use bullets or number entries. Double-space (2.0 line spacing).
*Please note that I have separated printed and electronic sources here for instructional purposes. Your references should be a single alphabetical list.
Printed sources include: Author’s last name, first initial. (Year of publication). Title. City of publication, State (2 letter postal abbreviation): Publisher.
Examples:
References
Feldman, R. S. (2013). Psychology and your life (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.
Macionis, J. J. (2017). Sociology: The basics (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Books.
Perren, R. (1997). On the turn—Japan, 1900. In L. H. Nelson & S. K. Drummond (Eds.) The human perspective: Readings in world civilization, the modern world through the twentieth century, volume II. (2nd ed., pp. 305-315). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
Electronic sources include the title of the website, full URL address and all other available publication information—author, publication date, page title. I should be able to copy and paste the URL in my browser and go directly to the exact page that you have consulted.
Just a URL www.psychologytoday.com is NOT acceptable! If you are using a direct quotation, you must include the date that you accessed the website and page or paragraph number (see Fujita example below).
Examples:
References
Feminism (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Britannica online. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/feminism
Fujita, W. C. (n.d.). Observational (social) learning theory, retrieved September 11, 2014 from http://www.slideshare.net/wcfujita/observational-social-learning-theory
Shon, E. (2004). Animal clones: Double trouble. Science News for Students. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article-animal-doubletroube/
APA Citations: Most students know that they must cite direct quotations—any time that you use the exact words of an author or source. If you copy six (6) or more consecutive words written by someone else, you are required to use quotation marks and provide proper citations both in-text and in a properly formatted reference page. Your APA style parenthetical citations for a direct quotation should look like this: … (Feldman, 2013, p. 200). If you are using an electronic source without page numbers, you will use the paragraph number (Fujita, n.d., par. 6).
In addition to direct quotations, you must provide an in-text parenthetical citation whenever you use or summarize someone else’s ideas, opinion, argument, sentence structure, or research results. Always provide a citation when including statistics, percent, and numbers. If you did not count or do the math yourself, give credit to the person who did!
Another way of citing in the APA style is to mention the author early in the sentence followed by the year of publication. For example: According to Feldman (2013), waking consciousness is… If you use a direct quotation then place the page or paragraph number in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence (p. 137).
Place punctuation directly after the parenthesis, like this: … in their thinking” (Feldman, 2013, p. 337).
Helpful Links:
For additional help with APA style:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/664/01/
Our English Instructor Christina has posted APA documentation help on the Penn Foster Community: https://community.pennfoster.edu/docs/DOC-63933
Citing Indirect Sources
If you use a source that was cited in another source, name the original source in your signal phrase. List the secondary source in your reference list and include the secondary source in the parentheses.
Johnson argued that… (as cited in Feldman, 2013, p. 102).
Using titles in your writing: Titles of books, journals, magazines, films, video games, television programs, etc… must be italicized. Chapters, articles, song titles or other excerpts from larger works should be placed in quotation marks. For a quick overview about using titles in your writing see the following website: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/italics.htm
