Your Final Research Paper (which is due at the end of the semester) contains the following components:
-Literature Review with APA citations (which we did in a previous Discussion Board)
-Literature Gap (which we did in a previous Discussion Board)
-Hypothesis (which we did in a previous Discussion Board)
-Method
-APA References (which we did in a previous Discussion Board)
In this Board, you will write a Hypothesis and a Method section. The Method section describes how you would conduct a hypothetical study to test your hypothesis. I look for two specific things in your Method:
1) Does it directly measure the variables in the hypothesis?
2) Is the Method written with enough precision and detail that if two independent researchers read your Method section, they would conduct identical studies?
When writing your Method section, first identify the variables in your hypothesis.
Sample Hypothesis: I hypothesize that younger adults are more violent than younger adults. (Variables: Age and Violence).
Next, in your Method, describe how you would precisely measure each.
Sample Method: I would survey 100 participants on a self-reported questionnaire. I would ask them their age (in years) and how violent they would rate themselves on a 10-point scale (1-not at all, 10-very).
Note that in the above sample method, you know *exactly* what is on the survey: You know the questions as well as the scale on which participants would respond. Here’s a sample of an imprecise Method:
Imprecise Method: I would find out how old participants are, and also find out their history of violence.
In the above imprecise sample method, we don’t know how participants will respond: Will they respond with their age in years? Or broad buckets like infant/toddler/adolescent/adult? What how are we supposed to measure a “history of violence?” Is it the number of arrests? The number of altercations?
Instructions for this post:
1) Write a hypothesis. It can be anything related to psychology.
2) Write a Method section.
Sample Discussion Board post
I hypothesize that homelessness is correlated with mental illness.
Method
I will survey 100 individuals and ask them to self-report the responses to these two questions: 1) What is your current housing situation? (Own a home, renting, living with friend or family, homeless, prefer not to answer). 2) Have you been previously diagnosed with a mental illness? (yes, no, prefer not to answer).
