Week 5: Research proposal reminders

Word limit: 2000, but aim for a maximum of 1500 (not including title or references) SectionMax. marks Content Title2IV and DV (precise and no more than 15 words) Introduction20Past research; rationale; hypotheses Methods20Participants; materials; design; procedure – in enough detail for someone else to replicate the study References6Full APA-style references for all citations in main text

 Straightforward and informative (not more than 15 words)  Enough to explain your study without going into too much detail  Examples: ◦ Too little detail: Fast food purchases ◦ Too much detail: Differences in the fast food purchasing habits of men and women in the last month in Brighton ◦ Just right: Differences in the fast food purchasing habits of men and women  Independent Variable = the value being manipulated or changed  Dependent Variable = the observed result that is dependent on the independent variable

 What is the IV and DV in the following titles? ◦ Differences in the fast food purchasing habits of men and women ◦ The impact of a sensation-seeking personality trait on alcohol consumption ◦ The effects of aging on reaction time in a signal detection task

 Quick explanation of research area  Summary of relevant past research (and perhaps its flaws)  Purpose of study  Brief description of methods  4 Hypotheses (2 categorical and 2 continuous) ◦ Aim to predict differences between groups rather than relationships between variables  Up to 1200 words

 Categorical hypotheses: ◦ 2 categorical variables ◦ e.g. “Men prefer to buy fast food at Burger King, while women prefer to buy fast food at McDonalds”

 Continuous hypotheses: ◦ 1 categorical variable and 1 continuous variable ◦ e.g. “Males consume a larger quantity of alcoholic beverages per week than females” ◦ 2 continuous variables (not for this term) ◦ e.g. “As age increases, scores on a memory test decrease”

 Give enough information so that it is obvious what you intend to do  Subsections: ◦ Participants ◦ Materials ◦ Design ◦ Procedure Write in paragraphs (no lists!)

 Number of participants  Sex (# of men, # of women)  Who (students, women, the retired, etc)  Volunteers or paid?  Any other demographics that might be necessary

 Things you will be using: ◦ Questionnaire (do not include the whole thing!) ◦ Any other materials you think are necessary to include ◦ DON’T INCLUDE: Pen, A4 paper, etc.

 Identify: ◦ Independent variable(s) ◦ Dependent variable(s) ◦ Design: within-subjects, between-subjects or mixed?  Don’t worry about this section this term  Just say you will use a questionnaire design

 Explain how the experiment will be carried out  Step by step breakdown of what will be done  Informed consent

 Write in future tense  Write in third person where you can (e.g. “Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire”) and avoid first person (“I asked participants to complete a questionnaire”, “We asked participants to complete a questionnaire”)  Back up your assertions  Refer to people you tested as ‘participants’ not ‘subjects’

 Double-space  Colours: Stick to greyscale  Put a title on each section  Number your pages  Check your spelling and grammar  Check your references – they are worth six marks