1. Finding and reading research

2. What is a good topic?
Concept mapping

3. How to find articles PsychInfo Google Scholar
Search terms
Thesaurus
Limits
And/or/not
Google Scholar
Quotation marks
Searching forward vs. backward

4. What kind of articles should you use?
Empirical
Peer-reviewed
Journal quality
Year
How many?

5. How should you read an article?
Online reading for today
Abstract
Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion

6. Article summaries First one due on Feb. 1 Be precise Be concise
Use formal language
APA style reference at the top
Roughly a paragraph from each of the four major sections

7. Things to think about when reading an article
What is the goal of the article?
How does past research relate to or support this goal?
What are the hypotheses? Are they interesting and important?
What are the independent, dependent, and control variables?
How are the constructs operationalized? (what are the operational definitions of the IV and DV?)
What would I think if I were a participant?
Are there any confounds or chances for researcher bias?
What do the results mean? Are they what the researcher expected?
How did the researcher interpret the results? Are they over-interpreted?
What are the implications of the study? (what does it mean for the real world?)