critical thinking create your own research

Lanier Technical CollegeCritical ThinkingDesign Your Own Research StudyThe AssignmentThe assignment is to complete a research study testing the psychological concept of your choice. Youwill conduct your research by surveying individuals that represent your designated population. You willwork out your study, and write your paper following APA format. Data analysis must be completed andinclude graphs and inferential statistics.Picking your topicFor this project, you must do a correlational study answering any question related to psychology. Youmust collect your data using a survey and your method must meet the ethical criteria set by the IRB(me).What you will turn inYou will turn in a scientific paper describing your study. The paper should include the following:Title​ Scientific titles are descriptive and may be long. It doesn’t need to be clever or catchy (but it can be). Itmust​ describe what you’ve studied.Abstract ​​The abstract is a ​brief​ overview of the entire paper. Although it is at the beginning of your paper,you should write it last. It should include 1-2 sentences on each of the following: 1) summary of backgroundresearch (from the introduction), 2) statement of the topic of your study (from Introduction), 3) statement ofhypothesis (from Introduction), 4) summary of results, and 5) comment from discussion. It is usually 150words or less.Introduction​​The introduction contains 1) detailed background information on your topic, 2) a statement ofyour topic with a compelling argument for why this topic is interesting or relevant, 3) a statement of yourhypothesis, and 4)the predictions for the results along with a rationale of how the predictions flow from thehypothesis. Background research should be cited with complete bibliographical information in a reference listat the end of the paper.Method​ This section details ​exactly​ how the researcher conducted the study and who served as participants.All the information necessary to repeat the study generally appears in this section. The Method sectionincludes information about apparatus or instrumentation that was used for both the independent anddependent variables. The complete procedure used to administer the independent variable, controlconfounding variables, and measure the dependent variable is described in this section. This is also whereyou will explain how you fulfilled ethical obligations, such as informed consent, confidentiality, and

debriefing. A copy of your standardized procedures should be included either in the text of the methodssection or as an appendix referenced in the methods section. If you use a survey (or part of a survey) fromanother source, you must include an internal citation and list the source in the reference section.Results​ Researchers report what they’ve found in this section. This includes data tables, graphs, andstatistical information in addition to a written summary of the results. Tables and graphs should be labeled(“Table 1”) and include a caption.Discussion​​The discussion section contains three main things: 1) a conclusion statement (was the hypothesissupported?), 2) a critique of the study, and 3) suggestions for further research or relevance. The bulk of thediscussion focuses on #2 (critique). In your critique, you should analyze the strength of your conclusion byidentifying possible sources of error or bias in your experiment and explain how these may have affectedyour data. You may also include alternate explanations for how to interpret your results.References ​Parenthetical citations (author, date) must be used to cite sources internally. Sources are listedalphabetically by last name of the first author with second line of each citation indented. You may use abibliography tool such as​​http://www.carmun.com/easy-bibliography-formatting-APA-MLA.php​​to help you(select “APA format”).Logistics​​– 12 point font, 1 inch margins, avoid passive voice, each section is separated and headed (i.e.,“Introduction”), parenthetical notation, tables and graphs are labeled and captioned. ​Sample size should beat least 25​ and you must submit all consent forms with your paper to receive credit.​2015_2016 Rubric for alternative critical thinking assignment.pdf​●Participants○All participants must be at least 18 or older- No exceptions.○You must have a minimum of 25 participants take your survey- No exceptions.●Consent Forms○If you have chosen to give out a paper form of your survey to participants,​​everyparticipantmust sign a consent form prior to taking the survey. ​Consent forms inboth English and Spanish are provided within this folder.■Typically, consent forms are not to be submitted with your paper. Contact yourinstructor for more information on when and how to submit these consent forms.

○If you have chosen to use one of the websites provided to distribute our surveyelectronically, ​no consent form is required.●Creating Your Survey○Under no circumstances should you have to pay for anything related to this assignment.The websites provided are free to use; while they may ask you to “upgrade,” you can stilluse their service to analyze the data, produce graphs, etc. at no charge. Please contactyour instructor if you are having difficulty using these websites.●Parameters of Your Paper○There is no set amount for how many pages your paper should be. However, keep inmind that the sample paper is 11 pages long and that is an example of a paper that wasconsidered satisfactory.○Similarly, there is not set amount for how many sources you should use in your paper.However, the fewer resources you have the less research you did. And the less researchyou did, the worse your grade is likely to be. Please keep this in mind when preparing forthis assignment.○The crux of your paper is centered around your hypotheses: what do you think the resultswill be of your survey? While there is not a set number of hypotheses required for thisassignment, most students with satisfactory papers provide at least 2 hypotheses.○Graphs are a requirement for this assignment, and should be found in the Results sectionof your paper. While there are no set number of graphs required, for every hypothesisintroduced in your Introduction section, there should be at least one graph discussing it inyour Results section.○