Psy 601 WORKING OUTLINE OF ASSIGNMENTS:
Senior Studies I, Spring 2009
Assignment 1 : Letter Proposal
Write,
in letter format, a brief description of the area you would like to
study for
your thesis, why this area is of interest to you and why you are
currently qualified
to begin work in this area. The letter
should
fit one page and addressed to the Psychology Faculty.
Assignment 2: Theory/Paradigm
Report
With the advice of your advisor select one theory or research
paradigm
that is appropriate for your area of research. Prepare an
illustration
of this theory or paradigm using PowerPoint. It should only be
one
slide. Follow the instructions for using slides for presentations in
Szuchman, Chapter 11. You may animate it if you like. Save
the PowerPoint
file to your own directory and to the R: drive class folder. Be
prepared
to give a five minute informal presentation to the seminar class on
your
theory/paradigm during seminar in week 3. Begin building your
bibliography by including complete citations for all the sources you
used for your theory report in your working bibliography.
By the end of the course you should have a good working bibliography
with a minimum of 20 relevant and
appropriate sources.
Inappropriate
sources include:
Introductory
Psychology Textbooks
Most
other Textbooks
Internet
sources other than peer reviewed journals
Magazines
(e.g., Psychology Today)
Coverage of
the years and authors appropriate for the
topic.
Generally
focus on the recent research but be sure to include the foundational or
classic
research.
Only include articles in
languages that you can read.
Be sure to
cover the entire alphabet of authors.
Source Types
Peer
Reviewed Journal Articles
Edited
Scientific Books (chapters)
APA Style
Author (s)
Year
Title
Journal or
Publisher
Volume
Number & Pages or Place
If you use
electronic sources be sure to put them in the proper format.
Note: This is a working bibliography. You are
expected to
continue to add to it throughout the year long senior studies process.
Assignment 3: Journal Audit
Select one Journal that is relevant to your research topic.
(Ask your advisor to recommend one.) Find an issue that was published
during the last year. Read enough of 10 articles (in the order
that they appear in the journal) to determine the design and statistics
used. Code your audit onto the SPSS data template that's on the
class R:Drive ProfNote folder. Save with your own name as part of
the file name to the class R:Drive work folder. You will need to
know the Journal Name, type, issue. For each article you will
need to know the last name of the first author, the type of design and
which inferential statistics were reported. Update your working
bibliography to include the new sources that you identified.
Assignment 4: Ethics Analysis
Identify with your research advisor one ethical issue that is primarily
relevant for the topic that you are studying. E-mail the topic
for approval to Dr. Webster. The first student to nominate a
specific issue will be allowed to report on that issue. In the unlikely
event that two of you select the same issue, the second person will
need to find another issue.
1. Study the APA Ethical Guidelines for the specific issue.
2. Ask your advisor if other specific resources relevant to the
issue are available. If so, read them and be prepared to
integrate what you've learned from them with the APA ethical guidelines
information.
3. Prepare an informal presentation of the issue and its
relevance for senior studies projects to be delivered in class.
4. Update your working bibliography to include the additional sources
that you read this week, including those relevant to the ethics
assignment.
Assignment 5 : Thesis Statement
Prepare one clear thesis
statement for your research proposal. It should be one
sentence. Make copies of the sentence for review by each of your
seminar classmates and instructor. Be prepared in class to use
the thesis statement to draft a
topic outline for the introduction of your proposal. Update your
working bibliography to include new sources.
Assignment 6: Hypothesis
Write your main hypothesis in one paragraph. Revise the topic
outline that you began last week to clearly link your thesis statement
to your hypothesis. Update your working bibliography to include
new sources.
Assignment 7: Vitae
Based on what you learned in the
Career Center resume/vitae workshop, prepare your own vitae. The
vitae will be part of the business proposal for your thesis.
Before the end of March meet with a member of the career center staff
to review your vitae. You must submit evidence of the review to
complete this assignment. Due by April 1. This week submit your
updated working bibliography.
Assignment 8: Design
Create a PowerPoint slide that
includes your complete hypothesis and a diagram of your design.
Use the information in the Szuchman text to make the slide. Also
complete an APA style figure of your design using Word. Be
ready to discuss the design and why it is better than other designs for
your hypothesis. Submit to the R: Drive at least 24 hours before
your next seminar class (week of March 23th). Update your working
bibliography.
Assignment 9: Method
Write an outline for the method
section of your thesis. Use correct APA style headings.
Include in each section the major content, with references.
Submit the Word document to the R:Drive 24 hours before class and bring
a paper copy to seminar for discussion. Due the week of
March 30th. Update your bibliography.
Assignment 10: Statistics
Make up a fake SPSS data
set that includes the major variables from your hypothesis.
Complete the main inferential statistic to test the hypothesis with the
fake data. Make an APA style graph or table to depict the
predicted results of your main hypothesis. Submit the graph or
table to the R: Drive 24 hours before class and bring a paper copy to
the seminar for discussion the week of 4/7. Update your working
bibliography.
Assignment 11: Research Proposal
Read the PDF file that is the
call for proposals to get all the details of this full
assignment. It is due 24 hours before class on the week of
4/13/09. Your proposal must be accompanied by a letter of support
from your advisor indicating that the advisor has read and approves of
your proposal.
Assignment 12: Peer Review
Read the peer review guidelines and be
ready to review one or two papers in each seminar. There are two
weeks of peer review. Students may need an early review in order
to prepare for IRRB approvals. Peer review must precede IRRB review and
in all cases must occur before data collection. Likewise, peer
and department review should precede honor's reviews.
Assignment 13: Pilot Study
As soon as your study has been approved through the peer review process
you may begin the appropriate pilot studies for your thesis. Work
carefully with your thesis advisor to determine the appropriate pilot
for your project. No formal assignment is due. Students are
expected to attend the Best of Westminster: Undergraduate Research
Conference on the 24th and/or 25th instead of seminar this week.
Assignment 14: Revised
Proposal
Revise your proposal based upon the feedback you have received from the
peer and professor reviews as well as anything that you have learned
from the pilot testing and preparations that you have begun. Include
and updated working bibliography that includes all the new sources that
you have obtained since the working bibliography was submitted last.
Due at the Final Exam period.