Personality

Order Description

The 1,000 word assignment is worth 30% of the final course mark and is due by 4pm on
Tuesday the 21st April. This task involves you reviewing three personality related journal
articles, developing a research question and hypothesis, and then writing an introduction
section as though for a research report.

Option 3: Personality and music
Dunn et al. (2011). Towards a better understanding of the relation between
music preference, listening behaviour, and personality. Psychology of Music,
40(4), 411-428.
Hunter & Schellenberg (2011). Interactive effects of personality and
frequency of exposure on liking for music. Personality & Individual
Differences, 50, 175-179.
Vuoskoski & Eerola (2011). The role of mood and personality in the
perception of emotions represented by music. Cortex, 47, 1099-1106.

2. Writing your Introduction
• Your assignment must have the following sections:
Title page
Introduction, consisting of:
? Literature review
? Research question & hypothesis
Reference list
• The word count does not include the title page or reference list
• A suggested timeline for writing your assignment is provided in the lecture
timetable (see p.5 of this document)
• The assignment must be prepared as follows:
Must adhere to APA 6th style, with the exception of deviations noted below.
Typed or word-processed in Times New Roman size 12 font or similar, 1.5 or
double-spaced, and printed on white A4 paper (may be single or double-sided
printing).
Work must be stapled, not held together with a paper clip or placed in a plastic
pocket or folder.
A cover sheet (included in this document) must be completed and attached to
the front of the assignment.
The assignments will be “blind marked”, so do not write your name anywhere
on your assignment or the cover sheet.

PART 1: Review the articles
STEP 1:Read the three articles
STEP 2: Summariseeach article by answering the following questions
1.    Introduction section – background to study
•    What does the introduction tell you about the research area?
•    What have other authors found?
2.    Introduction section – objectives/hypotheses
•    What gap have the authors identified in the area of research
•    Why are the authors doing the study?
•    What are their objectives or hypotheses?
3.    Method section – participants
•    How many?
•    Age?
•    Gender?
•    Any particular characteristics?
•    How were they recruited?
4.    Method section –materials
•    What tools, tests, and apparatus did they use?
•    What sorts of questions did they ask?
5.    Method section – procedure
•    What did they do to collect the data?
6.    Results  section
•    What analyses did they perform?
•    What did their results show?
•    Were these findings significant?
7.    Discussion section
•    Were their hypotheses supported or rejected?
•    What did they say their findings meant?
•    What conclusions were drawn?
STEP3:Draftthe beginning of your Research Report Introduction
1.    Introducing the topic:write a paragraphor two based on your answers to question 1 for the three articles – ensure you define key constructs here
2.    Describing the studies covered in the articles: write a paragraph for each of the three articles, as follows
•    Stating the aims/objectives of the study: 1-2 sentences based on answers to question 2
•    Describing the study: 2-3 sentences based on answers to questions 3, 4, & 5
•    Reporting findings: 1-2 sentences based on answers to question 6
•    Statement of conclusions: 1 sentence based on answers to question 7
[You will now have 4-5 paragraphs in draft form, probably somewhere between 500 and 700 words]

STEP4:Critically analyse the three articles by answering the following questions
1.    Research design – Think about the nature of the materials, tests and tools, the procedure, the participants, the questions asked and the questions not asked
•    Was the research design appropriate for the research hypothesis under investigation?
•    Were there any potential flaws or oversights, or did they cover everything important?
2.    Interpretation of results– Think about which results were significant and which were not, and look at the reported effect sizes.
•    Do you feel that they have interpreted their results correctly?
•    Do they seem to have placed too much or too little importance on some of the results?
3.    Conclusions– Think about the limitations they noted, any issues you feel they did not adequately address, and your thoughts on the interpretation of the results.
•    Are their conclusions appropriately supported by their findings?
•    Are their conclusions reasonable in light of the limitations to the study?
4.    Comparison of the three articles – Do their findings fit together or are they contradictory?
•    What is the nature of the differences/similarities?
•    Why might they have found different/similar things?
STEP5: Drafta paragraph incorporating the following info:
1.    Summarise their strengths & weaknesses – 1-2 sentences for each study based on the info from Steps 1, 2 & 3
2.    Compare and contrast the studies – 1-2 sentences based on the info from Step 4
STEP 6:Draw your conclusions- Consider all of the info now at your disposal
1.    What do you think it means?
2.    What does it tell us about the topic under investigation?
STEP 7: Draft a paragraph outlining your thoughts
1.    What does it mean? –3-4 sentences based on the info from Step 6
[You will now have 6-7 paragraphs in draft form, probably somewhere between 700 and 1000 words]

STEP8: Revise paragraphs
1.    Read over what you have and see if the info needs to be rearranged in any way
•    Ensure that you are telling a cohesive story from introducing the topic and defining constructs through to describing the studies, evaluating and comparing them, and then stating what it all seems to mean.
•    For example, you may decide to change the order in which the studies are presented, you may meld the info on the studies’ strengths/weaknesses with their descriptions, you may use the info about similarities/differences to link the info from the three studies, etc.
2.    Cut word length to approx. 800 words
•    See where you can meld the info from two or more sentences into one
•    Is there a more direct (and less wordy) way of saying the same thing?
•    Are you including more detailed info than is really necessary?

PART 2: Develop a research question& hypothesis
STEP9: Develop your research ideas by answering the following questions:
1.    What do you think might be going on? – Think about what is implied by the studies’ findings and how this fits within the overall body of literature (as covered in the intro & discussion sections of the articles)
•    Which variables might be associated?
•    Which groups might be different?
•    What mechanisms might be at play?
2.    Where are the gaps? – Think about the body of literature and also the studies’ research designs and limitations.
•    What has been overlooked?
•    What limitations could be addressed?
3.    Do you have a different perspective on the topic? – Think about what you know about the area – e.g., ‘real world’ knowledge, what you have learnt in psychology.
•    Do you think that there is a better way to answer their research question?
•    Do you have a better research question to answer?
STEP10:Refine your ideas by answering the following questions
1.    What do you want to investigate and why?
•    What is the reason for your study?
2.    What info from previous studies is informing this decision?
•    How does your study fit with what is already known on the topic?
3.    What sort of research question do you want to ask?
•    Is it a descriptive, difference or association question?
4.    What population/s do you want to investigate?
•    Describe this population?
5.    What is your research question?
•    Is it clearly articulated and testable?
STEP11: Draft your research question & hypothesis- using answers from Step 10
1.    What is the reason for your proposed study? – 2-3 sentences
2.    State your study objectives/aims?– 1-2 sentences
3.    What is your research question? – 1 sentence
4.    What is your hypothesis – 1 sentence
•    Your hypothesis will need to be in one of two forms:
•    Group differences (i.e., the mean scores of the two groups of interest will be significantly different, noting which group you hypothesise will be higher/lower)
•    Association between variables (i.e., the two variables will be significantly associated, noting whether you hypothesise that this is a positive or negative correlation)
STEP12: Revise paragraph
1.    Read over what you have and see if the info needs to be reworked in anyway
2.    Cut word length to approximately 200 words
STEP 13: Reviseand finalise
1.    Add the paragraph outlining your research question and hypothesis to the end of your research report introduction and ensure that the whole document now flows smoothly from your introduction of the topic, through your review and critical analysis of the articles to your statement of your research question and hypothesis.
2.    Cut word length to 1000 words
3.    Do a spell check
4.    Check that all formatting and in-text referencing is in APA 6th style
5.    Read aloud to get a feel for the flow and to detect typos and awkwardly worded sentences
6.    Get someone else to read it and check for readability and understanding
7.    Decide on a title for your Research Report Introduction – make sure that it reflects the content
8.    Add a title page
9.    Add a reference list