Psychological Research proposal
Order Description
The goal of this assignment is to show how we are all part of an ‘Applied Psychology’ program. As you know, this class is focused on how the scientific method can be applied to psychology issues. Therefore, we will talk about how the science of psychology might be applied to the psychological features of the challenges facing West Baltimore.
Express how you think the science of psychology can be used to address one of the many issues that West Baltimore faces. As you know Coppin is a central part of the larger community of West Baltimore. West Baltimore faces many economic, social, poverty, criminal, drug infested and other challenges. Many wonderful people are raising wonderful children here. They work hard to make this a community that they, and their families, can thrive in.
think of psychology could serve the West Baltimore community – specifically by using psychological research. You may explore an issue at any level – the larger society, the state, city-wide, the West Baltimore community, a specific neighborhood – street-or block, families, groups, or individuals. You may just want to get basic data that might inform subsequent interventions at any one of these levels.
Final Project:
The Final Project will account for ten points toward your overall grade. Conference 12, of our course schedule, is dedicated to the development, completion, and submission of this Final Project. At the start of conference 12, I will make the Bb/TurnItin.Com mechanisms available to all class members to submit their work on the given due date. This project is due on the first day of the current semester scheduled finals week (as posted in our course syllabus). For the possibility of full credit, it is should be posted, as described below, no later than midnight of the first day of finals. All papers must be submitted through our Bb classroom using TurnItIn.com. A person may submit their work only once. That is, once a paper/project has been submitted by a student to TurnItIn.com it cannot be altered and is considered to be in its final form. If you have any questions on how to submit the project via TurnItIn.com, you should utilize IT Help resources provided to you through CSU and described in our Bb classroom. Late papers will be reduced a full letter grade (2 point out of the total 10) for each respective calendar day that it is late. No papers will be accepted after the end (midnight) of fifth day of final exams, and a score of zero will be recorded for the final project grade.
Final Project Description
Overview
You may think of this project as a short paper or a major essay (minimum 1000 words – approximately the length of a 2 to 3 page paper). You may go beyond this word limit if you desire to. This is not to be a heavily cited paper/project but rather a collegiate level how-to type of research proposal/piece/paper/essay. In essence, it requires you to apply the knowledge that you have obtained in this course to a situation where you are to create a mock research proposal for a potentially viable research study. For this, you simply need your own imagination …. And you need no more information than I have given to you in our course lectures. Therefore, no citations or references are needed. You may use citations and references if you want, but they are not required except to provide proper citation of quoted material. In addition, the sum total of any quoted material must not exceed 50 words. Furthermore, you must be sure not to plagiarize – remember that TurnItIn.com will evaluate all students’ work for plagiarism. Upon submission, TurnItIn.com will subsequently provide an originality report. The originality report shows the percentage of the paper that was not the original work of the student with regard to the final project itself. Please note that a student may not plagiarize him/herself or resubmit work that had been developed for another course, etc. If a given student’s originality report shows that the final project submitted for this class contains more than 10% of unoriginal/plagiarized material (including cited & quoted material), then the submission will be deemed unacceptable – and given a score of zero. Violators of this standard, and all University standards of academic dishonesty, are subject to the course standards and noted discipline – which include penalties as severe as failure of the course. Furthermore, violators of this protocol may be further prosecuted by the appropriate University bodies for violation for the student code of conduct.
Project Paper Format
Paper margins should be set at 1 inch and you should use a 12 point font. Also use a relatively plain font like Times Roman or CG Times. The paper should have a cover page and be double spaced. No plagiarism is allowed. No references are needed unless you want them or need to give proper citation for quoted sources. Along with your fulfillment of the guidelines noted below, a collegiate level of written skills, style, and grammar are expected. I strongly encourage all students to consider using the University writing lab for any assistance you need in terms of the mechanics of good writing. A rough description of the body (text) of the paper/project is given below.
Project/Paper Structure & Focus
For this project, you are to identify a psychological topic area that you think would be relevant to assisting the community members of West Baltimore. Once you decide on this topic area, you are to suggest a way that could potentially conduct on it — and you are to describe how you might do so. Please note that for the purpose of this project, you do not need to actually conduct such a study, but just provide an informed suggestion (proposal) of how you could potentially do so. In developing your brief proposal, you will be using material from all the modules in the course. I want you to restrict your focus of possible research designs that you might use in your proposal to one of the following quantitative models we have discussed during the semester:
• Correlational,
• Causal Comparative, or
• Experimental.
Your written proposal/project, you should include (in order) the following sections:
Title Page
Provide a title page which includes the title of your paper/essay, the course number and semester, the date, and your name
Introduction
Initiate your paper with at least one introductory paragraph. This section should be labeled with the header: Introduction. The introduction should describe to your reader the general research topic area.
Statement of the Problem
This section of the paper should be given the header: Statement of the Problem. In this section, you should, using 1 or 2 sentences, briefly restate the research topic you wish you study and the associated variables. Then, you should clearly state the respective null and alternative hypotheses in two respectively distinct sentences. Refer to our lectures, and text, for how to write good hypotheses.
Methodology
This section of the paper should be given the header: Methodology. The section should begin with an initial paragraph restating your research question and topic. It should then briefly describe the specific research design/methodology (e.g., correlational, causal comparative, or experimental) you propose to use to study this research question. Subsequent to this statement you should have the following subsections:
• Population – This subsection describes who you want the findings of your proposed study to apply to.
• Sample – This subsection describes how, where, and how many participants you will use in the study itself.
• Procedures and Techniques – This subsection describes what specific steps you will take if you were actually to conduct your study.
• Instrumentation – This subsection describes the particular mechanisms (e.g., surveys) that you will use to obtain your data. For the purposes of this paper you do not need to have an actual instrument – but simply state the means by which you would measure all respective variables under investigation.
• Data Analysis – This subsection tell your reader what statistics you would calculate and report if you were to actually conduct the study. You should state that you would report the descriptive statistics of the appropriate measures of central tendency and variability of your participants’ demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, etc.) and those of the instruments/measures used in the study. In addition you should state that you would use the appropriate inferential statistics fitting the nature of your hypotheses and research design proposed. You should review our lecture material for module 3 for more information on area. However, in general, for the following research designs you typically use the accompanying inferential statistics:
? Correlational Research Design – Correlation or Regression analyses
? Causal Comparative Research Design – Mean comparison tests (e.g., t-test or Analysis of Variance)
? Experimental Research Design – Mean comparison tests (e.g., t-test or Analysis of Variance)
Summary
This section of the paper should provide a synopsis of your research proposal.
Please note that toward the end of the semester, I will make the Bb course management system mechanisms available to students to submit this work via TurnItIn.com.
Again, all writing standards noted above should be followed, and the paper must be submitted by the procedures noted above. I look forward to reading your work.
** Note: The below rubric will be used, along with the requirements noted above, in evaluating all papers.
Grading Rubric for Term Papers/Essays
Original Guidelines
Qualities & Criteria Poor (0-80) Good (80-90) Excellent (90-100)
Format/Layout
• Presentation of the text
• Structuring of text
• Follows require-ments of font, style, etc.
(Weight 10%) Follows poorly the requirements related to format and layout. Follows, for the most part, all the requirements related to format and layout. Some requirements are not followed. Closely follows all the requirements related to format and layout.
Content/Information
• All elements of the topics are addressed
• The information is technically sound
• Information based on careful research
• Coherence of information
(Weight 60%) The essay poorly addresses the issues referred in the proposed topic. The essay, for the most part addresses, the issues referred in the proposed topic. The provided information is, for the most part, necessary and sufficient to discuss these issues. The essay provides an in depth analysis all the issues referred in the proposed topic. The provided information is necessary and sufficient to discuss these issues.
Quality of Writing
• Clarity of sentences and paragraphs
• No errors and spelling, grammar and use of English
• Organization and coherence of ideas
(Weight 30%) The essay is not well written, and contains many spelling errors, and/or grammar errors and/or use of English errors. The essay is badly organized, lacks clarity and/or does not present ideas in a coherent way. The essay is well written for the most part, without spelling, grammar or use of English errors. The essay is for the most part well organized, clear and presents ideas in a coherent way. The essay is well written from start to finish, without spelling, grammar or use of English errors. The essay is well organized, clear and presents ideas in a coherent way.
Overriding criterion: 0riginality and authenticity. If the essay is identified as not being original, and/or not done by the student, the instructor has the right to grade the paper with a zero.