Article Review
Literature Review with Hypothesis Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to give students an opportunity to demonstrate both knowledge of APA writing style and the ability to write a coherent paper using a mix of their own ideas and previous research.
Instructions: (Note: if you have completed an annotated bibliography, these first 4 paragraphs will have essentially been done with that assignment).
*First, pick a topic that directly relates to (or can relate to) psychology that you find particularly interesting. For example, say you are really interested in the topic of exercise and how it can improve your mental health. This is a broad topic so you would want to narrow it down to specific variables.
*Narrow your topic by identifying specific variables that you think might be related to each other with regard to your topic. For example, with regard to the topic of exercise, you might narrow it down to more specific variables like “cardiovascular exercise,” “stress,” and “well-being.” You may be able to do this right away if you have your own ideas, but you can also first do a literature search (see the last page of these instructions) using only your topic to see what has already been published.
*After you have narrowed your topic, do a literature search on your specific variables. To keep things simple, you should try to narrow down your idea to two variables. After you familiarize yourself with the existing research, try to come up with your own, original prediction regarding how, why, or under what circumstances these variables are related. Your prediction needs to be original, not something that you find in your literature search. For example, say your prediction/hypothesis is that the time of day that a person does cardiovascular exercise (variable 1 = time of exercise) is related to the amount of stress that is alleviated (variable 2 = amount of stress relief). You may have a specific prediction like this in mind but find that your idea has already been investigated and published (yes, this is frustrating!). However, in that case you can find the most recent article reporting that specific hypothesis and look towards the end or conclusion of that article. Here you can typically find suggestions for future research.
*If you absolutely cannot think of a topic to begin with, you may pick one from the list provided at the end of these instructions. However, you still must come up with your own, original hypothesis/prediction using the topics provided.
*You must use at least 10 different peer-reviewed empirical sources in your literature review. The very best place to begin compiling these 10 sources is with your annotated bibliography, upon which you will have already received feedback from your instructor. If, after instructor review, your annotated bibliography provides the 10 required sources, you will simply use these for your paper (you may include more sources if appropriate). If your instructor review resulted in fewer than 10 suitable sources, you will need to conduct further research. When reviewing past work done on your research topic, be sure that you are selecting and reading literature that is relevant to your particular topic. Find articles, books and other peer-reviewed, empirical resources that are closely tied to what you want to investigate.
What to include in your literature review:
1. The problem being investigated (the research idea/topic)
a. Introduce the topic
b. Discuss the significance or importance of the topic (i.e., why is it important to study this particular topic; why should others care that you conduct this study)
c. Give your prediction. Briefly describe your thoughts and expectations as to how these concepts (variables) are related.
2. Relevant past research
a. Discuss findings of relevant studies. Do not describe in detail the participants and procedures of these studies; you need to focus on the findings of each of your sources and integrate them together to provide support for your original prediction (hint: the findings of studies are almost always articulated in the abstract). Most findings can be described in a few sentences, at most. Examples:
i. Langberg, Dvorsky, and Evans (2013) studied the relationship between executive function and academic performance in children with ADHD. Their results illustrated that children with ADHD were rated lower on scales of planning and organization, as well as attention, and that their parents additionally rated these children higher on scales of hyperactivity.
ii. Laughter stimulates creativity as well as resourcefulness in the classroom (Cueva et al., 2006), but perhaps more importantly, it motivates students, captures attention, and sparks interest in the curriculum (Lei et al., 2010).
b. Organize your paper and past research around the arguments you are making as to why the concepts are related (see writing hints below).
3. Concluding thoughts
a. Restate how and why you think these concepts (variables) are related.
b. Restate your original prediction.
Writing hints and things to keep in mind:
If you are including past literature that is irrelevant or only loosely tied to your topic, your literature review will lack focus and will most likely be disorganized and incoherent. In addition, don’t string together one summary after another. Your literature review should be organized, and previous research should be integrated together in some logical way. Read the literature review sections (from the beginning up to the Methods section) of the articles used in the article review assignment or the articles you find during your literature search to get an idea of how authors write a literature review.
Many students tend to focus too much on the individual articles they have selected, so they just end up summarizing one article after another with no integration whatsoever. Often, the main ideas of the articles are unrelated, so the literature review ends up very disorganized and disconnected. Rather than focusing your attention on the articles, think about your topic and the arguments that can be used to support your claims. Then find articles and research findings that support those arguments. Research support for each argument can come from a single article or several different articles.
For example, let’s say that you are doing your research proposal on sleep (variable 1) and test performance (variable 2), and you think that the more sleep a person gets the night before an exam, the better he/she will perform on that exam the next day. You think this because (1) the person gets rest not only physically but mentally as well, so he/she is better able to think through the exam, leading to better performance, and (2) the person is well-rested, leading to less anxiety, which leads to increased performance. These two reasons as to why having a full night’s sleep leads to better test performance would be your arguments. After you have come up with these arguments, you would then find past research that supports each one of these (e.g., maybe research has linked rest to anxiety and anxiety to performance but has never made the connection that you are predicting: rest to performance). So as you can see, this will hopefully lead to a more organized, integrated paper.
Remember that you will need to cite at least 10 sources to support your claims. Be sure that you use sources that are scholarly, empirical, and peer-reviewed (i.e., journal articles, books, textbooks, etc.). Avoid websites (including Wikipedia!), magazines, etc.
Formatting guidelines:
· An excellent source for APA formatting is The Owl at Purdue APA Writing Lab: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
· Use APA style guidelines
· Typed, 12-pt Times New Roman font, double-spacing, and 1-inch margins all around)
· Correct APA style formatting (e.g., headings, titles, citations, references, etc.)
· Papers should be 5-6 full pages long (body only – title page, abstract, and reference page not included in page count).
· You must use at least 10 different sources in your paper. Remember that for every source cited in your literature review, there must be a corresponding entry in the reference section (and vice versa).
What to include in your assignment submission:
· Title page (see Owl@Purdue and/or Smith & Davis, 2016, p. 184-185)
· Abstract (see Owl@Purdue and/or Smith & Davis, 2016, p. 185)
· Literature review (see these instructions, Owl@Purdue, Smith & Davis, 2016, p. 186-187)
· Reference page (see Owl@Purdue and/or Smith & Davis, 2016, p. 192-194)
· First page of each article that you cite in your literature review
Submission guidelines:
· You must submit a copy of your paper using the Turnitin.com assignment link in Blackboard by 11:59 PM on the due date.
General writing guidelines:
Imagine that the person reading your paper is an educated person, familiar with psychology, but not with any of the specific theories or concepts you mention. Anytime you introduce something new (i.e., a theory, concept, methodology, measure), explain it in general terms. You can then give an example if you would like, but do not use an example as a substitute for a general explanation.
Review – APA Style Citations:
As you draw on outside sources and material, make sure that you cite your sources appropriately. Follow these guidelines for citing:
· When you copy someone else (i.e., textbook, lecture, article, website) word for word, put quotation marks around the copied parts, and include the author last name(s), year of publication, and page number in parentheses. For example: Social comparison theory is “the idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people” (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2005, p. 155).
· Copying word for word and not citing correctly is plagiarism. Avoid this at all costs.
· Try not to use more than one or two direct quotes in your paper (preferably none). Direct quotes do not demonstrate an understanding of the concepts. The paper, because it is a review of the literature, should be almost entirely paraphrased: you are putting others’ ideas into your own words and then citing them correctly. This means that there should be a citation after every sentence or two that is stating someone else’s idea or findings. When you paraphrase, define and explain concepts using your own words to get full credit. It’s hard to paraphrase when you have the book or lecture notes in front of you. Read, make sure you understand, then put the material aside and come up with your own way of stating things. Check your sources to make sure you did not accidentally memorize the original wording. Check your definition against what it says in the book to make sure that your explanation is accurate.
· When you paraphrase (put someone else’s ideas into your own words), simply include author last name(s) and year of publication in parentheses. For example: Social comparison theory states that people sometimes come to know themselves by evaluating their own characteristics and skills relative to those of others (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2005).
TOPIC OPTIONS
Topic Option 1 : Attempts at persuasion are all around us. There are a lot of things that can be included in a persuasive communication that try to change our attitudes (e.g., the source of the message, the information given in the message, the characteristics of the audience). Select one of these areas and identify specific concepts that are related to persuasion. Explain how and why these can lead to persuasion, then come up with a unique hypothesis based on the research.
For example, let’s say you select the source of the message and persuasion as the topic of your literature review. What are some characteristics, attributes, or traits of the person delivering the message that can influence persuasion? Once you’ve isolated two or three, explain how and why these can lead to persuasion. Then give me an original hypothesis.
Topic Option 2: Individuals and groups make judgments and decisions all the time. Select a situation in which an important decision must be made by an individual or a group (e.g., the individual decision regarding what career to pursue or a group decision by a jury regarding a verdict), then identify specific characteristics or traits of the person or situation that might relate to the decision and decision-making process. Explain how and why these can lead to different judgments and decisions, and then formulate a hypothesis based on the research.
For example, you would first choose either the individual or the group decision-making experience. Then you would think about what factors (e.g., personality traits, characteristics of the situation, how a group interacts) can influence how a decision is made and what decision a person is likely to make. Isolate two or three factors and explain how and why these can influence or be associated with an important decision, then come up with an original hypothesis.
Topic Option 3 : Many things can influence academic achievement (e.g., social support, classroom instruction, personality characteristics). Select one of these areas and identify specific concepts that are related to academic achievement. Explain how and why these can lead to these things can lead to success in the academic domain, then come up with a unique hypothesis based on the research.
For example, let’s say you select personality characteristics and academic achievement as the topic of your literature review. What are some personality characteristics that might influence academic achievement? Once you’ve isolated two or three, explain how and why these can lead to academic success. Then give me an original hypothesis.