Psychology as a Science

Research Topics:

• Do yellow walls in hospital recovery rooms promote faster healing?
• Does the activity level on discussion boards impact final grades in online classes?
• Can music impact an individual’s mood?
• Can a history of childhood trauma have an impact on happiness as an adult?

Step 2: Design a Study

Now that you have chosen a research topic, answer each of the four questions below. Base your answers on your readings about psychological research methods. 

Study Design Questions:

• Would you choose to use an experimental method or a correlational method to study this topic?
• Describe how you would carry out your study. In other words, state exactly what you would do in your study.
• Do you anticipate any confounding variables or expectancy effects in your study? If yes, describe them. If no, explain why not.
• Discuss how you would approach informed consent, risk/gain assessment, intentional deception, and debriefing in your study.

Important Notes

• You do not need to respond to the question posed in the research topic.
• You do not need to provide any research or other background information about the topic. Simply design a study to explore the topic, and answer the four study design questions above.

Please be sure you address each study design question, using terms and concepts from your text. A good initial discussion response should be at least 150–250 words in length.