Psychology: Research Paper

BEGINNING TO WRITE

1. Organize .

Now that you have read and summarized your articles, start to organize the information you have obtained from the readings. Do some articles provide redundant or similar information?  Do some articles provide different or conflicting information?  (If your topic is teen pregnancy and academic achievement, perhaps you will have found 2 articles that suggest that teen pregnancy often causes girls to not finish high school. Maybe 2 other articles suggest that socioeconomic status is an important factor in determining if girls who get pregnant in high school ever finish high school.  Perhaps 2 other articles suggest that family involvement/ help is the main factor that determines academic achievement.)

2. Write an introduction.

The first 1-3 paragraphs of your paper should introduce your topic.  This part of the paper should make it clear why your topic is important.  Explain to your reader why they should want to read the rest of the paper!  Also, you want to briefly explain what you are going to be talking about in the rest of the paper.

(e.g., Teen pregnancy is an important social issue because….This paper will discuss the relations between teen pregnancy and academic achievement…..First, young girls’ ability to finish high school after becoming pregnant will be discussed. Second, the role of girls’ socioeconomic status in determining their ability to excel in school when deal with a pregnancy will be explored….Finally, research discussing the importance of girls’ families…..)

3. Write the body of the paper.

This is where the actual literature review comes in.  You want to organize your summaries to provide a good review of what the literature you have read says about your topic.  Be careful not to plagiarize your articles as you summarize them! It is important that you do not just recount every bit of information in the original articles.  Instead, integrate the information you have obtained from the different references.  (If you are working on the teen pregnancy paper, you may want to write 1 page about girls’ finishing high school after a pregnancy, 1 page about girls SES, and 1 page about family involvement).

4. Conclusion.

The last 1-2 paragraphs of your literature review should “wrap-up” what you have told your reader.  This is a good time to reflect on what the literature tells us, and what it does not tell us.  What are potential avenues for other research? What is the take-home message of your literature review?

AIMS and METHODS

1. Read your literature review and think about how the research could be improved.

You will not be required to collect data or conduct the study, only to think about and propose what you would do if you were going to conduct research on your topic. 

2. Generate research questions related to your topic.

Operationalize and write out your research questions. Make sure that they are well aligned with your topic and that they are measurable.

3. Write up the Aims of the Study section.

Make sure that the research questions and predictions are clear and logically follow from the literature review.

4. Write up the Method Section of your proposed Study.

Describe the following, making sure to use proper APA Style:

      a. potential participants

      b. the measures and/or equipment you propose to use

      c. procedures for collecting your data

5. Write up the References Section.

Make sure to use proper APA Style. Check to make sure that all of the citations have references and that all of the references have citations. You must have at least 10 references.

6. Contents of final paper:

Your final paper must include the following:

      a. Title Page

      b. Abstract

      c. Lit Review

      d. Aims of the Study

      e. Method Section

      f.  Reference Page

7. Formatting requirements

Must use proper APA format throughout. Consult your APA Manual early and often. Cite heavily. No more than 8 pages (excluding the title page and reference page). 12pt font, double spaced, one inch margins.

********RESEARCH PROPOSAL: In order to show off your understanding of research and your writing skills, you will complete a research proposal. The paper must include a cover page, abstract, introduction, aims of your research project, method section, and references section. The final research paper must be in APA style. There are examples of what each section should include in the APA Manual. You may also consult peer reviewed journals, though the APA Manual is the ultimate source since it will describe what an actual manuscript should look like. There will also be a sample paper on the Sakai website in the Writing Resources tab. The paper should be no more than 8 pages long (1 inch margins, 12‐pt font, double spaced, not including the title page and reference page). Please consult the Writing Resources tab in Sakai as it will contain everything you need to know to be successful on the paper including instructions, PowerPoint, rubric, and sample paper. Please keep in mind that this is a RESEARCH paper and thus requires a professional and technical voice (this kind of writing is very different from the writing you have been doing in literature courses, so keep that in mind). *************

 Your submission will be sent to Turnitin to be electronically reviewed for plagiarism. Only the following file types will be accepted: Word 97-2003 (.doc), Word 2007+ (.docx), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), PowerPoint (.pps, .ppsx, .ppt, .pptx), PDF (.pdf), PostScript (.eps, .ps), plain text (.txt), HTML (.htm, .html), WordPerfect (.wpd), OpenOffice (.odt), rich text (.rtf), Hangul (.hwp)