Literature Review

PSY 550: Final Project Guidelines and Grading Guide

Overview The final project for this course is the creation of an evaluative, comprehensive literature review. You will select a psychological measure or test. Ideally, the test should be one you see yourself using in the future, that has been used to assess a diagnosis of interest, or that has been used in a population on which you plan to focus. You will evaluate the test using research in peer-reviewed psychology journals to substantiate claims about its validity, reliability, applications, and implications. The project is divided into two milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Four and Seven. The final product will be submitted in Module Ten. This assessment will assess your mastery with respect to the following course outcomes:

 Analyze the primary tools and methods used in the development of valid, reliable psychological tests and assessments

 Evaluate the appropriateness of the psychometric methods used to develop, validate, administer, and interpret the results of psychological measurement instruments in published research studies

 Apply psychometric principles to the evaluation of the methods employed and results of published research studies

 Evaluate the influence of cultural and environmental factors on the effectiveness of psychological testing and assessment

 Assess the ethical issues involved in test administration and interpretation of testing and assessment results

Prompt Your literature review should answer the following prompt: What is the overall appropriateness and practical value of your selected psychological assessment measure? Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Background of the test a. What is the purpose of the test? b. What type of test is it? What type of information does it yield? c. How is it administered and scored? Who publishes the results? d. For whom is this test intended? Who else has utilized this test?

II. Assessment of the test a. To what extent does the test employ appropriate psychometric principles? b. To what extent has the reliability and validity of the test been demonstrated for varying populations? c. What are the cut scores for “normal” versus “at-risk” and/or “clinically significant”? Is the method for interpreting and

communicating the results (e.g., scaled scores, percentile ranks, z-scores, t-scores) appropriate? d. Are there any specific cultural concerns that should be attended to? To what extent do cultural and environmental factors for

minorities or special populations impact the effectiveness of the measure?

e. To what extent are there ethical issues related to the use, administration, and interpretation of this measure? III. Practical applications of the test

a. Under what circumstances would you give this test? Provide example scenarios in which the test would be helpful to another mental health professional, parent, teacher, student, individual, court, business, or other profession?

b. For what purposes and with what clients would you not consider it useful? What are the limitations of this test? c. What issues must you attend to carefully in order to present the test results accurately (e.g., not over- or under-interpret their

significance) and ethically? d. What strategies would you use to help you or your client make decisions resulting from an assessment (e.g., pairing results with

other kinds of information)?

Instructions Milestone One: Topic Selection In task 4-3, you will a description of the general topic you intend to pursue as well as a rationale for your selection. Psychological assessment measures are reviewed in the Buros Mental Measurements Yearbook (a reference book that can be requested from the library or http://buros.unl.edu/buros/jsp/search.jsp). This can be very helpful, but it should not be used solely as a means to identify potential psychological assessment measures. This will be submitted for feedback; you will be awarded full points for the submission or 0 points for no submission. Milestone Two: Annotated Bibliography In task 7-3, you will submit an annotated bibliography that categorizes all resources located in the topic area of interest. You should use at least seven scholarly resources, including peer-reviewed research articles or academic texts, to write this review. An example of an appropriate text would be Psychological Testing by Anne Anastasi and Susana Urbina. This document should include full bibliographic information (title, author, and other reference information), the abstract, and your notes about how the resource informs your understanding of the topic. Use APA format for this document, as with all work submitted in this course. This milestone is graded using the Annotated Bibliography Rubric. Final Product: Comprehensive Literature Review In task 10-1, you will submit your final literature review. This should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the main elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. You should comprehensively review and integrate (at a minimum) seven scholarly resources, including peer-reviewed research articles and/or well-respected texts. This milestone is graded using the Final Project Rubric (below).

Final Project Rubric Requirements of submission: Written components of project must follow these formatting guidelines when applicable: double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, and APA format for all elements. The literature review should be a minimum of eight pages, not including references and a cover page (which are required). Instructor feedback: Students can find their feedback in the grade book as an attachment. This project uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. To view the integrated rubric in Blackboard, navigate to the final submission item, click on the title, and then click the “View Rubric” button. For more information, review these instructions.

Critical Elements Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not Evident Value

Background

Meets “Proficient” and cites specific, relevant examples to establish a robust context for the literature review (5)

The purpose, type, intended populations, and uses of the test are sufficiently analyzed to establish an appropriate context for the literature review (4.5)

The purpose, type, intended populations, or uses of the test are not sufficiently analyzed to establish an appropriate context for the literature review (3.5)

Either the purpose, type, intended populations, or uses of the test are not discussed (0)

5

Assessment: Psychometric

Principles

Meets “Proficient” and claims are qualified and nuanced in their assessment (10)

Makes accurate claims about the extent to which the test employs appropriate psychometric principles based on the available evidence (9)

Not all claims about the extent to which the test employs appropriate psychometric principles are accurate given the available evidence (7)

Does not make claims about the extent to which the test employs appropriate psychometric principles (0)

10

Assessment: Reliability and Validity

Meets “Proficient” and qualifies claims specific to different population groups (10)

Makes accurate claims about the extent to which the test’s reliability and validity have been demonstrated by the research (9)

Not all claims about the reliability and validity of the test are accurate based on the research (7)

Does not make claims about the reliability and validity of the test (0)

10

Assessment: Results

Meets “Proficient” and substantiates claims with scholarly research (10)

Makes and justifies claims about the appropriateness of the methods for interpreting and communicating the results based on psychometric best practices (9)

Not all claims about the methods for interpreting and communicating the results are justifiable based on psychometric best practices (7)

Does not make claims about the methods for interpreting and communicating the results (0)

10

Assessment: Special Populations

Meets “Proficient” and substantiates claims with scholarly research

Makes and justifies claims about the impacts of cultural and environmental factors on

Not all claims about the impacts of cultural and environmental factors are

Does not make claims about the impacts of cultural and environmental factors on the

10

(10)

the effectiveness of the test for special populations (9)

justifiable (7)

effectiveness of the test (0)

Assessment: Ethical Issues

Meets “Proficient” and substantiates claims with scholarly research (10)

Makes and justifies claims about the ethical issues related to the use, administration, and interpretation of the measure (9)

Not all claims about the ethical issues related to the use, administration, and interpretation of the measure are justifiable (7)

Does not make claims about the ethical issues related to the use, administration, and interpretation of the measure (0)

10

Applications: Uses

Meets “Proficient” and proposals represent insightful or creative ways for promoting psychological well-being (10)

Proposes multiple, specific scenarios in which the test would be appropriate for use based on the evidence (9)

Proposed scenarios are limited in number or lack sufficient detail to confirm their appropriateness (7)

Does not propose scenarios in which the test would be appropriate for use (0)

10

Applications: Limitations

Meets “Proficient” and the limitations of the test are nuanced and well qualified (10)

Proposes multiple, specific scenarios in which the test would not be appropriate for use based on the evidence (9)

Proposed scenarios are limited in number, lack sufficient detail or are not based on the evidence (7)

Does not propose scenarios in which the test would be appropriate for use (0)

10

Applications: Presentation of

Results

Meets “Proficient” and the solutions represent insightful or creative ways for promoting psychological well-being (10)

Proposes solutions for accurately and ethically presenting the results of the test based on the research (9)

Proposes solutions for accurately and ethically presenting the results of the test that are not based on the research (7)

Does not propose solutions for accurately and ethically presenting the results of the test (0)

10

Applications: Decision Making

Meets “Proficient” and the proposals represent insightful or creative ways for promoting psychological well-being (10)

Proposes appropriate strategies for making informed decisions based on the results of the measurement (9)

Not all proposed strategies for decision making are appropriate (7)

Does not propose strategies for making informed decisions based on the results of the measurement (0)

10

Articulation of Response

Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy-to-read format (5)

Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization (4.5)

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas (3.5)

Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas (0)

5

Earned Total Comments:

100%