[ad_1]
PSY 520 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
The field of contemporary psychology is built upon rigorous research. Theories are constantly proposed, tested, supported, and invalidated through research
studies that are communicated to the field via peer-reviewed research papers. As such, individuals in the field of psychology must be both informed consumers
and educated producers of psychological research.
This course is the second in the sequence of two research methods courses. In the first course, you created a research proposal centered on a testable research
question. Now, in this course, you will actually conduct research around your research question guided by your proposal and using other students as your
research participants. Note that you are required to use Southern New Hampshire University students as research participants. You are strictly prohibited from
using individuals outside of Southern New Hampshire University as research participants. Also, research proposals that ask questions around diagnosable
mental health disorders, suicide, or abuse of any kind will not be allowed. Once you conduct your research, you will analyze the data utilizing the statistical
software SPSS to inform your conclusions. As a final product, you will submit not only your new content, but also the content from Research Methods in
Psychology I, combining the work from both courses to create one complete research manuscript. You will, however, only be graded on the new content from
Research Methods in Psychology II.
This project is divided into five 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 One, Two, Four, Six, and Eight. Milestones One-Three are steps that you need to complete before
you can write your research manuscript. Milestones Four and Five are opportunities for you to write drafts of sections of your final project. You will receive
feedback from your instructor that can be incorporated in your final submission.
This assessment addresses the following course outcomes:
Employ methodologically sound strategies for addressing testable research questions
Select inferential statistical tests for appropriately addressing research questions in psychology
Employ appropriate statistical techniques for analyzing data using statistical software
Interpret statistical analyses for informing conclusions and identifying limitations of research
Communicate psychological research results that adhere to the American Psychological Association’s principles and standards
Prompt
For this assessment, you will create a research manuscript, guided by your research proposal from Research Methods in Psychology I and the study you
conducted earlier in the course. Please speak with your instructor if you did not take Research Methods I.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Methods
A. Outline who the participants were in the study. How many participants were there, and how were they recruited?
B. Describe the materials (surveys, etc.) you created for the study and how they specifically address the research question. Also, consider how the
materials appropriately take into consideration the participants.
C. Describe the methodological procedures used to collect the data. How were the materials used in collecting the data?
II. Results
A. Describe how your raw data was reduced for statistical analysis, clearly detailing each step of the process.
B. Create a table outlining the descriptive statistics for your key variables.
C. Describe the statistical test you selected, and explain why this test is the most appropriate for analyzing your data.
D. Communicate your research results in a manner that is of professional quality, as outlined by the American Psychological Association’s
standards.
III. Discussion
A. What were the results of the data analysis, and how do these results relate to the research hypothesis?
B. How do your obtained results complement and/or contradict the previous literature on the topic? Justify your assertions with data.
C. Outline the strengths and limitations of your research, supporting these assertions with your data analysis.
D. Identify other tests you could have used, and explain why these tests were not as appropriate for analyzing the data.
E. Discuss the extent to which your study adheres to the American Psychological Association’s principles and standards.
F. Based on the results from your data analysis, identify areas related to your topic that are still in need of future research.
Milestones
Milestone One: Edited PSY 510 Final Paper (Research Proposal)
In Module One, you will submit an edited version of the research proposal that was the final project for PSY 510. Editing and incorporating feedback are two of
the key skills that researchers need to master in order to produce high-quality writing. Indeed, all peer-reviewed articles have been written and rewritten many
times; they are never completed in only one draft!
Rather than merely submitting the same version of the assignment that you submitted in PSY 510, it is important that you edit and improve the paper based on
the feedback provided by your PSY 510 instructor. In addition to the feedback provided from your PSY 510 instructor, please also refer to the Milestone One
Guidelines document.
It is OK to make changes to your research question, hypothesis, or research methods, but please clear any substantial changes such as completely changing the
problem statement with your instructor. This will be submitted for feedback only.
Milestone Two: Draft of Research Materials (Surveys)
In Module Two, you will submit a draft of all items and questionnaires that will be given to your participants in your study. The items and questions should be
listed in the exact order that they will be given to participants. You may use questionnaires that you have designed, questionnaires used in previous research, or
any combination thereof. Your instructor will provide feedback so that these materials may be improved before data collection. This milestone will be graded
with the Milestone Two Rubric.
Milestone Three: Qualtrics Input and Participant Notification
In Module Four, you will use the Qualtrics software to program the research materials (i.e., surveys) that you will give to participants. It is important to program
your materials exactly how you want students to see them. Remember to register for your SNHU Qualtrics account by following the instructions on the Creating a
Qualtrics Account handout prior to beginning work on this milestone. Be sure to incorporate the feedback that you received on your materials from your
instructor on Milestone Two. Refer to the Qualtrics website and the instructional video in Module Four for assistance.
You will also compose an introductory message to your study participants, which you will use in the Collect Data From Participants task in Module Four.
This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Three Rubric.
Milestone Four: Initial Draft of Methods and Results
In Module Six, you will submit an initial draft of your Methods and Results sections. Now that you have completed your data collection, it is important to revise
your methods section so that it accurately reflects the methods that were actually used in your study.
In your Results section, you should first describe how you reduced your data for analysis (e.g., how your questionnaires were summed or averaged to get a
composite score to analyze). Your Results section should also include a table of the relevant descriptive statistics. Last, you will need to describe the statistical
test that you chose to run and provide the key results for the test as well as a brief explanation of the results. It is essential that you follow APA style when writing
this section. Please refer to Chapters 2 and 5 of your APA manual for further instructions on how best to write a Methods and Results section. This milestone will
be graded with the Milestone Four Rubric.
Milestone Five: Initial Draft of Discussion Section
In Module Eight, you will submit an initial draft of your Discussion section. This section should recap your findings, discuss how the findings fit in with prior
research on the topic, discuss areas for future research, and mention limitations and ethical considerations related to your research. It is essential that you follow
APA style when writing this section. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Five Rubric.
Final Submission: Research Paper
In Module Ten, you will submit your final project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should
reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the Final Product Rubric.
Deliverables
Milestone Deliverable Module Due Grading
One Edited PSY 510 Final Paper One Graded pass/fail based upon submission
Two Draft of Research Materials Two Graded separately; Milestone Two Rubric
Three Qualtrics Input and Participant Notification Four Graded separately; Milestone Three Rubric
Four Initial Draft of Methods and Results Six Graded separately; Milestone Four Rubric
Five Initial Draft of Discussion Section Eight Graded separately; Milestone Five Rubric
Final Submission: Research Paper Ten Graded separately; Final Product Rubric
Final Product Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your research manuscript should be 4–6 pages in length of new content, 12–16 pages total (with content from both PSY 510 and PSY
520), and it must adhere to standard formatting (Times New Roman, 12-point font, one-inch margins), using the most recent version of the APA style manual for
the citations.
Critical Elements Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not Evident Value
Methods: Participants Outlines the participants in the
study and how they were
recruited
(100%)
Outlines the participants in the
study, but does not explain how
they were recruited
(70%)
Does not outline the
participants in the study
(0%)
6.4
Methods: Materials Meets “Proficient” criteria and
describes materials that are
especially well aligned to the
research question
(100%)
Describes the materials created
for the study and how they
specifically address the research
question and audience
(90%)
Describes the materials created
for the study, but does not
describe how they specifically
address the research question
or audience, or description has
gaps in accuracy or detail
(70%)
Does not describe the materials
created for the study and how
they specifically address the
research question and audience
(0%)
6.4
Methods:
Methodological
Procedures
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
describes procedures that are
especially well aligned to the
research question
(100%)
Describes the methodological
procedures used to collect data
and how the materials were
used in collecting
(90%)
Describes the methodological
procedures used to collect data,
but not how the materials were
used in collecting, or
description has gaps in accuracy
or detail
(70%)
Does not describe the
methodological procedures
used to collect data and how
the materials were used in
collecting
(0%)
6.4
Results: Raw Data Meets “Proficient” criteria and
is exceptionally clear,
contextualized, and aligned to
the research question
(100%)
Describes how the raw data was
reduced for statistical analysis,
clearly detailing each step of
the process
(90%)
Describes how the raw data was
reduced for statistical analysis,
but does not clearly detail each
step of the process, or steps are
inappropriate
(70%)
Does not describe how the raw
data was reduced for statistical
analysis
(0%)
7.68
Results: Descriptive
Statistics
Creates a table outlining the
descriptive statistics for the key
variables
(100%)
Creates a table outlining the
descriptive statistics for the key
variables, with gaps in accuracy
or detail
(70%)
Does not create a table
outlining the descriptive
statistics for the key variables
(0%)
7.68
Results: Statistical
Test
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates a nuanced
understanding the alignment
between appropriate statistical
tests and data
(100%)
Describes the statistical test
selected and explains why the
test is the most appropriate for
analyzing the data
(90%)
Describes the statistical test
selected, but does not explain
why the test is the most
appropriate for analyzing the
data, or explanation lacks detail
or accuracy
(70%)
Does not describe the statistical
test selected
(0%)
7.68
Results: Conducted Meets “Proficient” criteria and
is exceptionally clear,
contextualized, and aligned to
the research question
(100%)
Describes how the statistical
test was conducted, clearly
detailing each step of the test
and how the software was used
(90%)
Describes how the statistical
test was conducted, but does
not clearly detail each step of
the test and how the software
was used, or steps are
inappropriate
(70%)
Does not describe how the
statistical test was conducted
(0%)
7.68
Results: Manuscript
Standards
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
manuscript is of the quality that
would be found in an American
Psychological Association article
(100%)
Manuscript is of professional
quality, as outlined by the
American Psychological
Association’s standards
(90%)
Manuscript is aligned with the
American Psychological
Association’s standards, but not
of professional quality
(70%)
Manuscript is not aligned with
the American Psychological
Association’s standards
(0%)
7.68
Discussion:
Hypothesis
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates a nuanced
understanding of the
connection between research
results and hypotheses
(100%)
Details the results of the data
analysis and how the results
relate to the hypothesis
(90%)
Details the results of the data
analysis, but does not detail
how the results relate to the
hypothesis, or has gaps in
accuracy or detail
(70%)
Does not detail the results of
the data analysis
(0%)
4.8
Discussion: Previous
Literature
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
does an exceptional job of
integrating the current findings
with previous literature
(100%)
Details how the results
complement and/or contradict
the previous literature on the
topic, justifying assertions with
data
(90%)
Details how the results
complement and/or contradict
the previous literature on the
topic, but does not justify
assertions with data or has gaps
in accuracy or detail
(70%)
Does not detail how the results
complement and/or contradict
the previous literature on the
topic
(0%)
4.8
Discussion: Strengths
and Limitations
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
details and examples,
demonstrating a keen insight
into the strengths and
limitations of the research
(100%)
Outlines the strengths and
limitations of the research,
supporting the assertions with
analyzed data
(90%)
Outlines the strengths and
limitations of the research, but
assertions are not supported
with analyzed data
(70%)
Does not outline the strengths
and limitations of the research
(0%)
4.8
Discussion: Tests Not
Appropriate
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates a nuanced
understanding of the alignment
between appropriate statistical
tests and data
(100%)
Identifies other statistical tests
and explains why the tests were
not as appropriate for analyzing
the data
(90%)
Identifies other statistical tests,
but does not explain why the
tests were not as appropriate
for analyzing the data, or
explanation has gaps in detail or
accuracy
(70%)
Does not identify other
statistical tests
(0%)
9.6
Discussion: Study
Standards
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
details and examples
demonstrate a keen insight into
the American Psychological
Association’s standards
(100%)
Discusses the extent to which
the study adheres to the
American Psychological
Association’s standards
(90%)
Discusses the extent to which
the study adheres to the
American Psychological
Association’s standards, but
with gaps in accuracy or detail
(70%)
Does not discuss the extent to
which the study adheres to the
American Psychological
Association’s standards
(0%)
9.6
Discussion: Future
Research
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
is extremely insightful in
identifying areas in need of
future research
(100%)
Identifies areas still in need of
future research, based on the
data analysis
(90%)
Identifies areas still in need of
future research, but assertions
are not based on the data
analysis
(70%)
Does not identify areas still in
need of future research
(0%)
4.8
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
(100%)
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
(90%)
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact
readability and articulation of
main ideas
(70%)
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
(0%)
4
Earned Total 100%
[ad_2]
Testimonials
