20 Mar Your topic should be something that you are interested in, a Psychology issue, and has at least 3 peer-reviewed published (preferably within the last 10ish years (2011- 2022) studies exploring it

Paper 1: 6-8 page APA Style Literature Review examining 3-4 peer reviewed empirical  research studies

 

1) Decide on which psychology topic you would like to write your literature review.
-Your topic should be something that you are interested in, a Psychology issue, and has at least 3 peer-reviewed published (preferably within the last 10ish years (2011-2022) studies exploring it. Examples of possible research topics written about by previous students are: Dance therapy and mental health; Eating disorders among minority populations; Parenting styles and child development.

2) Formulate a research question. This will focus your research and aid you in starting your initial outline.This is a required  step. A research question is comprised of a

limited topic, research question, and rationale/significance of  research. An example is below:
“This literature review investigates parenting styles to find out what effects the three main parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) have on a child’s sense of well being and  overall development in order to better understand which of the three main parenting styles is shown to provide children with a sense of overall well being and aid them in developing  into healthy adults.
​
The limited topic is: parenting styles
The main research question is: What effects do the three main parenting styles (authoritarian,authoritative, and permissive) have on a child’s sense of well
​being and overall  development?
The rationale/significance is: Better understand which of the three main parenting styles best provides children with a sense of overall wellbeing and aids them in developing into healthy adults.

​3) Read! Look up peer reviewed empirical research studies on the topic you have chosen.You are required to have 3-4 empirical research articles. They should be published within the last 10 years (give or take).

4) The assignment:

Your paper should accomplish the following:
● Opening section: Introduce the question that you are investigating (Research Question), and tell your audience why your question is worthy of study (Purpose).

● Background/Literature Review: Provide a review of at least 3-4 empirical, peer reviewed studies in order to provide an empirical background for understanding your topic. This section consists of summaries of the methods and results of each study.
● Synthesis/Analysis of the sources: Tie the findings of the various studies together, and tie all of them in with the bigger question (Research Question) you raised in your opening.

.● Conclusion: Describe how this literature ties in with your big question (stated in the opening), how it applies to real world problems, and what the next logical steps are in this research area.

Organizational Model:
1. Title Page according to APA format (includes page number, paper title, your name, department name, university name, course number and title, the professor’s name, and date). (See APA Manual (7th edition)).

2. Abstract: a brief (250 words or less) summary of your paper (See APA Manual (7th edition)).

3.  Opening/ Introduction (approx. 1 page long): Define the research context by giving a general introduction to the topic and by presenting the specific question or problem under study. It is helpful to start the paper broadly with information or a credible non-personal example that captures your reader’s interest. Consider starting with a real life non-personal example (one that transitions into statistics to support it is best) of why this research topic is important, before you get into the previous research.

4. Background/Literature Review (approx. 4 pages long)  Summarize the empirical research relevant to your topic and research question, focusing on the main methods, findings, and conclusions of 3-4 empirical, peer reviewed studies.Cite the sources of all ideas that are not  your own— APA style focuses on the authors by last name with the year in parentheses.

When beginning sentences to introduce ideas presented in the studies:
Best: Previous research suggests that …(Mather & Carstensen, 2008).
Better: Smith and Jones (2012) found that…. 
Good: A study by Smith and Jones…
Avoid: In 2009, Smith and Jones…
Avoid: Smith and Jones, in an article entitled, “How to write a yucky sentence”…

Summaries: Assume the reader is intelligent, but has not read the articles, so make your review concise. In other words, do not review every detail of each article, but rather the points that are  important for the question you posed in the Opening. In general, you should focus on the  major research question posed in each article, what the researchers did to investigate the  questions and what the researchers found.
–Format the literature review summaries the following way for each study reviewed:

Opening: includes the study’s authors, hypotheses, purpose, and additional introductory information. Avoid stating the name of the study.
Methods: includes a summary of the methods used in the study.

Results/Findings: includes a summary of the results/findings described in the study. You may also include any information the author provides in the Discussion that you think is necessary.

5. Synthesis (approx. 2 pages long):  After you have reviewed the major methods and findings from your selected studies, you should follow up by comparing and contrasting the findings and tying them in with the research question you raised in your introduction. It is crucial that you integrate and tie together your selected studies to give your reader a sense of how they address your research question. How are these studies alike? How are they different? Compare and contrast them and try to reconcile them. You should also point out areas that need further clarification (gaps), seem weak, biased, or inconsistent, or which are not addressed in the literature but need to be.

6. Conclusion (about ½-1page)  End your discussion by pointing out the importance of the findings.  In other words, come  back to the "Big Picture." Discuss:
a) the implications of the findings (how the findings might be important for future practice, policy, and research),
b) practical applications (e.g., real world applications or ways in which the  findings can improve our general ability to understand, predict behavior or solve a problem, and just be better as a society),
c) the next logical, possible next steps in this area of research.

Reminder: *Students not scheduled for a conference will continue working on their paper draft and submit portions of their draft to Canvas: Discussions. All students will need to respond to the Journal Prompts each class meeting.

*Students who would like to schedule 1:1 meetings with me should email me for an appointment.

 

Rubric Paper 1:                                                                               Description:

 

Clarity:                         /50                                                clear, concise, comprehensible, fluid…

 

Organization:              /50                   }   75%      grammar, spelling, punctuation, format…

 

Support:                      /50                               adequate, credible studies, APA style & citations

 

Guidelines:                  /30                   }   25%           follows paper 1 guidelines

 

Interest:                       /20                                           maintains reader’s attention throughout

 

Total possible points for Paper 1: 200