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Title Page

I. Introduction

1. Start by defining your dependent variable

a) Define your dependent variable

b) Describe how psychologists typically operationalize and measure this construct

2. Build an argument for why it is important to study this topic (dependent variable)

a) Describe why this topic is important?

1) Briefly describe the research that supports these assertions

b) Tell your reader the purpose of your study (e.g., “The purpose of this study is to examine how…”). The purpose should be related to the discussed theory or theories.

3. Literature review and argument formulation

a) Review 5 empirical research articles on the independent and dependent variable

1) Provide a summary statement of the results of the research you will review [e.g., “Previous research has provided (strong support, mixed support, or no support) for the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.”]

i. Review (in some detail) the 5 studies that form the foundation for your summary statement (See study summary guidelines posted on the web for more information).

2) Again, summarize the results of these studies for the reader

4. Describe why further research is necessary on this topic.

a) Describe how your study logically follows from the research you just reviewed.

1) Tell the reader what we don’t know about the topic

5. State the specific purpose of your study.

a) Describe how your study will inform us about that which we don’t yet know.

6. State your hypotheses

II. Method (for proposal)

1. Participants

a) How will participants be sampled from the population?

b) How will they be recruited for the study? Address any incentives (e.g., extra-credit) that may influence their decision.

c) How will they be assigned to experimental groups? Randomly? Using counterbalancing? Don’t describe specific procedures in great detail.

d) Describe any inclusion or exclusion criteria (e.g., if you only plan to use females for your experiment.)

1) Provide a reasonable rationale for any exclusion criteria.

2. Apparatus/Materials

a) For each measure you use provide the following information

1) If you are using an existing scale.

i. Name of the measure

ii. What the measure assesses and who developed it.

iii. How many items it contains and examples of items.

iv. The response scale for the items.

v. How reliable the scale is.

2) If you will be using a measure you develop yourself describe the process you used to develop it as well as provide the information from i to v above.

3) If you are using any kind of equipment (e.g., video monitor, game system, software) describe it adequately enough so that another researcher would know how to obtain and use the same thing.

3. Procedure

a) Describe where the setting where the research will be conducted (e.g., how will the room be set up?).

b) Describe the anticipated chronological sequence of events (e.g., obtained informed consent, randomly assigned to group, exposed to independent variable, measured dependent variable, debriefed)

III. References

1. Your paper should have at least 8 different references from either book chapters or empirical research articles

a) You have at least 1 reference defining the dependent variable and stating how it is operationalized.

b) You should have at least 2 references for describing the nature and seriousness of the problem you are discussing (2nd paragraph in Introduction section)

c) You should review 5 empirical research articles for the Literature Review section of the introduction.

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