Dr



Dr. Mildred Alvarez

PSYC 204 (Advanced Child Psychology Seminar)

LITERATURE REVIEW TERM PAPER: TOPICS AND GUIDELINES

• See both the short description of the term paper requirement in the syllabus and this handout for relevant information.

Topics:

In class readings, we are exploring many theoretical foundations in the field of developmental psychology. Our readings should be a springboard for you to focus on a thoughtful evaluation of specific research studies. For the term paper, you will describe, discuss and evaluate a selective set of empirical research studies representing any one of the broad, general topics listed in the course syllabus. The empirical research studies you choose will be concerned with a narrow or specific issue that relates to the broader topic. In order to help you write about specific aspects of a topic for your review paper, you will write a STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH QUESTION OR PROBLEM that your paper will address. The development of such a statement will help you (a) focus on a search for empirical research studies that address your specific research question, and (b) organize and write a thoughtful and evaluative review that clearly goes beyond summarization.

As you search for a paper topic, think of topics and issues where you believe research is needed; avoid writing your paper on areas that have been extensively researched (e.g., the influence of television on aggression).

Refer to class readings relevant to your general interest and supplement these with empirical research studies you find from the developmental psychology literature. Focus on empirical research studies cited in journals that have a developmental orientation such as the journals Child Development and Developmental Psychology. These journals are examples and studies appearing in other psychological journals are acceptable so long as they clearly address the issues from a developmental point of view. By a “developmental point of view”, what I mean is that the studies should take age differences or changes as we age into consideration, or at least discuss the issues of a given age period with the awareness that the findings represent a snapshot in time.

Writing a STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH QUESTION OR PROBLEM that your paper will address:

To help you accomplish the goal of writing a focused and thoughtful review paper, you will be required to develop a specific statement of a research question or problem (two examples are provided below). You will then organize your review paper to answer that question or address that problem. Please note that it is important that you do a preliminary literature search before you develop your statement so that you can identify the specific issues you will plan to later examine in more depth in your paper. The preliminary literature search will also help you to identify the possible components of a rough outline of the content of your paper.

Helpful steps in writing a statement of the research question: (a) start with a sentence that allows the reader to appreciate the significance or importance of the topic, (b) next, state how you plan to answer the question (this part of the statement helps to serve as a “mini-outline” that the reader should be able to follow as they read your paper), (c) your final sentence should conclude with your goal to consider the implications and future directions of the research. Below are a couple of examples of a statement of the research question or problem. Use these as guides to develop your own statement.

EXAMPLE #1: Television may be an important socializing influence on children’s gender role concepts and attitudes. Briefly describe how males and females are portrayed on American television as reported in the research literature. Then discuss the research findings about whether and how television portrayals influence children’s concepts and attitudes about “appropriate” behavior for males and females. Conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of the research findings.

EXAMPLE #2: Before school-age, children’s learning seems clearly, and perhaps universally, intrinsically motivated. However, by the time these same children have entered school, many of them present motivational difficulties of one sort or another. Discuss the research findings about developmental changes in children’s levels of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the factors that may account for those changes. Also, discuss the role that home environment and parent’s motivational practices play in children’s academic intrinsic motivation and achievement. Conclude with a discussion about directions for future research.

Write-up Guidelines:

1- Begin your review paper by writing the research question/problem that your paper will address at the top of the first page of your paper in single-space. Follow APA style for the rest of your paper.

2- Paper length: 8-10 double-spaced, typed pages of actual narrative content (i.e., not including a cover/title page, abstract, or references). Use 12-point font size, Times New Roman, and 1-inch margins all around.

3- Follow the APA Publication Manual instructions for how to write a review article (paper). Review articles summarize what was learned, but go beyond a summary by providing a critical (thoughtful) evaluation of published information. For example, in addition to providing a summary so the reader has context and can appreciate the state of current research, you will want to identify contradictions or gaps and suggest next steps in addressing this problem based on what you have identified that has been done to date.

4- References: Use about 8-10 journal article references in your paper. One and not more than two of these references must be from our class reading list of articles. Do not use our textbook or other textbooks as one of your 8-10 references. Include at least five relatively recent (2005 to present) empirical research studies addressing a related, similar issue. Please note that a journal article based on an empirical study is one that includes an Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion section. Do not use Dissertation Abstracts or other abstracts or summaries as references for this term paper. Again, make sure that your references report findings and discuss the issues from a developmental perspective or point of view.

5- General reminder as you write your paper: Define all concepts and do not assume that we all agree on the definition of a concept such as “stage”, “temperament”, etc.

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