Psychology 321: Experimental Psychology
Spring 2021
Research Proposal
Due: Tuesday May 11th by 10:00 AM via Safe Assign
Late papers will not be accepted
A proposal is a written document that is prepared in an attempt to persuade the prospect to adopt the proposal's solution to a problem or need. The research proposal is the document that establishes that there is a niche for your chosen area of study and that the research design is feasible. Proposals are integral to grant funding in the social sciences.
The proposal paper will include a one-page introduction, a literature review, one or more hypotheses that follow from the literature you reviewed, and a proposed research design with a discussion section. No results section is needed.
You will write an 12-15 page mock research paper describing a proposed empirical study of an area within the psychological field. This will be a simulated research project in which you will pose a problem and methods for a study, but you will not actually collect data. You will review the relevant research literature on the topic, describe why the issue is important, and design a study to answer the question.
The project should be organized around the following sections, following the standard
APA format for psychology journal articles:
• Abstract
o Include a summary of your paper in 150–250 words. It should describe the research problem, methods, results and conclusions of your research.
• Introduction and literature review
o Include a literature review and then give an overview of your proposed study and your hypotheses. Include theoretical and empirical background. Use original sources. Specifically address: What is the issue you are considering? Define it. Why is it important? What does the literature show that we already know about the problem and what do we still need to learn? What is your approach to the problem? Discuss your interpretation of theory and research and what further study is needed. What hypotheses about the issue will you propose to test in your study? This should be the bulk of your paper (approximately 8-10 pages).
• Method
o The method section of an APA format psychology paper provides the methods
and procedures used in a research study or experiment. This part of an APA paper is critical because it allows other researchers to see exactly how you conducted your research, allowing for the replication of the experiment and assessment of alternative methods that might produce different results.
o The method section should utilize subheadings to divide up different subsections.
These subsections typically include participants, materials, design, and procedure.
o Participants
▪ The Participant subsection is the first subsection, and it tells the reader a minimum of three pieces of information:
• (1) who was in your study
• (2) the population used
• (3) any restrictions in the nature of your participant pool.
• You must give the following information in your Participant subsection
o 1) the total number of participants and the number assigned to each experimental condition.
o 2) the major demographic characteristics of the participants (such as age, sex, etc.).
o 3) You must report the way the participants were selected.
Were they randomly selected from the whole population or only from volunteers? Were they not randomly selected but only volunteers? Were they offered money or course credit to volunteer?
o 4) You must indicate if your participants are not representative of the general population and if the selection process was restricted in any way. Did the study use only psych majors, only women, only deaf. Did the study eliminate any people with vision problem, color-blindness, hearing problems, etc.
o 5) You must indicate how the participants were assigned. Were they all assigned to the same group or did different one's go to different groups. If they went to different
groups, were they randomly assigned?
o Materials/Apparatus
▪ The Apparatus/Materials subsection is the second subsection, and it tells the reader what equipment and tools you used to run your experiment and to acquire data. Sometimes it is not clear whether something is an apparatus or a material. You do not have to worry about losing points for mislabeling apparatus or materials. It is traditional to label the Subsection "Apparatus" if you are mostly describing mechanical devices, to label it "Materials" if you are describing mostly paper and pencil type items, and to label it "Apparatus and Materials" if you are describing both.
▪ The rules for writing this subsection are as follows:
o Design
• 1) Standard equipment (such as screens, timers, keyboards, etc.)
can be mentioned just by name and without detail.
• 2) Specialized equipment should give name, model #, and supplier name and location.
• 3) Custom equipment is named and labeled as custom equipment.
Then the reader is referred to the appendix for illustrations and greater detail.
• 4) In your descriptions of the apparatus and materials, do NOT tell in detail how you will use them. How apparatus and materials are used belongs in the Procedure subsection.
▪ The design subsection is sometimes included in the procedure subsection, but for this assignment, it must be a separate subsection. This section should include: A description of the design; either experimental or quasi- experimental. You are not allowed to do a correlational or regression analysis for this assignment. You will also explain if you are using a between subjects, within subjects, or mixed factorial design.
o Procedure
▪ The Procedure subsection is the third/fourth subsection, and it gives the reader a summary of each step in the execution of the research. This summary must be concise, precise, and logical. Do not burden the reader with too much detail but give enough so the reader can follow what is being done. For the Procedure subsection, you must give the following information.
▪ 1) A summary of the instructions to the subjects (do not give the complete instructions unless you do so in an appendix). This is where informed consent and any incentives should be mentioned.
▪ 2) A description of the specific experimental manipulations. This means that you are operationally defining your IVs, and showing how the participants are exposed to the IVs. Clearly identify your independent variables, dependent variables, and any extraneous variables that might influence your results.
▪ 3) A description of counterbalancing or other control features in the design. (approximately 2-3 pages)
• Discussion
o What might your results be if you really carried out the study? What conclusions would you draw if they came out as you expected, or differently? Are there any broader implications or needs for further study? What are the limitations of your design? (approximately 1-2 pages)
Requirements and Guidelines
1. Your paper must be submitted by the due date on the syllabus.
2. You are expected to research the empirical literature related to your topic. It will be important to incorporate several (AT LEAST 15) references from the psychological literature in your paper. I am not just interested in your subjective views. Instead, I want you to demonstrate that you can support your conclusions and analyses with objective data (i.e., empirical research studies) and reasoned theory. Use databases online such as Academic Search Complete, PsychInfo and PsychArticles to search the research literature and consult up-to-date reputable peer-reviewed research journals and publications. Try to focus on articles dated 2015 and beyond.
a) For our purposes, websites do not count as one of your 15 required references. If you are using them in addition to the required sources, be sure to cite properly.
3. Use APA style to note references and in text citations, which means referring to publications in your paper by author and year of publication and listing publications under REFERENCES at the end of your paper. Use APA 7th edition.