Write a 3-5 page literature review incorporating scholarly sources that will introduce a hypothesis for a research study using pre-existing data that will be conducted throughout the course.
Introduction
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Explain types of psychological research methods.
Explain the purpose of psychological concepts that are addressed in research.
Competency 3: Design an ethically appropriate psychological research study utilizing psychological theory and concepts.
Predict human behavior using a theory or psychological concept.
Describe the value and limitations of a theory or psychological concept to explain psychological phenomena.
Competency 4: Conduct an ethically appropriate psychological research study.
Develop a plausible hypothesis that relies on scientific evidence and reasoning.
Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for professionals in the field of psychology.
Write an organized literature review that supports a thesis with main points that are supported by evidence.
Use APA-style formatting, citations, and references.
During this course, you will be designing and conducting a study based on pre-existing data and analyzing the results. Each assessment will work together to help you through this process, so it is important to complete the assessments in order.
Preparation
Variables
Throughout this course, you will work on developing a research project using data from the “grades.xlsx” dataset, which contains archival data. Archival data is preexisting data that has been collected by another individual or organization, and is available to be analyzed enabling us to draw new conclusions about the data.
In Assessment 2, you will begin to create your research proposal. Begin by selecting two variables of your choice from the following list of variables from the grades.xlsx dataset. These are the variables that you will use throughout the course in your research project.
Variable Definition Values Scale of measurement
id Student identification number Nominal
lastname Student last name Nominal
firstname Student first name Nominal
genderidentity Student gender identity 1 = woman; 2 = man; 3 =transgender; 4 = non-binary/non-conforming; 5= prefer not to disclose Nominal
ethnicity Student ethnicity 1 = Native; 2 = Asian; 3 = Black; 4 = White; 5 = Hispanic Nominal
year Class rank 1 = freshman; 2 = sophomore; 3 = junior; 4 = senior Ordinal
lowup Lower or upper division 1 = lower; 2 = upper Ordinal
section Class section Nominal
gpa Previous grade point average Scale
extcr Did extra credit project? 1 = no; 2 = yes Nominal
review Attended review sessions? 1 = no; 2 = yes Nominal
quiz1 Quiz 1: number of correct answers Scale
quiz2 Quiz 2: number of correct answers Scale
quiz3 Quiz 3: number of correct answers Scale
quiz4 Quiz 4: number of correct answers Scale
quiz5 Quiz 5: number of correct answers Scale
final Final exam: number of correct answers Scale
total Total number of points earned Scale
percent Final percent Scale
grade Final grade Nominal
passfail Passed or failed the course? Nominal
Group A—Independent Variables from the table above include:
Genderidentity.
Ethnicity.
Year.
Lowup.
Section.
Extcr.
Quiz 1.
Quiz 2.
Quiz 3.
Quiz 4.
Quiz 5.
Group B—Dependent Variables from the table above include:
Final
Total.
Percent.
Grade.
Passfail.
Now, select ONE variable from group A above and ONE variable from group B above which will be the two variables that you will work with in the rest of the course.
Next, start to design a research topic involving the two selected variables. For example, if you select “Quiz 3” and “final,” you may want to research the existing literature on the relationships, if any, between performance on quizzes and performance on the course final score.
Scholarly Sources
Before you conduct research, you need to center your hypothesis and supporting literature on this topic through a literature review, which will be the first piece of your project. You will need to find at least seven scholarly sources to use for your literature review. Below are resources that may help you.
Start with Research Methods in Psychology Library Guide, which provides focused library databases and APA resources that may direct your article search.
Organizing all of your articles and notes will help you work through your literature review more efficiently. Complete Developing a Matrix to Organize Your Literature Review, which will help you organize your notes and think of ways to categorize your findings, such as definitions, variables, findings, and population. It also provides an example of a completed matrix.
Write a 3–5 page literature review that incorporates at least seven scholarly sources. Address the following within your literature review. Ensure that each main point of your paper is supported clearly with evidence from your sources. Under some points, there are guiding questions to guide your thinking, but be sure to consult the scoring guide to make sure you are covering all of what will be assessed.
Explain the psychological concepts that were addressed in the research.
Are there any patterns, themes, or trends that you were able to trace in your research?
Describe the concepts related to the theory that will be the basis for your research.
Discuss the value and the limitations of the theoretical concepts.
Develop a plausible hypothesis, where you predict the outcomes of the relationship between your two variables, that relies on evidence and reasoning.
Use APA-style formatting, citations, and references.
