This exercise is the first research assignment (draft worth 80 points, two full pages of text minimum) designed to get you familiar with doing research using the psychology journal database. For these writing assignments you will need to use the PsychInfo or PsychArticles database that you access through the ISU library website. (Note that a google search or a google scholar search is not sufficient). The Psychology databases (accessed through the ISU library site) contain hundreds of thousands of articles published in journals that are refereed and reviewed by established scientists.You MUST use these databases to search for articles related to your interest area. You MUST learn to use the psychology databases through the library access for these assignments.I have provided 8 research questions and a reference to a primary research article that will help you answer the question. You should choose a question from the list and then using the PSYCHINFO database through the Library link find the referenced article. Many research questions in psychology are complicated and may depend on many factors.Some research may indicate one answer and other research may refute it. For this research question you need to find the article listed AND you will need to find another primary source that will help you answer this question.You may use other secondary sources as well but you need to use at least 2 primary sources for this paper. (Note a primary source is a detailed account of the experiment or study that is written by the people that did the experiment.) For this first research paper you need 2 primary sources, and you should attempt to answer the research question in your paper. The paper should NOT be simply a review of the two sources that you have found.You should focus your paper on answering the question and be sure to include the DATA (Results) of the studies you have read about to support your statements.For example If you are attempting to answer a question about memory and diet you should not just say that people that eat processed foods have poorer memories than those that eat healthier.You need to provide support (results and data) from the research you found.Something like this: Subjects in the processed food group scored 68% on the memory test and subjects in the healthy eating group scored 92% on the memory test.Now your reader (me) has some better information on how the two groups differed on the memory task. This draft should be at least 2 pages in length and should include a cover page and a reference page.So it will be at least 4 pages total when submitted to the turn it in link.Please see the sample paper for formatting questions. Here are the steps:
Find the articles using the library electronic database
Save the pdfs to your flash drive or ISU account hard drive space
Read and understand the relevant portions of the article.Identify the evidence (data and results) you are going to use to answer your question.
How do these articles help you answer the question? What data is important to YOUR research question?It does not matter what the authors concluded.You should make conclusions and support your conclusions with results from the studies.
Create a two page word document that clearly states the research question and then attempt to answer the question using data from the articles to support your conclusions.Include citations to the articles where appropriate and an APA style reference section that lists the sources you used.
We are using APA style for this research paper so you will need to make sure you have a cover page at the start and a reference page at the end.Be sure to create a header with a running head on the left and page number on the right. Use the Sample paper as a template to help you get the page numbers, running head, margins and other formatting correct.
Find the research articles by going to our class blackboard site and clicking the button labeled ISU Library.
Then select the Articles & Databases tab above the search box.Then click on the Databases by Subject selection that appears just under the search bar. That will open a new window and allow you to select Psychology from the drop down menu.Then click the Search button.
It will find 3 recommended databases
Click on PsycARTICLES.Now you will see the EBSCOhost window. There are three search boxes at the top. This database searches hundreds of thousands of journals and limits the findings to journals that have immediate access to the pdf file of the article.(For a more extensive search you should use PsychINFO).
Start your search for research articles by typing in some keywords from the title of the article or topic you have selected from the list of 8 acceptable research questions.
Then click the SEARCH button.
You can type in different terms in each of the 3 boxes.
The Ebsco site will probably find several hundred sources that are related to your question. You can refine your search by typing in the first authors last name and then indicate over on the right side drop down menu that this is an author name.
This Ebsco search is powerful.You should be able to find 2 good sources that will help you answer your research question.
Choose a research question from the list below.Eight are provided.If you have a different question that you would like to use you must first find a primary source that will help you answer that question and then get the instructors permission to use a different research question by showing them your question and your source.Please print it.
