Take a scientific study
Essentally: Take a scientific study and write on the internal validity of the test. And how the testing was designed to keep validity.
DIRECTIONS
As I noted last week there are detailed directions posted in the assignment section as well as an exemplar. I can’t stress how important it is that your follow the guidelines! They tell you specifically what content needs to be included and its relative weight. So for instance, your example from the literature is worth 50% of your grade. If you summarize this in a paragraph, you certainly aren’t covering it in the depth required. The paper is limited to 1200 works; using APA formatting (12 point Times New Roman font, 1” margins, header, etc.) you’ll find that this is about 3-4 pages. This paper is intentionally short! You will need to do a great deal of synthesis in order to fit in all of the information in the short length limit so choose content carefully are word it wisely. I will not read beyond 4 pages!
Also, remember that the example study you choose for your midterm paper must use human subjects as the unit of analysis. You may not use bench research or other studies whose unit of analysis is something other than people (i.e. rats, mice, DNA, blood levels of a particular component, tissue samples, etc.).
The paper is due by 2355 on Saturday.
Format: The student will write a 1000-1200 word paper looking in depth at one of the threats to internal validity found in the textbook on page175, Table 9.2-2. (1000-1200 words excluding references and title page, 12 point font, double spaced, 1″ margins)
Topic: Please pick ONE subheading under the “Single Group Threats” or “Social Threats” as the topic of your paper. Therefore your topic may be one of the following: History, Maturation, Attrition, Testing, Regression, Diffusion, Compensatory Equalization, Compensatory Rivalry, or Resentful Demoralization.
Content: The paper must include the following areas of discussion:
A clear definition of the threat. (10%)
Be specific about which threat you are addressing
Examples of how the threat might affect research findings. (20%)
Why is this threat important? Why does a researcher need to address this threat?
Methods the researcher can use to combat this threat. (20%)
Be specific about concrete things someone can do to address this threat. Don’t talk in vague terms. Can the threat be eliminated or only mitigated.
A real example from the literature (50%)
Find a published primary research article from a peer reviewed journal and use as an exemplar to demonstrate how researchers dealt with the chosen threat in the real world. Articles should be an example of how a researcher did or did not adequately deal with this threat in an actual research situation. It may be a good example (what someone did successfully) or it may be a bad example (what they failed to do). Explain how the researcher’s design decisions affected the threat to the study.
To do this you will need to find an article that:
Is a published primary research article
Is less than five years old
Used human subjects (no animal or bench studies!).
Submission: The student is expected to follow the APA format and standard submission guidelines for this course. A minimum of four references besides the course text are expected. These references need to support your statements. All sources must be appropriately cited. As always, synthesis of ideas is required. Please use APA format.
Notes on References: In most cases, non-internet resources are preferable references for academic purposes. If you are using an internet source, please screen the internet sources carefully. Use only reputable sites of known quality. For example university and government sites are generally most accurate. Wikipedia is an opinion site and is NOT an acceptable academic reference; therefore points will be deducted for its use. A minimum of four references is expected.
