In this unit, you will choose a published research study on a topic of interest to you from the professional psychological literature. The study you select will become the focus of your scientific merit paper that you submit at the end of this course. Make sure you choose a research study from the professional psychological literature on either a topic of interest to you or a topic on which you might be interested in doing further research.
The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your understanding of the elements of research methods and good research design.
Choose a study that is either quantitative or qualitative. The study should meet the following criteria:
It does not use mixed methodology.
It is a primary research study. Studies detailing meta-analyses, theoretical proposals, or opinion papers are not appropriate for this project.
It must report on original research conducted using human participants.
It must be reported in an article that is part of the psychology research literature. You can often determine what discipline a research study contributes to by noting the name of the journal it is published in. If you choose an article from a journal and you are not sure that journal reports psychology research, you need to check the article’s content to make sure the article is investigating psychological concepts (variables, key phenomena) from a psychological standpoint.
Also keep in mind the following:
You are encouraged to choose a study that is not likely to be dated.
Make sure the study has some discussion of or reference to a theoretical framework; otherwise, you will not be able to successfully address all of the criteria of future assignments or the Unit 3 discussion.
Use the Study Selection Template document found in the Resources section for this assignment. You are required to provide the following:
The article reference in APA (6th edition) format.
The persistent link of the article (the permalink URL).
A short paragraph explaining your reasons for indicating the study is part of the psychology research literature.
A short paragraph explaining your reasons for identifying the research as qualitative or quantitative.