PSYCH 610 Week 4 Critical Analysis of Research Article Assignment

PSYCH 610 Week 4 Critical Analysis of Research Article Assignment

PSYCH 610 Week 4 Critical Analysis of Research Article Assignment

Select a research article of interest to you, preferably related to your Research Proposal, and use the Research Evaluation Worksheet found on the student website to analyze the article. You can use this information to help you form the literature review section of your research proposal.

PSYCH 610 Week 5 Individual Assignment Week Five Homework Exercise

1. What are single-case designs and when are they most useful?

2. How may a researcher enhance the generalizability of the results of a single case design?

3. What is the relationship between quasi-experiments and confounding variables? Provide an example

4. Provide examples of: one-group posttest designs and one-group pretest and posttest designs. What are the limitations of each?

5. Provide examples of non-equivalent control group designs. What are the advantages of having a control group?

6. What is a quasi-experimental research design? Why would a researcher use a quasi-experimental design rather than a true experimental design?

7. What is the difference between a cross-sectional and a longitudinal study? What is a sequential study? Which of these designs is most vulnerable to cohort effects? Which design is most vulnerable to the effects of attrition?

8. What are the differences between: needs assessment, program assessment, process evaluation, outcome evaluation, and efficacy assessment? Why is program evaluation important to the field?

9. A researcher wants to investigate patriotic behavior across the lifespan. She samples people in the following age groups: 18–28, 29–39, 40–50, 51–60, and 61 and above.

All participants are interviewed and asked to complete questionnaires and rating scales about patriotic behavior. This type of developmental research design is called __Cross-Sectional______________. What is the primary disadvantage of this type of design? Explain. PSYCH 610 Week 4 Critical Analysis of Research Article Assignment.

PSYCH 610 Week 5 Individual Assignment Outline of Research Proposal

Prepare a 2-pageoutline of your Research Proposal. The outline should provide an overview of the main elements of your proposal. It should include:

An introduction A brief statement of purpose The rationale for conducting the study Your hypotheses and research questions Methods (participants, procedures, materials, instruments), and appropriate statistical test(s) for data analysis List of at least three relevant articles for the proposal The purpose of this outline is to obtain feedback from your instructor on your progress and on the feasibility of your topic and design.

PSYCH 610 Week 5 Learning Team Assignment The Hawthorne Effect

Complete the Hawthorne Effect assignment found on your student website.

PSYCH 610 Week 6 Individual Assignment Week Six Homework Exercise

Answer the following questions, covering material from Ch. 12 of Methods in Behavioral Research:

1. Define the following terms:

2. How are group means, percentages, and correlations used to describe research results?

3. How can graphs be used to describe and summarize data?

4. A researcher is studying reading rates in milliseconds per syllable. What scale of measurement—nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio—is time in milliseconds? Explain your response.

5. Under what circumstances is the median or mode a better measure of central tendency than the mean? Explain your response.

6. True or false: The standard deviation and the range are sensitive to outliers. Explain your response.

7. True or false: The standard deviation can never be 0. Explain your response.

8. A researcher is investigating the effects of anxiety on creativity. Individuals with varying levels of anxiety are asked to complete a measure of creativity. The results show a classic U-shaped distribution; that is, individuals with moderate levels of anxiety score the highest on tests of creativity. Individuals with very low or very high levels of anxiety score much lower on tests of creativity. What would be a good statistic to use in this case? Explain your response. PSYCH 610 Week 4 Critical Analysis of Research Article Assignment.

9. What are some applications of multiple regression models (equations / techniques)? Provide an example. 10. Explain how and why multiple correlations are used as prediction variables?

PSYCH 610 Week 6 Learning Team Assignment Developmental Research

Complete the Developmental Research assignment found on your student website. Complete the table using complete sentences for your answers.

PSYCH 610 Week 7 Individual Assignment Week Seven Homework Exercise

Answer the following questions, covering material from Ch. 13 of Methods in Behavioral Research:

1. Define inferential statistics and how researchers use inferential statistics to draw conclusions from sample data.

2. Define probability and discuss how it relates to the concept of statistical significance.

3. A researcher is studying the effects of yoga on depression. Participants are randomly assigned to one of two groups: yoga and medication (experimental group); or support group and medication (control group). What is the null hypothesis? What is the research hypothesis?

4. In the scenario described in the previous question, the researcher implements two programs simultaneously: a 6-week yoga program coupled with medication management and a 6-week support group program coupled with medication management. At the end of the 6 weeks, participants complete a questionnaire measuring depression. The researcher compares the mean score of the experimental group with the mean score of the control group. What statistical test would be most appropriate for this purpose and why? What is the role of probability in this statistical test?

5. In the scenario described in the previous questions, the researcher predicted that participants in the experimental group—yoga plus medication—would score significantly lower on measures of depression than would participants in the control group—support group plus medication. True or false: A two-tailed test of significance is most appropriate in this case. Explain your response.

6. Explain the relationship between the alpha level (or significance level) and Type I error. What is a Type II error? How are Type I and Type II errors different? PSYCH 610 Week 4 Critical Analysis of Research Article Assignment.

7. A researcher is studying the effects of sex—male and female—and dietary sugar on energy level. Male and female participants agree to follow either a high sugar or low sugar diet for eight weeks. The researcher asks the participants to complete a number of questionnaires, including one assessing energy level, before and after the program. The researcher is interested in determining whether a high or low sugar diet affects reported energy levels differently for men and women. At the end of the program, the researcher examines scores on the energy level scale for the following groups: Men – low sugar diet; Men – high sugar diet; Women – low sugar diet; Women – high sugar diet. What statistic could the researcher use to assess the data? What criteria did you use to determine the appropriate statistical test?

PSYCH 610 Week 7 Learning Team Assignment Correlation

Complete the Correlation assignment found on your student website. You will need to plot the data given and answer the questions.

PSYCH 610 Week 8 Individual Assignment Research Proposal

Submit the Research Proposal. Include all parts given in the instructions found on your student website.

PSYCH 610 Week 8 Individual Assignment Week Eight Homework Exercise

Answer the following questions covering material from Ch. 14 of Methods in Behavioral Research:

1. What is replication, and what role does it play in increasing the external validity or generalizability of a study? In what way is the IRB involved in using participants in a research study?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using college students as participants in research studies?

3. What potential problems can arise from generalization of results to different cultures or ethnic groups?

4. What is meta-analysis, and how is it useful to practitioners and scholars?

5. True or false: In many cases, meta analyses involves calculating an average effect size for a relationship between variables.

6. True or false: Many constructs, such as physical attractiveness and self-esteem, appear constant across cultures; thus, external validity is less of a concern when conducting research on such constructs. Provide a brief explanation of your answer.

7. Summarize the main points of the course, emphasizing the importance of research to the psychology profession. PSYCH 610 Week 4 Critical Analysis of Research Article Assignment.

PSYCH 610 Week 8 Learning Team Assignment Course Summary

As a team, complete a summary of the main points of the course. In about a paragraph each, summarize what you learned about the following:

1. Research and the scientific method

2. Research ethics

3. Meaning of reliability and validity

4. Overview of basic research designs Define descriptive and interferential statistics and give an example of each.