Psychology homework help

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Instructions for Paper V: Final Paper (Worth 75 Points)
 
Ryan J. Winter
Florida International University
 
 
Purpose of Paper V (Final Paper)
1). Psychological Purpose
The psychological purpose behind Paper V is to present your final paper. Essentially this paper will be similar to any article you would find in an academic journal. It will include a Title Page, Abstract, Literature Review (study one), Methods Section (study one), Results Section (study one), Brief Discussion Section (study one), Literature Review (study two), Methods Section (study two), Results Section (study two), Brief Discussion Section (study two), General Discussion Section, References, and Appendices. The good news is that for most of this paper you will simply combine Paper I, Paper II, Paper III, and Paper IV (including any needed revisions) for Paper V. Two new components for Paper V include the Abstract and a General Discussion section.
The Abstract is one of the first items that readers see. You need to convey a lot of information in this very short paragraph, as the potential reader will need to decide whether to read your full paper based on the information in the Abstract. There are several elements needed in the Abstract about both of your studies, including information about: a). your research question(s), b). your participants, c). your experimental methodology, d). your findings, and e). your conclusions. Being able to write a precise yet succinct Abstract takes some effort, so make sure you go through several drafts before settling on your final version. Make sure to include keywords / key phrases as well (remember entering keywords into PsycInfo when you searched for articles? The authors actually recommended those keywords, so if you want to increase the number of times your paper comes up for readers, use good keywords!)
Your General Discussion section will also be new in Paper V. Here, you will summarize your results from BOTH studies and draw conclusions, but you will NOT report statistics again. This section will evaluate both of your studies and see if (and how) they connect and lead you to general conclusions. That is, your general discussion is the end of your story, so make sure to tie it back to information that you presented throughout both of your studies. You should also identify flaws in your study designs as well as propose new directions for future research in this section.
2). APA Formatting Purpose
Paper V should follow all APA formatting guidelines. See our feedback on prior papers, use the APA formatting powerpoint lecture, and look at the instructions on the next page for help with formatting
3). Writing Purpose
Paper V is your final paper in the course, and it should reflect the skills and knowledge you have developed throughout the semester. You should be able to convey information to an educated reader, but one who is unfamiliar with your specific study and the content area. More importantly, many students use Paper V as their writing sample for graduate school applications, thus your paper should be grammatically correct and easy to read yet informative for a reader who may have little to no knowledge of your specific topic. Thus educate your reader, but keep in mind that your reader is probably intelligent.
 
Note #1: The plagiarism limit for Paper V is 50%. I expect less overlap in your lit reviews and discussions than in the methods / results. As usual, references, citations, and predictions are not included in the plagiarism limit.
Note #2: The page minimums from prior papers still apply. The Abstract should be 150 to 200 words (generally all in the same paragraph) and the General Discussion should be a minimum of 2 pages (maximum 4 pages). Your final paper will most likely be around 25 pages total, but it will vary from student to student.
 
 
Instructions for Paper V: Final Paper (Worth 75 Points)
Note that these instructions relate to the whole paper, but I concentrate on the Abstract and Discussion below since those are new elements in this paper. Refer to the instructions for Paper III: Study Two Literature Review for information on the study one literature review, methods, results, and discussion and the study two literature review and references. Refer to Paper IV: Study Two Methods, Results and Discussion for information on the methods, results and discussion for study two.

  1. Title Page: I expect the following format (1 point):
    1. This Title Page section will be one (1) page in proper APA format
  2. Abstract (7 points) NEW SECTION
    1. The Abstract starts on its own page, with the word Abstract centered (not bolded).
    2. Make sure your header and page number is still on this abstract page
    3. The abstract should be between 150 and 200 words, and must include ALL of the following elements
      1. Identify your general problem or research question
      2. Note your participants
  • Note your experimental method
  1. Note your findings for both studies
  2. Note your conclusions about the studies as a whole
  1. Keywords / phrases are required for your paper (at least 5 keywords or phrases)
  1. Literature Review (Study One): I expect the following format (6 points):
    1. Include your revised literature review from Paper III: Study Two Literature Review. Those instructions continue to apply to this section (recall that you revised the study one literature review for Paper III, so that Paper III literature review will be your most recent version of that study one literature review)
    2. The study one literature review must have minimum of two (2) full pages of text (not including the hypotheses) and a maximum of five (5) pages
  2. Methods Section (Study One): I expect the following format (6 points):
    1. Include your revised methods section from Paper III: Study Two Literature Review. Those instructions continue to apply to this section
    2. There is no set minimum or maximum on the length of the methods section, but I would expect at least a page as you detail your materials and procedure. Missing important aspects of your IVs and DVs or presenting them in a confused manner will lower your score in this section
    3. Make sure to callout the tables and then include them immediately after the callout
  3. Results Section (Study One): I expect the following format (6 points):
    1. Include your revised results section from Paper III: Study Two Literature Review. Those instructions continue to apply to this section
    2. Like the methods section, there is no page minimum of maximum for the results section, though I would expect it to be at least a paragraph or two for each of the dependent variables you analyzed
    3. Make sure to callout the tables and then include them immediately after the callout
  4. Brief Discussion (Study One): I expect the following format (1 point):
    1. Include a brief description of your study one findings (but avoid using statistics)
    2. I expect a paragraph or two, revised from Paper III: Study Two Literature Review.
  5. Literature Review (Study Two): I expect the following format (6 points):
    1. Include your revised literature review from Paper III: Study Two Literature Review. Those instructions continue to apply to this section
    2. The study two literature review must have minimum of two (2) full pages of text (without hypotheses) and a maximum of five (5) pages
  6. Methods Section (Study Two): I expect the following format (6 points):
    1. Include your revised methods section from Paper IV: Study Two Methods, Discussion, and Results. Those instructions continue to apply to this section
    2. There is no set minimum or maximum on the length of the methods section, but I would expect at least a page as you detail your materials and procedure. Missing important aspects of your IVs and DVs or presenting them in a confused manner will lower your score in this section
    3. Make sure to callout the tables and then include them immediately after the callout
  7. Results Section (Study Two): I expect the following format (6 points):
    1. Include your revised results section from Paper IV: Study Two Methods, Results, Discussion. Those instructions continue to apply to this section
    2. Like the methods section, there is no page minimum of maximum for the results section, though I would expect it to be at least a paragraph or two for each of the dependent variables you analyzed
    3. Make sure to callout the tables and then include them immediately after the callout
  8. Brief Discussion (Study Two): I expect the following format (1 point):
    1. Include a brief description of your study one findings (but avoid using statistics)
    2. I expect a paragraph or two, revised from Paper IV: Study Two Methods, Results, Discussion
  9. General Discussion (12 points) NEW SECTION
    1. Write the word General Discussion at the top of this section and center and bold This section comes directly at the end of the brief discussion section from study two, so the general discussion section DOES NOT start on its own page. See the example paper for some formatting visual hints.
    2. At the beginning of this section, give a brief reminder of your predictions from both study one and study two. Then provide a discussion of your results. In English (not statistics), tell me what you found. In this discussion, you should talk about all of the following:
      1. An explanation of your findings – across both studies, did your results support or not support your hypothesis?
        1. If you found support, tie it in with the prior research you cited in your literature review as well as your predictions. You may want to refer back to your literature review, and re-cite some of the studies you mentioned there (I really recommend that, in fact!).
        2. If you didn’t find any support for your hypotheses, contrast your findings with prior research. You can highlight differences in your methodologies. You may also find other studies that either support your results or help explain why you found what you found.
        3. If one study found support and the other did not, try to explain the discrepancy.
        4. In a nutshell, tell me how both studies help inform the reader about the nature of your variables and how they impact human behavior.
      2. Next, examine study limitations – would other methods have been better? Were there problems with your study that a follow-up study should fix?
  • Propose future directions for research – If you could do your studies over again, what would you change? Or how might you expand them?
  1. Optional: Talk about the ethics of your study – Did you follow ethical guidelines? Were participants harmed in any manner
  1. The general discussion section must have minimum of two (2) full pages of text and a maximum of four (4) pages.
  1. References: I expect the following format (6 points):
    1. Include your revised references from Paper III: Literature Review (Study Two)
      1. Include any new references you may have cited in the discussion section
    2. References start on their own page
    3. Follow all APA formatting rules for the references
    4. We will mark off per number of error, so really make sure to proofread this. The same error in six references will leave you with zero points!
  2. Tables (3 points)
    1. Although your tables will be embedded within the text (immediately following each callout in your participant and results sections), we will give them a 3 point grade independently of the methods and results sections.
  3. Overall writing quality (8 points)
    1. Make sure you check your paper for proper spelling and grammar. The FIU writing center is available if you want someone to look over your paper (an extra eye is always good!) and give you advice. I highly recommend them, as writing quality will become even more important on future papers. NOTE that this writing quality is nearly 10% of your final paper grade, so I suggest you proofread!
    2. You can also visit the Research Methods Help Center for some help or just someone to glance over your final paper.

 
Other Guidelines for Paper V: The Final Paper
 

  • 1). Pay attention to the page length requirements
  • 2). Page size is 8 1/2 X 11” with all 4 margins set at on inch on all sides. You must use a 12-point Times New Roman font. Double space EVERYTHING
  • 3). When summarizing articles for your lit review and doing so in your own words, make sure you still cite the original source. Always use proper referencing procedures, which means that:
    • If you are inserting a direct quote from any source, it must be enclosed in quotations and followed by a parenthetical reference to the source. “Let’s say I am directly quoting this current sentence and the next. I would then cite it with the author name, date of publication, and the page number for the direct quote” (Winter, 2016, p . 4).
      1. Note: We will deduct points if you quote more than three times in the whole paper, so keep quotes to a minimum. Paraphrase instead, but make sure you still give the original author credit for the material by citing it or using the author’s name (“In this article, Smith noted that …” or “In this article, the authors noted that…”)
  • 4). PLEASE use a spell checker to avoid unnecessary errors. Proofread everything you write. I actually recommend reading some sentences aloud to see if they flow well, or getting family or friends to read your work.

 

  • Finally, go look at the supporting documents for this paper. Like prior papers, there is a checklist, a grade rubric, and an example paper for Paper V. All will give you more information about what we are specifically looking for as well as a visual example of how to put it all together in your paper. Good luck!