RESEARCH STUDY PROPOSAL due: March 14th, 2011 proposal idea due midnight on February10th Assignment.

RESEARCH STUDY PROPOSAL
due: March 14th, 2011
proposal idea due midnight on February10th

Assignment [35% of final grade]:
Create
a research study proposal for an experiment in the area of social psychology of
attitudes. The final product should be anywhere from 5-8 pages, typed,
double-spaced, 12 pt. font (times new roman).Page limit does not include title page or references. You do not need an
abstract. It CAN be double sided.

A) Study Proposal Introduction 25%

Intro – You
will be required to find, photocopy, read, and review at least five
EXPERIMENTAL research papers that pertain to the phenomena you wish to study. You
of course can use non-experimental papers, in addition to the 5 experimental
papers. The purpose of the introduction is to inform the reader of the existing
studies and evidence concerning your proposed area of research. It also sets the groundwork for potential
methodologies (how the study was conducted) that you may want to consider when
designing your own study procedure. Good
literature reviews usually start by 1) introducing a topic generally, 2) then
stating some confirmatory evidence of the phenomena to be studied, 3) then
stating some contradictory or ambiguous evidence or a separate line of research,
4) then stating the areas where evidence is lacking, and finally, 5) stating
the general question to be answered with this study and the specific hypotheses
to be tested. The introduction is NOT a summary of all the articles; rather, it
discusses the relevant points of studies relevant to your topic.

Hypothesis/Predictions â€“ After stating the general question that your study is trying to
answer, state the specific hypotheses or predictions that you have towards the
independent variable(s) you are manipulating and the dependant variable(s) you
are measuring.

B) Method 40%

Participants
â€“ List the proposed population you wish to study, the sample size, sampling
procedure and any specific characteristics about participants in your study
(e.g., all male; psych100 students; mass testing).

Materials â€“
List all materials you will need to do your study (e.g., anxiety scales, computer
programs, access to marketing records, taste test challenge videotapes, etc. .
. be realistic but USE YOUR IMAGINATION!).

Procedure – This
section should explicitly state in as much detail as possible how you plan to
actually perform the study. Here you
will need a detailed layout of exactly what will happen to a participant from
the moment they arrive to the moment they are debriefed about the study before
leaving. Detail is important as other
researchers may want to try to test your claims and replicate your study if
there are interesting results. You may want to include Appendices with scripts
of what will be said to participants or examples of what participants will
experience (this will not be necessary for all studies). Try to explain the procedure in a clear and
simple way that seems logical and realistic.

C) Predicted Results/Discussion 25%

This
should include a brief conclusion to state how you believe the study will turn
out (predicted results) and what would be interesting about that if it
did. Also, a discussion that states how
you believe the results of your study would be of interest/impact the theory
and other researchers, the population you are examining, and the general
public. Future directions should be addressed in this section.

A REFERENCE section should be included at
the end (on a separate page) listing all articles, books, and other media used
as a resource for the paper. (5%)

Remember APA 6 style! (5%)