Research Project- Using the Literature to Answer Questions

Learning Outcomes

This assignment is designed to address Information Literacy and Written Communication learning outcomes. These specific outcomes are incorporated into the grading rubrics for the papers.

If you wish, you may click HERE to download the American Association of Colleges and Universities VALUE rubric on Information Literacy

If you wish, you may click HERE to download the American Association of Colleges and Universities VALUE rubric on Written Communication

Components of the Project

This aspect of the class is actually made up of a number of small assignments that will be due through the duration of the course. Check with your instructor as to when each part is due.

The field of Psychology makes a number of very important contributions to our understanding of the world. It also provides a very unique perspective on problems and solutions. This series of tasks will teach you how to access the most trusted sources of psychological information and how to use and communicate that information to answer questions.

These instructions are long and detailed, but understand that this one document is covering multiple tasks. Take them one at a time and you will do well!

Research Project - Proposal

Review the information found here: Developing Good Research Questions

Your task is to come up with an appropriate research question that you will use for the rest of the tasks in this assignment. Your best source for ideas is your textbook. Skim the chapters and see if there is any area in psychology that you are already interested in. Pick something that you LIKE to read and think about because you will be doing a lot of reading and thinking about it!

Once you have come up with an idea you need to communicate it to your instructor. In the same folder as this document you will find a quiz titled "Research Task #1 - Asking Appropriate Questions." There is only one question in this quiz...type your Research Question in the box, save the answer, and submit the quiz.

Your instructor will review your submission and provide feedback and a grade. You must get a 100 score on this quiz before moving on to the next step in the process so you can take this quiz over and over again until you get a 100.

Below is a small rubric outlining what the instructor will be looking for they are evaluating the quality of your question.

Research Project - Proposal
Research Question - The research question is clear and specific. The question can be adequately addressed given the length of the paper (as determined by your instructor). The statement is in the form of a question.
100 pts

Research Project - Article

Review the information found in the following web pages:

Your goal in this task is to find THREE peer reviewed article using the KVCC online databases and then citing that article using APA standards of citations.

Once you have reviewed the instructions linked above, you need to log into the online databases at the KVCC Library and search for an article related to your question. The most challenging aspect of this task is to come up with the terms used by the field of psychology to describe what you are looking for. Your instructor and the library staff can help with that.

Once you have found your article you need to write a short paper about the article following the rubric and example below.

Research Project - Article

Title Page - this is the first page in your submitted document and it contains information that identifies the following:

  • Name of the assignment
  • Course name
  • Instructor name
  • Your name
  • Date
20 pts

About your Article - this is the second page in your submitted document. It contains the following information:

  • State your Research Question which has been approved in Research Task #1
  • A list of the search terms that you used to find the article within the KVCC online databases
  • Locate ONE article (pick a good one) from the online databases and include the following information:
    • The Title of the article
    • The Author of the article
    • A verbatim copy of the "Abstract" from the article
40 pts

References - this is a separate page and the last page in your submitted document. This page will have the following:

  • Centered at the top of this page will be the title "References" (not "Works Cited" or "Bibliography")
  • Below this title you will create an APA citation for the article. This citation is formatted in a very specific way and learning how to format it is part of this assignment.
  • Visit the APA Style web page for online resources to learn how to format the article. You can also seek help from your instructor and the KVCC Learning Commons writing tutors.
40 pts
Mechanics - spelling, syntax, grammar, punctuation, etc.  

This document needs to be written using a word processing program (such as MS Word) and submitted as an attachment in either MS Word or PDF format (preferably PDF) to the online assignment drop box in the same folder as these instructions. The name of the assignment drop box is "Research Project - Article"

Do not copy/paste your text into the box provided...you need to send a copy of your file.

(The only file formats that are accepted by Blackboard are MS Word or PDF. If you do not have MS Word you may save your document into PDF format and send THAT version to the assignment drop box. No other formats will be acceptable.)

Research Project - Paper

Using your first article's references list, locate TWO additional articles that also relate to your question.

You are now going to "sort of" outline a paper. This paper has four components outlined in the rubric below.

Research Project - Paper

Title Page - this is the first page in your submitted document and it contains information that identifies the following:

  • Name of the assignment
  • Course name
  • Instructor name
  • Your name
  • Date
5 pts

Introduction Paragraph - this is on the second page in your submitted document and is structured as follows

  • Start the paragraph with some general statements about why it is important to answer your question.
  • Provide a brief glimpse for your reader as to the details of the question.
  • End the paragraph with your THESIS STATEMENT...which should be structured like the example below...

"This paper will provide evidence to answer the question: (insert your question here)"
20 pts

Annotated Bibliography - this section starts right below your introduction paragraph

  • Centered in the page will be the title "Annotated Bibliography"
  • For each of the three articles you need to provide the following:
    • An APA formatted citation of the article
    • A one paragraph summary as to how the article contributes to answering the question (this is NOT the abstract...this requires you to read the article)
45 pts

Conclusion Paragraph - immediately following the Annotated Bibliography you will write a one paragraph conclusion structured as follows:

  • Start the paragraph with a restatement of your THESIS STATEMENT
  • Summarize the findings that are presented in the annotated bibliography
  • End the paragraph with general statements about the importance of using this information to answer your question

This is the end...do NOT put a References page on the end of this paper...your references are covered in the Annotated Bibliography.
20 pts
Mechanics - spelling, syntax, grammar, punctuation, etc.
10 pts.

Calculation of Research Project Grade

The final single score for this entire project will be calculated as follows:

  • Research Project - Proposal - 10%
  • Research Project - Article - 40%
  • Research Project - Paper - 50%