Information Literacy - Research Project

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Identify a research question in psychology.
  • Identify valid, peer-reviewed sources of information to answer the research question.
  • Formulate conclusions to the research question based on the evidence found in the peer-reviewed literature.

Instructions

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!

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 two 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.

We will be evaluating the question you propose based on the validity of the question (can you actually get an answer to the question) and the scope of this project (it is specific enough to be completed in the time of this class).

Proposal
Write out the research question that you are proposing to answer with your paper (remember, it has to be in the form of a question and you will be evaluated primarily on how well you answer this question).
50 pts
Write a brief essay as to why you want to answer this particular question.
50 pts

Peer Reviewed Articles

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.

Conclusion Paper

Using your three articles you are now going to write a paper. This paper has four components outlined in the rubric below.

Conclusion 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
10 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 articles
    • 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)
40 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.