Instructions for the Final Draft of the Hypothetical Paper and IRB Form

(Read and follow carefully for the best grades)

I. Goals

A. Again, for your first draft of the hypothetical paper your goal was to design an experiment and write a full research paper (in APA format) detailing the hypothetical experiment. The paper was to include all sections (title page, abstract, intro, method, results, discussion, reference list, etc.) found in a typical quantitative research paper.

B. For the final hypothetical paper, you should use feedback from your first draft to address any problems or deficiencies noted on the first draft. You will again turn in a complete APA-style paper. For some students, the final paper will represent a significant revision; for example, if your first draft did not utilize an experimental design, this will need to be corrected if you want a passing grade on the final draft. For other students, your first draft may require only minor revisions.

C. With your final draft, you will also turn in a completed CSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) form. A blank IRB form is posted to Blackboard; you should fill out all appropriate sections as noted in class. The IRB information must be printed (not hand-written).

D. As you have received fairly extensive feedback on writing papers by now, grading for the final paper will be “stricter” in some ways v. your earlier papers. For example, you will be expected to format your final paper properly in APA style. Any papers containing plagiarized material will receive zero points. Your sources should include only peer-reviewed journal articles rather than other types of sources. And so forth…

II. Components and grading (100 points possible) of this final class assignment:

A. APA-style quantitative research paper—75 points

1. Title page (5 points)

2. Abstract (5 points)

3. Intro/Lit Review (15 points)—use a minimum of 5 journal articles as sources for your literature review (introduction). See your class and text notes re: this section if necessary.

4. Method (15 points)

a. Clearly describe how you would recruit/obtain your participants, how you would obtain informed consent for participation, and how you would assign participants to groups/conditions, etc. Provide estimated total n-size and proposed number in each group or condition. You will not be able to provide descriptive data as to the mean age, etc. of your sample—and there is no need to make these up—but DO roughly describe the likely age and gender makeup of the sample. For example, “Approximately 100 adult males will participate in this study. I expect participants’ ages to be roughly 25-50 years of age, and I expect a roughly equal mix of men and women. I would report the following, both overall and by group: mean age (and standard deviation), gender frequencies and percentages…” etc.

b. Describe your materials and procedure (what you would USE and DO in the experiment) clearly and precisely. Do not forget to include a description of how you would collect your dependent variable data. Attach (as an appendix or appendices) any materials that would be utilized in the experiment (e.g., rating scales, data collection sheets, etc.). Some materials (e.g., say you use the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale in your study) cannot be attached, but still make an effort to describe any such instruments clearly and provide an attachment of some kind (even if it is just, for example, the WAIS scoring page). Appendices should be properly formatted according to APA guidelines (in some cases, this will not be possible—we will discuss this in class).

5. Results section (15 points)—you will NOT have any actual or imaginary data to analyze. Instead, you will tell readers how you would analyze the data you would collect in the study. Tell readers what descriptive statistics (e.g., group means and standard deviations, etc.) you would report, and describe any inferential test(s) you would use–e.g., “I would compare the mean depression ratings of the three groups using a one-way, between-subjects ANOVA. I would report the F-ratio and p-value… If results suggested any significant differences among groups, I would utilize… post-hoc tests to…”).

6. Discussion (10 points)—here, focus on a) how your results might fit into the broader literature (e.g., “If the new drug was shown to work, this would suggest the drug…”), b) the potential limitations (pick 2-3 of the most obvious limitations) of your experiment, and c) specific suggestions for future research on your topic.

7. Reference list (5 points)—again, you should be using scientific journal articles for your sources rather than other types of documents. Also, at this point, you should have no difficulty formatting this page and the references properly.

                        8. Instruments (5 points). Do not forget to attach (as an appendix or appendices) any written materials (e.g., rating scales, data collection sheets, etc.) you would utilize in your experiment. We want to see exactly how you would gather and record your data.

B. Completed Institutional Review Board (IRB) form—25 points

1. Complete the IRB form (TYPED, not handwritten, please!) posted on Blackboard and attach it to your research paper. However, you do NOT need to include:

a. A consent form (I will post an example on Blackboard)

b. Any “fake” letters from outside sources (e.g., permission letters)

2. Any scales, surveys, etc. you would use in your experiment will be attached to your research paper, so (to save some paper) you do not need to attach them again to your IRB form.

Notes:

1. I will be glad to review rough drafts of your paper and provide feedback—all you have to do is ask–if you will follow these guidelines:

a. Please do not e-mail me any rough drafts. Instead, bring your work-in-progress TO ANY OF OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED CLASSES. I will either review the draft before/during/after the class period or take it with me and return it at the next scheduled class.

b. You can also stop by during my office hours for feedback—no appointment necessary—or any other time you can catch me or arrange to meet.

c. Please do not wait until the last minute and then ask for extensive feedback on a draft of your paper.

2. The final draft/IRB is due Tuesday, April 6. We do not have class on this day, so feel free to slide your paper under my door or hand it to me directly (if I am in my office). You can turn the paper/IRB in earlier if you wish (at any class, by sliding it under my office door, at office hours, etc.). Late papers will be penalized 10 points per day, regardless of any stated reason for being late.