FALL 2009 Psychological Research Experiential Requirement

DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 20, NO EXCEPTIONS.

Experience with research and the work of professionals is an important source of knowledge about the field of psychology. Student familiarity with these aspects of psychology is a course requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is an essential part of the course and accounts for up to 25 points toward your grade. Three separate research experiences, in one or more of the options listed below must be completed and a paper written about each one. The three papers (each a minimum of 2 pages of content thus minimum 6 pages total, any additional required documents and the cover page must be turned in together no later than Friday, November 20, 4:45 p.m. You may do a combination of different experience activities to equal a total of three or, where allowed, do all of one kind or two plus something different, etc.. There are 6 varieties of experiences to choose from (note: there are more than 30 possible combinations!) Print out the cover page (provided at the end), as you will need to turn it in with your written work. This is often easiest to do by copying the cover sheet material and pasting it to a word document, then printing it out. If you are unable to get a copy, please request one from the graduate assistants. If you do not complete the entire assignment correctly and on time, you will receive only partial credit, i.e. a mere 5 points for each activity correctly completed. Also you are required to turn in this assignment, on time, in order to get a grade of a C+ or higher or to get “Credit” if you are taking the course CR/NC. If you do not do so, your grade will be lowered one full step (e.g. B to C). Details about the format of the papers are presented after the options below.

These are your activity options followed by the specific guidelines for your papers.:

1. Participating in a research project:

You may participate in a research study approved by the instructor. These include research being conducted by graduate students and psychologists from our campus, as well as other academic institutions. Opportunities will be announced in class. Your participation is entirely voluntary and, typically, will take about one hour. Often participation is in the form of completing questionnaires, which may be available on-line. You need to get verification of your participation. The department operates a subject pool database and there will be further information on how to use it presented in class. You may always access the subject pool by using the link on the Psychology Department web page: http://bss.sfsu.edu/psych/. You must first enroll in the SONA site before accessing studies. Any of the 1 credit studies are acceptable for credit. Print your participation credit sheet from the SONA system, the completion statement at the end of the survey or obtain the signature of the researcher.

You need to write a reflective paper on your experience, for each study you participate in. This paper (at least 2 pages) should include a description of the study you participated in, e.g. content of questionnaire, or where, when, and what you did in an experiment etc. In addition, you need to identify what area of psychology (e.g. developmental, social, cognitive, etc.) is being studied, and what types of data are being collected. You need to evaluate the quality of the research based on your experience and, finally, how do you feel the experience related to you and your knowledge of psychology. You may not claim credit for a study you sign up for but is cancelled by the researcher. You may participate in up to three different research projects; one activity credit each. (Note: some studies offer 2 credits, for these you must write at least a 4 page paper.)

2. Attending a Student Health Center workshop:

The campus Student Health Center offers a variety of workshops using behavioral research findings in order to educate students about health issues. The workshops schedules are available at the Student Health Center website: http://www.sfsu.edu/~shs/. Go to the education link. Though listed as “Extra Credit”, they are for research experience activity credit, not extra credit. We do not give any extra credit in this course. You will need to sign-up for the workshop at the Student Health Center. The workshops are about an hour in length. You need to fill in your cover sheet and get a signature or stamp to verify your participation. (If you sign up for a workshop and your plans change, please be courteous and let the Student Health Center know as other students may be on a waiting list!) You need to write a reflective paper on your experience. This paper (at least 2 pages of content) should include a description of the workshop you participated in, e.g. content, where, when, and what you did. Also, you need to identify the area of psychology this workshop relates to. Next, you need to evaluate the quality of the workshop based on your experience and finally: how do you feel the experience related to you and your knowledge of psychology? You may only attend one for activity credit.

3. Reviewing a research report:

You may do a review of a research report published in a professional journal, dated 2003-2009. Please summarize in your own words a psychological research study reported in an approved professional journal. You must use a journal published by the American Psychology Association (APA). There are about 60 such journals, many of them available in our library, some available online through psycINFO, a database available through the library website. Do not search on the web or Google; use the psycINFO database or visit the library. The journal will list the APA as its publisher. Popular magazine articles such as those from Newsweek, Time, or Psychology Today are not acceptable. If using the database online, you may restrict your search by publisher (American Psychological Association) and full text and human. Look carefully at the advanced search options so that you can find the right type of article. Visiting the Library is also an excellent option and you can get the readily and eagerly available assistance of a librarian. During Library construction, journals, current and stacks, are located in Library Annex, “The Big Bubble”. There are many different types of articles published in journals including case studies, reviews, and commentaries. You need to find an empirical research study report. This type of article has a short summary paragraph followed by an introduction and then several sections: methods, results, discussion, and references. It is useful to have your article approved by Dr. Lynch or one of the graduate assistants or tutors. You need to write a paper (at least 2 pages of content) evaluating the study reported in the journal article. This evaluation must include the citation listing of the article (examples of this format are available in the reference list at the back of your text book, e.g. author, date, title, journal etc.). This should simply be a line(s) at the top of your paper. Your paper will then describe and discuss the study. Present information about how the study was conducted, i.e. what were the hypotheses? Who were the participants? What procedures were used, and what data were collected? Next report the main results of the study. Discuss the findings and your evaluation of the quality of the research. Be certain to write in your own words; do not simply quote the article. What area of psychology does the study concern? How do the findings relate to you? Be certain to address each question thoroughly and thoughtfully in integrated essay format. You must attach a photocopy of the complete article. You may do up to three reviews for one activity credit each.

4. Visiting the Exploratorium.

San Francisco is fortunate to be home to the premier interactive science museum, The Exploratorium (http://www.exploratorium.org). The interactive exhibits focus on a variety of areas of science, especially sensation and perception. You may visit and write up about your experiences for 1 research activity credit. You should write up about 4 different interactive exhibits concerned with psychology (therefore do not include activities on plant biology and basic physics). The paper should briefly explain what you did and what you learned, both in general and specifically, about yourself from each activity. Write up each of your four activities in a separate section of your paper. Conclude with an overall evaluation of the experience. Attach your admission receipt or sticker or photo to your cover sheet as proof of attendance. This may be done to fulfill one research activity credit.

5. Quitting smoking for credit: be your own research subject and get healthy!

If you are currently a smoker and would like to quit, here is an excellent opportunity to do so and earn 1 research credit. For credit you must maintain a daily record of success and rate your will power on a 1-5 scale (1 little at all…5 maximum will power); and rate your urge to smoke on a 1 to 5 scale (1 not at all…5 very much). Your daily entry will also comment on success. Keep the record going on your desktop or in a notebook for a minimum of 8 weeks (therefore you must begin no later than October 1. Summarize your performance by examining the “data” you collected. Plot your will power data on a graph with a data point for each day. Are there patterns? significant changes? ..etc. Comment on this in your paper and also comment on your success. Attach the daily log to your paper and the will power graph. This is known as a small n study, a not uncommon research design. An enormous amount of support material about how to quit smoking is available at the Student Health Center. You must inform Dr. Lynch that you are doing this for credit at least 8 weeks before the deadline. Obviously, this may only be done for one credit.

6. Attending a special event.

Often special events, such as lectures, occur on and off campus that are appropriate research experiences. These, if they are occurring, will be announced in class. You must have proof of attendance and attach it to your paper. The paper must include a summary of what the speaker presented. Additionally, you should comment on the information, the quality of the talk, and your level of interest. Finally, be sure to comment on how the information relates to you and understanding psychology. This may only be done for one credit.

FOR ALL PAPERS: READ AND FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY

a. Your papers must be typed, using 12 point Times or Times New Roman style font with 1.5 line spacing. Please do not space between paragraphs (this can be done by going to the format section of MS word, selecting paragraph and adjusting spacing before and after to 0). You should simply ident the start of a new paragraph.

b. Each paper should have at least 2 pages of content (unless otherwise specified). Do not use headers or margins greater than 1 inch. And remember, like most things in life, it is quality that matters! A simple single line title at the top is sufficient.

c. Your writing should be thoughtful and well organized in formal essay style. Do not use contractions; you will be marked down. (If you do not know what a contraction is ask or find out on your own!!)

d. Please proof read your work. Be certain to respond to all areas specified for the option you choose. Remember, you should exhibit college level writing skills so misspellings, grammar problems, and punctuation must be up to this standard.

e. When asked to identify the area of psychology that a study relates to, you should consider how the research connects to one of the main topics, i.e. chapters, we cover in class, these are all sub-disciplines of psychology.

f. Be certain your papers are in your own words! Using ideas or written expressions taken from others without acknowledgement is plagiarism and can lead to expulsion from the University.

g. All your work should be presented together with the Cover Sheet found on the class website.

h. You may turn your paper in before or after class and during office hours to the instructor, teacher’s assistant, or the Psychology Office. We will not be held responsible for research experiential papers pushed under the office door. Papers may NOT be e-mailed. You are encouraged to submit your papers early (before Nov. 20), as they may then be returned for correction, if needed, before the deadline.

Failure to follow the format, page and content requirements completely will result in significant loss of point value. –MFL