This project requires you to find, read, review, and present a primary/scholarly journal article in psychology.  This achieves several goals:

• developing library research skills
• exposing you to original research (hypothesis development, methodology, drawing conclusions, APA style)
• collaborating with peers
• developing critical thinking and analytical skills
• enhancing writing, oral presentation, and computer skills

You will submit a topic proposal, write a draft of the journal article review paper, write a peer review of another student paper, revise your paper based on feedback, and submit your final paper.

Psychological research normally involves working with others and requires finding out what others have already learned about a particular topic before conducting one's own research. As the first step in this project, choose a partner (Dr. Lantinga has the final say regarding your particular choice).  You are responsible for deciding how to share the work; both partners will receive the same grade on the paper & presentation.

E-mail Dr. Lantinga with the name of your partner (just 1 partner needs to do this), your 1st & 2nd article preference, and your preferred presentation date (April 26, 28, or 30). Article and presentation date assignments will be made on a first-come, first-served basis (timely submission is worth 5 points).

After Dr. Lantinga confirms your article selection, get your article (make at least 2 photocopies - you'll need to turn one in) and read it carefully.  If you have difficulty understanding it, see Dr. Lantinga for help.

Writing the review:

Summarize the article in your own words (no extended quotes or close paraphrases or plagiarism!).  You may use secondary sources (textbooks) to help you think about ways to describe this particular study (that is, these studies might be explained mentioned in social psych or other kinds of textbooks).  Your paper should include summaries of:

• Study context (background material on other theories or research related to this article's hypothesis) - that is, how is this study related to what is already known?
• Description of the methodology: include main method (experiment, case study, survey, etc.), and a brief explanation of participants, main variables, procedures, and any special techniques, tests, etc.  Try to say a lot in just a few sentences.
• The main results of the study in English (not the statistics)
• The conclusions drawn, stated limitations of the research, and suggestions for future research

At least half of your paper should then be spent evaluating the article.  See the class handout on Evaluating Research Articles for some guiding questions. Your focus should be on things like these:

• how this study is important,
• whether the methods make sense for testing the research question or whether the study was ethical
• whether there are additional limitations or directions for future research that should have been addressed.

Make sure that you are specific in your evaluation and suggestions and that you connect your thinking to the article itself (so, no vague statements like "future research should look at gender differences" - say why you think gender differences might be important or interesting in this particular study). The better written your draft, the more helpful the feedback as you work on your final paper. See chapters 5 & 6 in your text for some helpful tips.

Format Requirements:

• You will need a title page (you can make up your own title, perhaps something like "A Review of Milgram's Obedience Research") and an abstract (summarize the main points of your paper in 3-4 concise sentences). You'll also need a Reference page - you may only include references that you've actually cited in your paper itself, which may just be your main journal article.  See your APA Pocket Guide for this information.
• The body of the paper (excluding title, abstract, and references pages) should be 3-4 double-spaced, typed pages.
• Papers must follow APA style in terms of the title page, abstract, and referencing.
• Check your paper for spelling, grammar, and clarity! Poorly written papers are hard to read in a positive light and distract reviewers from giving helpful feedback on actual content.  You may find it difficult to say everything you want in 3-4 pages; writing concisely - yet clearly - is a valuable skill to learn.
• Turn in 3 copies of your paper (double-sided is fine) for use by the peer reviewers.

Your draft is worth 25 points; see Final Paper evaluation criteria.

You will individually peer-review another paper and your own paper will also be peer-reviewed. In this way you will learn the professional skills and process of peer reviewing and you will receive constructive comments on your own paper.   Your 1-2 page (single-spaced, typed) peer review will be evaluated based on your ability to identify major and minor problems in the paper and to make appropriate suggestions for improvement.  More information on writing peer reviews will be given in class. Submit 3 copies of your review (one for Dr. Lantinga, one for study author, one for other reviewer to see). 

Evaluation Criteria (worth 20 points):

• Gave introductory statement and recommendation (here: a grade recommendation out of 25 points)
• Described most of major and minor problems in paper
• Offered suggestions for improvement (beyond just noting problems)

Revise your paper based on the feedback you've received.  In a folder, submit 2 copies of your APA-style paper, a copy of the entire journal article, your draft and peer reviews.

Warnings:

• Although unlikely, it is possible that your final paper may earn the same or even a worse grade than your draft (e.g., if you make revisions that seriously weaken the paper, if you fail to take into account feedback from your draft, if plagiarism is detected).
• Your paper will not be accepted if there are more than an average of 2 departures from standard written English per page (spelling, typos, punctuation, verb forms, verb tense, verb-subject agreement, etc.).  This is a formal, polished paper for which you should have no silly mistakes.
• Your paper will be given an F if any amount of plagiarism (intended or not) is detected and the incident will be reported in writing to the Student Life Committee.  If you have a particularly low grade in the course already, a grade of F on your paper may result in failure of the course.

  The key to avoiding plagiarism is in making SURE you have either put someone's idea entirely into your own words (and still reference the author and year of the source) OR you use a direct quote and include all 4 required elements (quotation marks, author, year, and page number).  Remember that APA style frowns on direct quotes (though occasional use is ok).

Paper Evaluation Criteria: The paper is worth 100 points.  The best papers will:

• Include a clear summary of major sections of the research article
• Ofer an insightful evaluation of the article that demonstrates basic understanding of research methods, ethics, and limitations
• Be well-written and meet the format and APA-style requirements (note that a significant number of grammatical errors will decrease your grade)
• Include a copy of the journal article

Each group will give a 10-minute Powerpoint presentation of their article and evaluation. You may decide how to structure your presentation. For example, one person could present the Introduction and Discussion while another person presents the Method and Results sections (perhaps including key figures or tables from the article); both people can then do the evaluation. Another idea would be to act out the method section or find a video clip on your particular study. 

You and your partner should practice your presentation to make sure it will run no more than 10 minutes in length.  Be clear and concise and ready to answer questions from the class.  You can't possibly present everything you know about the article and your evaluation in just 10 minutes, so stick to the main points!

Powerpoint Evaluation Criteria: The paper is worth 50 points based on:

• Content: research article clearly summarized; concise and insightful evaluation of article
• Slide format: useful, error-free, professional appearance, right number
• Presenters: effective delivery (e.g., volume, tone, gestures, eye contact), answered questions clearly, engaged audience, professional demeanor
• Organization: logical sequencing, clear transitions, flowed well, clarity of thought

page revised January 2004 - assignment based on the work of Dr. Linda Walsh (see http://www.uni.edu/walsh/MISTOP.html and http://www.uni.edu/walsh/biopsychassign.html)