Every day we hear about research findings related to psychology, but often the conclusions that people draw from the research that was conducted are incorrect.To be an educated and critical consumer of information, you need to understand how research is conducted and why the conclusions we can draw are limited by the methodology used.You have learned about the difference between correlational and experimental studies, so this assignment will give you some extra practice in applying what you have learned to a real example ripped right from the headlines.You will read a news article about one of these findings and then propose an experiment that would test this hypothesis：https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/facebook-has-bec…Some might read (or skim) that article and mistakenly assume that the research referenced in the article is evidence that doing one thing will cause another to change.Briefly explain, in your own words, why we cannot assume that is true from a correlation between two variables.To illustrate your point, give at least one alternative explanation for why the two variables in your article might be correlated without one causing the other. Describe how you might design an experiment to test whether one of the variables in your article is actually causing a change in the other variable. What are the conceptual independent and dependent variables? Please label them explicitly. How specifically would you operationalize each?For example, what if someone claimed that coloring in an adult coloring book can increase academic performance?Here are some examples of responses that students might come up with for this assignment: What is the hypothesis you are testing?(Be sure to write that as a statement in which you are predicting that one thing causes something else.)What is your null hypothesis? What are the basic steps in your experiment?What aspect of that procedure do you need to do in order to compare two different groups of participants and conclude that manipulating the IV caused differences in the DV?Why is that specific aspect of your procedure needed to a causal conclusion? Describe one other aspect of your procedure that would help eliminate the risk of a specific research bias or experimental mistake. Needs More Conceptually, I am testing whether engaging in a calm, focused activity causes an increase in academic performance.I would have people do something relaxing and then measure exam performance. Good to Go! Conceptually, I am testing whether engaging in a calm, focused activity causes an increase in academic performance.The idea of a relaxing activity would be operationalized as 15 minutes coloring in an adult coloring book prior to a final exam and I would use scores on that exam to operationalize academic performance. Page 2 of 3
sa_02___designing_experiments_studypool.docx
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PSYC 100 – INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
Scientific Analysis Paper 02 – Designing Experiments
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS – READ AND FOLLOW THESE CAREFULLY
1. I highly recommend utilizing a network-based drive to ensure that you do not risk losing your work should a
computer die, get lost or be stolen. There are many options available (e.g., https://umd.box.com/)
2. Strong answers generally require between 400-500 words in total. Please do not exceed 500 words for
the entire assignment… you should be able to provide a clear, detailed but concise answer.
3. Do not use any direct quotes from any source. Always paraphrase. If you use any source as a reference, you
should be sure to describe it (briefly) in a way that makes it clear what ideas came from them and which are your
own, but you do NOT need to use official APA citation formatting. See http://ter.ps/psycethics for
instructions.
4. The assessment rubric for this assignment (and all other SAs) can be found here:
https://umd.box.com/v/SArubric
5. Proofread your work carefully… like any professional writing you will be required to do, it should be well
organized, clear and free of typographical or grammatical errors. It can be helpful to have others proofread
your work and I strongly encourage anyone that wants a strong writing quality score to schedule an
appointment with the writing center (http://ter.ps/writing). Just be sure to write it and schedule that with
enough time to make edits and submit.
SA-02 WRITING PROMPT
Every day we hear about research findings related to psychology, but often the conclusions that people
draw from the research that was conducted are incorrect. To be an educated and critical consumer of
information, you need to understand how research is conducted and why the conclusions we can draw are
limited by the methodology used. You have learned about the difference between correlational and
experimental studies, so this assignment will give you some extra practice in applying what you have
learned to a real example ripped right from the headlines.
PSYC 100 – INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
Not all of these results show that one variable causes another. You will read a news article about one of
these findings and then propose an experiment that would test this hypothesis.
For this writing exercise you will only read ONE of the following articles. The
article you read depends on your Student ID number
If your UID#
ends with…
0 or 1
2 or 3
4 or 5
6 or 7
8 or 9
You will read a news article about research related to:
Is Facebook use causing people to get divorced?
http://bit.ly/2bRe2Qw
1. Some might read (or skim) that article and mistakenly assume that the research referenced in the
article is evidence that doing one thing will cause another to change. Briefly explain, in your own
words, why we cannot assume that is true from a correlation between two variables. To illustrate
your point, give at least one alternative explanation for why the two variables in your article might
be correlated without one causing the other.
2. Describe how you might design an experiment to test whether one of the variables in your article
is actually causing a change in the other variable.
a. What are the conceptual independent and dependent variables? Please label them explicitly.
How specifically would you operationalize each? For example, what if someone claimed
that coloring in an adult coloring book can increase academic performance?
b. Here are some examples of responses that students might come up with for this
assignment:
Needs
More
Conceptually, I am testing whether engaging in a calm, focused
activity causes an increase in academic performance. I would have
people do something relaxing and then measure exam performance.
Good
to Go!
Conceptually, I am testing whether engaging in a calm, focused
activity causes an increase in academic performance. The idea of a
relaxing activity would be operationalized as 15 minutes coloring in
an adult coloring book prior to a final exam and I would use scores
on that exam to operationalize academic performance.
Page 2 of 3
c. What is the hypothesis you are testing? (Be sure to write that as a statement in which you
are predicting that one thing causes something else.) What is your null hypothesis?
d. What are the basic steps in your experiment? What aspect of that procedure do you need
to do in order to compare two different groups of participants and conclude that
manipulating the IV caused differences in the DV? Why is that specific aspect of your
procedure needed to a causal conclusion?
e. Describe one other aspect of your procedure that would help eliminate the risk of a
specific research bias or experimental mistake.
PSYC 100 – INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
Page 3 of 3
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