Show that you understand the current state of research on your topic.
The length of a research proposal can vary quite a bit. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis proposal can be just a few pages, while proposals for PhD dissertations or research funding are usually much longer and more detailed. Your supervisor can help you determine the best length for your work.
One trick to get started is to think of your proposal’s structure as a shorter version of your thesis or dissertation , only without the results , conclusion and discussion sections.
Download our research proposal template
Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:
See an example
Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We’ve included a few for you below.
Like your dissertation or thesis, the proposal will usually have a title page that includes:
The first part of your proposal is the initial pitch for your project. Make sure it succinctly explains what you want to do and why.
Your introduction should:
To guide your introduction , include information about:
As you get started, it’s important to demonstrate that you’re familiar with the most important research on your topic. A strong literature review shows your reader that your project has a solid foundation in existing knowledge or theory. It also shows that you’re not simply repeating what other people have already done or said, but rather using existing research as a jumping-off point for your own.
In this section, share exactly how your project will contribute to ongoing conversations in the field by:
Following the literature review, restate your main objectives . This brings the focus back to your own project. Next, your research design or methodology section will describe your overall approach, and the practical steps you will take to answer your research questions.
? or ? , , or research design? | |
, )? ? | |
, , , )? | |
? |
To finish your proposal on a strong note, explore the potential implications of your research for your field. Emphasize again what you aim to contribute and why it matters.
For example, your results might have implications for:
Last but not least, your research proposal must include correct citations for every source you have used, compiled in a reference list . To create citations quickly and easily, you can use our free APA citation generator .
Some institutions or funders require a detailed timeline of the project, asking you to forecast what you will do at each stage and how long it may take. While not always required, be sure to check the requirements of your project.
Here’s an example schedule to help you get started. You can also download a template at the button below.
Download our research schedule template
Research phase | Objectives | Deadline |
---|---|---|
1. Background research and literature review | 20th January | |
2. Research design planning | and data analysis methods | 13th February |
3. Data collection and preparation | with selected participants and code interviews | 24th March |
4. Data analysis | of interview transcripts | 22nd April |
5. Writing | 17th June | |
6. Revision | final work | 28th July |
If you are applying for research funding, chances are you will have to include a detailed budget. This shows your estimates of how much each part of your project will cost.
Make sure to check what type of costs the funding body will agree to cover. For each item, include:
To determine your budget, think about:
If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.
Methodology
Statistics
Research bias
Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement .
Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.
I will compare …
A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement , before your research objectives.
Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.
A PhD, which is short for philosophiae doctor (doctor of philosophy in Latin), is the highest university degree that can be obtained. In a PhD, students spend 3–5 years writing a dissertation , which aims to make a significant, original contribution to current knowledge.
A PhD is intended to prepare students for a career as a researcher, whether that be in academia, the public sector, or the private sector.
A master’s is a 1- or 2-year graduate degree that can prepare you for a variety of careers.
All master’s involve graduate-level coursework. Some are research-intensive and intend to prepare students for further study in a PhD; these usually require their students to write a master’s thesis . Others focus on professional training for a specific career.
Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.
Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.
The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
McCombes, S. & George, T. (2023, November 21). How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved June 25, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-proposal/
Other students also liked, how to write a problem statement | guide & examples, writing strong research questions | criteria & examples, how to write a literature review | guide, examples, & templates, what is your plagiarism score.
The Library Is Open
The Wallace building is now open to the public. More information on services available.
This InfoGuide assists students starting their research proposal and literature review.
A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why it’s important, and how you will conduct your research. Your paper should include the topic, research question and hypothesis, methods, predictions, and results (if not actual, then projected).
Research Proposal Aims
The format of a research proposal varies between fields, but most proposals will contain at least these elements: Literature review
Reference list While the sections may vary, the overall objective is always the same. A research proposal serves as a blueprint and guide for your research plan, helping you get organized and feel confident in the path forward you choose to take. Proposal FormatThe proposal will usually have a title page that includes:
Introduction The first part of your proposal is the initial pitch for your project. Make sure it succinctly explains what you want to do and why.. Your introduction should:
As you get started, it’s important to demonstrate that you’re familiar with the most important research on your topic. A strong literature review shows your reader that your project has a solid foundation in existing knowledge or theory. It also shows that you’re not simply repeating what other people have done or said, but rather using existing research as a jumping-off point for your own. In this section, share exactly how your project will contribute to ongoing conversations in the field by:
Research design and methods Following the literature review, restate your main objectives . This brings the focus back to your project. Next, your research design or methodology section will describe your overall approach, and the practical steps you will take to answer your research questions. Write up your projected, if not actual, results. Contribution to knowledge To finish your proposal on a strong note, explore the potential implications of your research for your field. Emphasize again what you aim to contribute and why it matters. For example, your results might have implications for:
Lastly, your research proposal must include correct citations for every source you have used, compiled in a reference list . To create citations quickly and easily, you can use free APA citation generators like BibGuru. Databases have a citation button you can click on to see your citation. Sometimes you have to re-format it as the citations may have mistakes.
Edit this Guide Log into Dashboard Use of RIT resources is reserved for current RIT students, faculty and staff for academic and teaching purposes only. Please contact your librarian with any questions. Help is AvailableEmail a LibrarianA librarian is available by e-mail at [email protected] Meet with a LibrarianCall reference desk voicemail. A librarian is available by phone at (585) 475-2563 or on Skype at llll Or, call (585) 475-2563 to leave a voicemail with the reference desk during normal business hours . Chat with a LibrarianSocial/behavioral sciences research guide infoguide url. https://infoguides.rit.edu/researchguide Use the box below to email yourself a link to this guide11 social psychology research topics to explore in 2024Last updated 6 March 2024 Reviewed by Miroslav Damyanov Since social psychology encompasses a wide range of subjects, it can be challenging to choose a topic for research . Taking a specific path to follow your interests and learn more about available areas can narrow your focus to find the ideal research project . Let’s take a look at current topics in social psychology to inspire your research.
Psychologists conduct experiments to better understand how different environmental factors and the influence of other people shape feelings and behaviors. Research projects explore various topics, from how a position of power can change behavior to the impact of positive social interactions. Various research designs allow researchers to develop projects that range from observational to experimental. What is an example of social psychology research?Zimbardo randomly assigned college students the roles of prison guards or prisoners in a simulated prison environment. Despite knowing their roles were random, the guards exhibited increasing cruelty towards the prisoners. Researchers halted the study after six days due to extreme psychological distress. It revealed the profound impact of social roles and situations on human behavior, highlighting how people can adopt negative behaviors when given authority, even in a controlled setting.
Social psychology is a diverse, highly studied area of science, so developing a unique project on a relevant topic can be challenging. When choosing a subject, begin by exploring your interests. After considering questions you'd like answers to and topics that intrigue you, narrow your scope. Explore specific areas of research, research designs, and subtopics. Once you've narrowed down your choices, seek literature and past studies on the subject. Consider how past research can raise additional questions about the topic. Develop your ideas by determining how to measure and test your research questions . Once you have a firm plan for your project, talk to your instructor for advice and approval before launching your studies.
Social psychology has many nuances that influence human beliefs and behavior. Various elements of situations and relationships affect short- and long-term emotions and actions. The major research areas in social psychology are an ideal starting point to investigate as part of a psychology research project. These key focus areas within social psychology can be compelling psychology research topics: 1. Attitudes and attitude changeResearch projects surrounding attitudes generally examine the components of attitudes and how they develop and can be changed. The three components of attitude are affective, behavioral, and cognitive. They’re also known as the ABCs. We form attitudes through a combination of upbringing, experience, and genetics. People can self-measure them in surveys or through researchers’ observations. Attitudes can change due to influence and environmental factors. They hugely affect human behavior, making them an important research topic in social psychology. 2. Attachment and relationshipsSocial connections shape our lives from the earliest moments, taking various forms that significantly impact our well-being. These connections have numerous advantages, such as heightened happiness and satisfaction. Social psychology explores these connections, examining diverse attachment styles to explain love, friendship, and attraction. Research in this domain investigates the repercussions of poorly formed social bonds and seeks to answer questions about how relationships influence group behavior. Additionally, studies in social psychology dissect the elements contributing to attraction, shedding light on the intricate dynamics that shape our social bonds and interactions. 3. Authority and leadershipAs revealed in the Stanford Experiment, authority can directly affect behavior. However, social psychology can further delve into the dynamics of people interacting with those in leadership roles. Milgram's Obedience to Authority study exemplifies this exploration. Stanley Milgram wanted to investigate how easily authority figures could influence people to commit atrocities. In this study, participants assumed the role of teachers administering electric shocks to learners for incorrect answers. 65% delivered 450 volts of electricity under the directive of an authority figure. Research can consider the positive or negative elements of authority based on specific applications, settings, and environments. For example, we might consider obedience to authority positive in the workplace or classroom. Social psychology research about groups delves into how behavior changes in group settings. Groups form for various reasons, and everything from leadership to group dynamics can impact how people behave. These behavioral changes can be beneficial or harmful. Research into group behavior can focus on decision-making, internal conflicts, conflicts with other groups, how groups affect individual identities, and much more. Studies can also investigate how positive group behaviors can influence someone. 5. PrejudicePrejudice and discrimination take different forms, which people may not be aware of. The origin and consequences of prejudice present many topics of study for researchers. Topics related to how prejudices form and why people maintain inaccurate stereotypes can uncover why people depend on stereotypes to make decisions. Many studies focus on the effects of discrimination and how to reduce prejudice. Research in this category can overlap with many other categories. For instance, group behavior and social influences can contribute to the formation of stereotypes and social categorization. 6. Self and social identityMany elements form the human perception of self. How we perceive ourselves may be substantially different from the viewpoint of others. Social psychologists are interested in learning how a person’s self-perception can influence factors like behavior and internal feelings like confidence. Our concept of self derives from various sources, such as abilities, social comparisons, interactions with others, and status. Researching how the perception of the inner self impacts social behaviors can unveil how social factors influence critical feelings like self-esteem. 7. Pro- and anti-social behaviorHow people’s social surroundings impact the way they respond to certain situations is defined as pro- or anti-social behavior. Positive and negative behaviors are based on accepted social norms. How someone responds during a specific event can reinforce or undermine those norms. For example, helping a stranger is prosocial, while vandalism is antisocial behavior. Studies have shown that prosocial behavior is contagious: Those who experience or observe it are more likely to help others. Antisocial behavior can have a similar effect but in a negative direction. Observing seemingly harmless acts, like littering and graffiti, can weaken social norms. This potentially invites more dangerous antisocial behavior. Researchers can elaborate on this knowledge to consider why people help others without considering personal costs. They can also dig into what deters someone from taking an action they know is "the right thing to do." Exploring how society impacts positive and negative behaviors can shed light on ways to reduce negative behavior. 8. Social influencePersuasion, peer pressure, obedience, and conformity are all forms of social influence. Like other areas of social psychology, these influences can be positive or negative. One of the earliest studies on social influence was Soloman Asch’s Conformity Line Experiment . Researchers put a participant in a test with seven conformists without knowing the conformists weren't true participants. Researchers asked them to compare the image of a target line with lines A, B, and C on another image. Early in the experiment, all conformists answered correctly, followed by the participant, who was always last. After a few rounds, the conformists began to provide wrong answers unanimously. On average, about a third of participants followed along with conformists to confirm clearly incorrect answers. 75% of participants confirmed at least one wrong answer. The control group had no conformists. Less than 1% of participants gave the wrong answer. Doctor and author Robert Cialdini takes the concept of influence further. He identified six universal principles of influence and persuasion to help people defend against dishonest influences. His studies conclude that these influences can sway people: Reciprocation: The feeling we should repay what someone has provided Social proof: When unsure about a decision, we follow the actions of others Liking: We generally agree with people we like and want them to agree with us Authority: We are more likely to say yes to authority figures Scarcity: We want more of what is less available Commitment and consistency: Once we make a choice, we follow it with corresponding actions to justify the decision (even if we no longer believe in the choice) Researchers can study how social influence guides the decision-making process and explore the positive and negative effects of conformity. Other experiments can explore the consequences of peer pressure and whether it can be beneficial. 9. Social cognitionIn the most basic sense, cognition is the brain gathering and understanding knowledge through sensations, thoughts, and experiences. It allows us to make sense of new information. Social cognition is how the brain processes information about individuals and groups of people. It includes the role of heuristics . These mental shortcuts enable us to function without constantly stopping to interpret everything in the environment. Research under the umbrella of social cognition can explore first impressions, how appearance affects our judgment, and how social interactions affect behavior. These studies can help psychologists understand how someone’s perception of social norms affects their self-image and behavior. 10. Violence and aggressionExploration into violence and aggression attempts to better understand the factors and situations that cause aggression and how it impacts behaviors. Several types of aggressive behavior exist, ranging from gossiping to physical violence. Studies in this area examine the different types of aggression and the variables contributing to aggressive behavior. For instance, a pattern of aggression may relate to witnessing the behavior of a family member or traumatic experiences. Conversely, situational variables may trigger a single incidence of aggression. A greater understanding of the role of social learning in aggressive behavior can lead to research about how social norms and public policy can decrease violent behavior. Learning more about the variables contributing to aggression and violence means researchers can use new knowledge to work toward solutions. 11. Social representationsSocial representations are a form of heuristics: a set of beliefs that make something unfamiliar easily understood. They allow people to apply specific bits of evidence-based data to individuals’ or groups’ actions to make ideas more familiar. Researchers may study the role of social representations in making new psychological or scientific information accessible to the average person. Studies may explore how we make sense of new information and how people organize and separate facts for rapid learning. Should you be using a customer insights hub?Do you want to discover previous research faster? Do you share your research findings with others? Do you analyze research data? Start for free today, add your research, and get to key insights faster Editor’s picksLast updated: 18 April 2023 Last updated: 27 February 2023 Last updated: 6 February 2023 Last updated: 6 October 2023 Last updated: 5 February 2023 Last updated: 16 April 2023 Last updated: 7 March 2023 Last updated: 9 March 2023 Last updated: 12 December 2023 Last updated: 11 March 2024 Last updated: 6 March 2024 Last updated: 5 March 2024 Last updated: 13 May 2024 Latest articlesRelated topics, .css-je19u9{-webkit-align-items:flex-end;-webkit-box-align:flex-end;-ms-flex-align:flex-end;align-items:flex-end;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;-webkit-box-flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;row-gap:0;text-align:center;max-width:671px;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}}@media (max-width: 799px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}} decide what to .css-1kiodld{max-height:56px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-1kiodld{display:none;}} build next, decide what to build next. Users report unexpectedly high data usage, especially during streaming sessions. Users find it hard to navigate from the home page to relevant playlists in the app. It would be great to have a sleep timer feature, especially for bedtime listening. I need better filters to find the songs or artists I’m looking for. Log in or sign upGet started for free Psychology UnlockedThe free online psychology textbook, social psychology research topics. January 24, 2017 Daniel Edward Blog , Social Psychology 0 Whether you’re looking for social psychology research topics for your A-Level or AP Psychology class, or considering a research question to explore for your Psychology PhD, the Psychology Unlocked list of social psychology research topics provides you with a strong list of possible avenues to explore. Where possible we include links to university departments seeking PhD applications for certain projects. Even if you are not yet considering PhD options, these links may prove useful to you in developing your undergraduate or masters dissertation. Lots of university psychology departments provide contact details on their websites. If you read a psychologist’s paper and have questions that you would like to learn more about, drop them an email. Lots of psychologists are very happy to receive emails from genuinely interested students and are often generous with their time and expertise… and those who aren’t will just overlook the email, so no harm done either way! Psychology eZine Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for videos, articles, news and more. We use Sendinblue as our marketing platform. By Clicking below to submit this form, you acknowledge that the information you provided will be transferred to Sendinblue for processing in accordance with their terms of use
What social factors are involved with the development of aggressive thoughts and behaviours? Is aggression socially-defined? Do different societies have differing definitions of aggression? There has recently been a significant amount of research conducted on the influence of video games and television on aggression and violent behaviour. Some research has been based on high-profile case studies, such as the aggressive murder of Jamie Bulger in 1993 by two children (Robert Thompson and Jon Venables). There is also a significant body of experimental research. Attachment and RelationshipsThis is a huge area of research with lots of crossover into developmental psychology. What draws people together? How do people connect emotionally? What is love? What is friendship? What happens if someone doesn’t form an attachment with a parental figure? This area includes research on attachment styles (at various stages of life), theories of love, friendship and attraction. Attitudes and Attitude ChangeAttitudes are a relatively enduring and general evaluation of something. Individuals hold attitudes on everything in life, from other people to inanimate objects, groups to ideologies. Attitudes are thought to involve three components: (1) affective (to do with emotions), (2) behavioural, and (3) cognitive (to do with thoughts). Research on attitudes can be closely linked to Prejudice (see below). Authority and LeadershipPerhaps the most famous study of authority is Milgram’s (1961) Obedience to Authority . This research area has grown into a far-reaching and influential topic. Research considers both positive and negative elements of authority, and applied psychology studies consider the role of authority in a particular social setting, such as advertising, in the workplace, or in a classroom. The Psychology of Crowds (Le Bon, 1895) paved a path for a fascinating area of social psychology that considers the social group as an active player. Groups tend to act differently from individuals, and specific individuals will act differently depending on the group they are in. Social psychology research topics about groups consider group dynamics, leadership (see above), group-think and decision-making, intra-group and inter-group conflict, identities (see below) and prejudices (see below). Gordon Allport’s (1979) ‘The Nature of Prejudice’ is a seminal piece on group stereotyping and discrimination. Social psychologists consider what leads to the formation of stereotypes and prejudices. How and why are prejudices used? Why do we maintain inaccurate stereotypes? What are the benefits and costs of prejudice? This interesting blog post on the BPS Digest Blog may provide some inspiration for research into prejudice and political uncertainty. Pro- and Anti-Social BehaviourBehaviours are only pro- or anti-social because of social norms that suggest so. Social Psychologists therefore investigate the roots of these behaviours as well as considering what happens when social norms are ignored. Within this area of social psychology, researchers may consider why people help others (strangers as well as well as known others). Another interesting question regards the factors that might deter an individual from acting pro-socially, even if they are aware that a behaviour is ‘the right thing to do’. The bystander effect is one such example of social inaction. Self and Social IdentityTajfel and Turner (1979) proposed Social Identity Theory and a large body of research has developed out of the concepts of self and social identity (or identities). Questions in this area include: what is identity? What is the self? Does a social identity remain the same across time and space? What are the contributory factors to an individual’s social identity? Zimbardo’s (1972) Stanford Prison Experiment famously considered the role of social identities. Research in this area also links with work on groups (see above), social cognition (see below), and prejudices (see above). Social CognitionSocial cognition regards the way we think and use information. It is the cross-over point between the fields of social and cognitive psychology. Perhaps the most famous concept in this area is that of schemas – general ideas about the world, which allow us to make sense of new (and old) information quickly. Social cognition also includes those considering heuristics (mental shortcuts) and some cognitive biases. Social InfluenceThis is one of the first areas of social psychology that most students learn. Remember the social conformity work by Asch (1951) on the length of lines? Other social psychology research topics within this area include persuasion and peer-pressure. Social RepresentationsSocial Representations (Moscovici, 1961) ‘make something unfamiliar, or unfamiliarity itself, familiar’ (Moscovici, 1984). This is a theory with its academic roots in Durkheim’s theory of collective representations. Researchers working within this framework consider the social role of knowledge. How does information translate from the scientific realm of expert knowledge to the socially accessible realm of the layperson? How do we make sense of new information? How do we organise separate and distinct facts in a way that make sense to our needs? One of the most famous studies using Social Representations Theory is Jodelet’s (1991) study of madness.
Copyright © 2024 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes An official website of the United States government Here's how you know Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS. A lock ( Lock Locked padlock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Social PsychologyImportant information for proposers. All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in this funding opportunity and in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that is in effect for the relevant due date to which the proposal is being submitted. It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure that the proposal meets these requirements. Submitting a proposal prior to a specified deadline does not negate this requirement. Supports research and infrastructure to advance knowledge of human social behavior, including neural and physiological patterns; thought and emotion processes; and intentions, actions and habits that explain ways of thinking about and relating to others. The Social Psychology Program at NSF supports research and research infrastructure to advance basic knowledge in social psychology. Projects funded by the Social Psychology Program support the NSF mission to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity and welfare; and to secure the national defense. Proposals considered by the Social Psychology Program must communicate both the intellectual merit of the science and its broader societal impacts. Proposed research should carry strong potential for creating transformative advances in the basic understanding of human social behavior. Among the many research topics supported are social cognition, attitudes, social and cultural influence, stereotypes, motivation, decision making, group dynamics, aggression, close relationships, social and affective neuroscience, social psychophysiology, emotions, prosocial behavior, health-related behavior, and personality and individual differences. Proposals that develop new theories or methods for understanding social behavior are highly encouraged. Research samples should represent substantial ranges of ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures and other dimensions of human populations. Interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and convergent research approaches are encouraged. Proposals involving non-human animals are considered only if the research offers clear and direct contributions to understanding human social behavior. The program does not fund research that seeks to improve clinical practice as its primary outcome, nor does it consider proposals with disease-related goals, including work on the etiology, diagnosis or treatment of physical or mental disease, abnormality or malfunction in human beings or animals. In assessing intellectual merit, the Social Psychology Program places highest priority on research that is theoretically grounded, based on empirical observation and validation, and with designs appropriate to the questions asked. In assessing broader impacts , the Social Psychology Program places highest priority on proposals that offer strong potential to benefit society, strengthen our national security interests, improve the quality of life, broaden participation in science, enhance infrastructure for research and education, and include a plan for sharing the results with a wide variety of audiences. The Social Psychology Program expects the methods, measures and data that result from NSF support to be openly shared with other researchers and the public. For further guidance proposers should consult Data Management for NSF SBE Directorate Proposals and Awards . The Data Management Plan should articulate how the proposed research will engage with best practices of open science. Researchers are expected to engage in open science practices, and deviations from that should be well-justified. The Social Psychology Program accepts regular research proposals, including Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) proposals, proposals for research in undergraduate institutions (RUI), rapid response research proposals (RAPID) and early-concept grants for exploratory research (EAGER). The program also accepts small conference proposals for events (including workshops) being planned one year or more after submission. The Social Psychology Program does not accept proposals for doctoral dissertation improvement awards. Investigators are encouraged to contact a Social Psychology program director before submitting a proposal to confirm its fit with the scope and priorities of the Social Psychology Program. Such contact will be most productive by sending a one-page (maximum) summary with an overview of the planned proposal, which includes a description of intellectual merit and broader impacts. The Social Psychology program is always interested in identifying new reviewers. Potential reviewers should have a Ph.D. in psychology or related field and have a demonstrated area of expertise relevant to social psychology. Individuals interested in reviewing for the program should send a short description of their areas of expertise (2 sentences) and their CV to a Social Psychology program director. Updates and announcementsJob opening: program director for social psychology, program contacts. To meet with a Program Director in the Social Psychology Program, sign up for an appointment or contact us via email. Send a one-page description of a proposal prior to discussing a prospective project.
Additional program resources
Awards made through this programOrganization(s).
Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Writing a Research Proposal
The goal of a research proposal is to present and justify the need to study a research problem and to present the practical ways in which the proposed study should be conducted. The design elements and procedures for conducting the research are governed by standards within the predominant discipline in which the problem resides, so guidelines for research proposals are more exacting and less formal than a general project proposal. Research proposals contain extensive literature reviews. They must provide persuasive evidence that a need exists for the proposed study. In addition to providing a rationale, a proposal describes detailed methodology for conducting the research consistent with requirements of the professional or academic field and a statement on anticipated outcomes and/or benefits derived from the study's completion. Krathwohl, David R. How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005. How to Approach Writing a Research ProposalYour professor may assign the task of writing a research proposal for the following reasons:
A proposal should contain all the key elements involved in designing a completed research study, with sufficient information that allows readers to assess the validity and usefulness of your proposed study. The only elements missing from a research proposal are the findings of the study and your analysis of those results. Finally, an effective proposal is judged on the quality of your writing and, therefore, it is important that your writing is coherent, clear, and compelling. Regardless of the research problem you are investigating and the methodology you choose, all research proposals must address the following questions:
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Procter, Margaret. The Academic Proposal . The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Sanford, Keith. Information for Students: Writing a Research Proposal . Baylor University; Wong, Paul T. P. How to Write a Research Proposal . International Network on Personal Meaning. Trinity Western University; Writing Academic Proposals: Conferences, Articles, and Books . The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing a Research Proposal . University Library. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Structure and Writing StyleBeginning the Proposal Process As with writing a regular academic paper, research proposals are generally organized the same way throughout most social science disciplines. Proposals vary between ten and twenty-five pages in length. However, before you begin, read the assignment carefully and, if anything seems unclear, ask your professor whether there are any specific requirements for organizing and writing the proposal. A good place to begin is to ask yourself a series of questions:
In general, a compelling research proposal should document your knowledge of the topic and demonstrate your enthusiasm for conducting the study. Approach it with the intention of leaving your readers feeling like--"Wow, that's an exciting idea and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!" In general your proposal should include the following sections: I. Introduction In the real world of higher education, a research proposal is most often written by scholars seeking grant funding for a research project or it's the first step in getting approval to write a doctoral dissertation. Even if this is just a course assignment, treat your introduction as the initial pitch of an idea or a thorough examination of the significance of a research problem. After reading the introduction, your readers should not only have an understanding of what you want to do, but they should also be able to gain a sense of your passion for the topic and be excited about the study's possible outcomes. Note that most proposals do not include an abstract [summary] before the introduction. Think about your introduction as a narrative written in one to three paragraphs that succinctly answers the following four questions :
II. Background and Significance This section can be melded into your introduction or you can create a separate section to help with the organization and narrative flow of your proposal. This is where you explain the context of your proposal and describe in detail why it's important. Approach writing this section with the thought that you can’t assume your readers will know as much about the research problem as you do. Note that this section is not an essay going over everything you have learned about the topic; instead, you must choose what is relevant to help explain the goals for your study. To that end, while there are no hard and fast rules, you should attempt to address some or all of the following key points:
III. Literature Review Connected to the background and significance of your study is a section of your proposal devoted to a more deliberate review and synthesis of prior studies related to the research problem under investigation . The purpose here is to place your project within the larger whole of what is currently being explored, while demonstrating to your readers that your work is original and innovative. Think about what questions other researchers have asked, what methods they have used, and what is your understanding of their findings and, where stated, their recommendations. Do not be afraid to challenge the conclusions of prior research. Assess what you believe is missing and state how previous research has failed to adequately examine the issue that your study addresses. For more information on writing literature reviews, GO HERE . Since a literature review is information dense, it is crucial that this section is intelligently structured to enable a reader to grasp the key arguments underpinning your study in relation to that of other researchers. A good strategy is to break the literature into "conceptual categories" [themes] rather than systematically describing groups of materials one at a time. Note that conceptual categories generally reveal themselves after you have read most of the pertinent literature on your topic so adding new categories is an on-going process of discovery as you read more studies. How do you know you've covered the key conceptual categories underlying the research literature? Generally, you can have confidence that all of the significant conceptual categories have been identified if you start to see repetition in the conclusions or recommendations that are being made. To help frame your proposal's literature review, here are the "five C’s" of writing a literature review:
IV. Research Design and Methods This section must be well-written and logically organized because you are not actually doing the research, yet, your reader must have confidence that it is worth pursuing . The reader will never have a study outcome from which to evaluate whether your methodological choices were the correct ones. Thus, the objective here is to convince the reader that your overall research design and methods of analysis will correctly address the problem and that the methods will provide the means to effectively interpret the potential results. Your design and methods should be unmistakably tied to the specific aims of your study. Describe the overall research design by building upon and drawing examples from your review of the literature. Consider not only methods that other researchers have used but methods of data gathering that have not been used but perhaps could be. Be specific about the methodological approaches you plan to undertake to obtain information, the techniques you would use to analyze the data, and the tests of external validity to which you commit yourself [i.e., the trustworthiness by which you can generalize from your study to other people, places, events, and/or periods of time]. When describing the methods you will use, be sure to cover the following:
Develop a Research Proposal: Writing the Proposal . Office of Library Information Services. Baltimore County Public Schools; Heath, M. Teresa Pereira and Caroline Tynan. “Crafting a Research Proposal.” The Marketing Review 10 (Summer 2010): 147-168; Jones, Mark. “Writing a Research Proposal.” In MasterClass in Geography Education: Transforming Teaching and Learning . Graham Butt, editor. (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015), pp. 113-127; Juni, Muhamad Hanafiah. “Writing a Research Proposal.” International Journal of Public Health and Clinical Sciences 1 (September/October 2014): 229-240; Krathwohl, David R. How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005; Procter, Margaret. The Academic Proposal . The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Punch, Keith and Wayne McGowan. "Developing and Writing a Research Proposal." In From Postgraduate to Social Scientist: A Guide to Key Skills . Nigel Gilbert, ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006), 59-81; Wong, Paul T. P. How to Write a Research Proposal . International Network on Personal Meaning. Trinity Western University; Writing Academic Proposals: Conferences, Articles, and Books . The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing a Research Proposal . University Library. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts APA Sample Paper: Experimental PsychologyWelcome to the Purdue OWLThis page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use. We use cookies on reading.ac.uk to improve your experience, monitor site performance and tailor content to you Read our cookie policy to find out how to manage your cookie settings This site may not work correctly on Internet Explorer. We recommend switching to a different browser for a better experience. Writing your research proposalWhen applying to study for a PhD or MPhil in the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, you will typically need to send us an initial 500-word research proposal. The content and structure of your research proposal will be influenced by the nature of the project you wish to pursue. The guidance and suggested headings provided here should help you to structure and present your ideas clearly. Your initial research proposalWhen writing your initial research proposal, you can either address it to the School generally, or to a specific supervisor if you have one in mind. Potential supervisors in the School will review your initial research proposal, and get in touch with you to discuss it. Your proposal may change following this conversation. Depending on the supervisor and the outcome of this discussion, you may be asked to produce a longer research proposal of between 2,000 and 4,000 words. Tips on writing a research proposalBefore you write your research proposal, we strongly recommend that you check our research page and individual supervisor profiles to view our areas of expertise.
Although you should write your proposal yourself, it is best if you discuss its contents with your proposed supervisor before you submit it. If this is not possible, then try to get someone else (such as an academic at your current or previous institution) to read and comment on it to ensure that it is sufficiently clear. Your proposal needs a clear working title that gives an indication of what you want to study. You are not committed to continuing with the same title once you begin your studies. Research questionFor many projects, you'll usually address one main question, which can sometimes be broken down into several sub-questions. However, it's OK to have two or three research questions where appropriate. In your research proposal, you'll need to state your main research question(s), explain its significance, and locate it within the relevant literature, in order to set out the context into which your research will fit. You should only refer to research that is directly relevant to your proposal. Questions to address in your research proposalYou will need to address questions such as:
MethodologyYou will need to explain how you will go about answering your question (or achieving your aim), and why you will use your intended approach to address the question/aim. Questions you might need to address include:
You will need to provide a rough timeline for the completion of your research to show that the project is achievable (given the facilities and resources required) in no more than three years of full-time study (or part-time equivalent) for a PhD, and two years for an MPhil. Expected outcomesYou need to say something about what the expected outcomes of your project would be. How, for example, does it make a contribution to knowledge? How does it advance theoretical understanding? How might it contribute to policy or practice? If you are aiming to study for a PhD, then you need to say how your proposed research will make an original contribution to knowledge. This is not essential if you are aiming to study for an MPhil, although you will still need to show originality in the application of knowledge. List of referencesYou will need to provide a list of any key articles or texts that you have referred to in your proposal. References should be listed in the appropriate style for your subject area (e.g. Harvard). You should only reference texts that you think are central to your proposed work, rather than a bibliography listing everything written on the subject. Format and proofreadingMake sure that your proposal is well structured and clearly written. It is important that you carefully check your proposal for typographical and spelling errors, consistency of style, and accuracy of references, before submitting it. The proposal should be aesthetically well presented, and look professional (e.g. no font inconsistencies, headings clearly identifiable). If you include figures, then they should be accompanied by captions underneath). How to apply for a PhDPhD opportunitiesOur researchTake the next step
Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices. Chapter 1. Introducing Social Psychology 1.3 Conducting Research in Social PsychologyLearning Objectives
Social psychologists are not the only people interested in understanding and predicting social behavior or the only people who study it. Social behavior is also considered by religious leaders, philosophers, politicians, novelists, and others, and it is a common topic on TV shows. But the social psychological approach to understanding social behavior goes beyond the mere observation of human actions. Social psychologists believe that a true understanding of the causes of social behavior can only be obtained through a systematic scientific approach, and that is why they conduct scientific research. Social psychologists believe that the study of social behavior should be empirical —that is, based on the collection and systematic analysis of observable data . The Importance of Scientific ResearchBecause social psychology concerns the relationships among people, and because we can frequently find answers to questions about human behavior by using our own common sense or intuition, many people think that it is not necessary to study it empirically (Lilienfeld, 2011). But although we do learn about people by observing others and therefore social psychology is in fact partly common sense, social psychology is not entirely common sense. Is social psychology just common sense? To test for yourself whether or not social psychology is just common sense, try doing this activity. Based on your past observations of people’s behavior, along with your own common sense, you will likely have answers to each of the questions on the activity. But how sure are you? Would you be willing to bet that all, or even most, of your answers have been shown to be correct by scientific research? If you are like most people, you will get at least some of these answers wrong. Read through each finding, and decide if you think the research evidence shows that it is either mainly true or mainly false. When you have figured out the answers, think about why each finding is either mainly true or mainly false. You may also find some other ideas on this as you work your way through the textbook chapters!
H5P: TEST YOUR LEARNING: CHAPTER 1 DRAG THE WORDS – CLASSIC FINDINGS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Read through each finding, taken from Table 1.5 in the chapter summary, and decide if you think the research evidence shows that it is either mainly true or mainly false by dragging the correct word into each box. Pay attention to the number of “trues” and “falses” available! When you have figured out the answers, think about why each finding is either mainly true or mainly false. You may also find some other ideas on this as you work your way through the textbook chapters!
See Table 1.5 in the chapter summary for answers and explanations. One of the reasons we might think that social psychology is common sense is that once we learn about the outcome of a given event (e.g., when we read about the results of a research project), we frequently believe that we would have been able to predict the outcome ahead of time. For instance, if half of a class of students is told that research concerning attraction between people has demonstrated that “opposites attract,” and if the other half is told that research has demonstrated that “birds of a feather flock together,” most of the students in both groups will report believing that the outcome is true and that they would have predicted the outcome before they had heard about it. Of course, both of these contradictory outcomes cannot be true. The problem is that just reading a description of research findings leads us to think of the many cases that we know that support the findings and thus makes them seem believable. The tendency to think that we could have predicted something that we probably would not have been able to predict is called the hindsight bias . Our common sense also leads us to believe that we know why we engage in the behaviors that we engage in, when in fact we may not. Social psychologist Daniel Wegner and his colleagues have conducted a variety of studies showing that we do not always understand the causes of our own actions. When we think about a behavior before we engage in it, we believe that the thinking guided our behavior, even when it did not (Morewedge, Gray, & Wegner, 2010). People also report that they contribute more to solving a problem when they are led to believe that they have been working harder on it, even though the effort did not increase their contribution to the outcome (Preston & Wegner, 2007). These findings, and many others like them, demonstrate that our beliefs about the causes of social events, and even of our own actions, do not always match the true causes of those events. Social psychologists conduct research because it often uncovers results that could not have been predicted ahead of time. Putting our hunches to the test exposes our ideas to scrutiny. The scientific approach brings a lot of surprises, but it also helps us test our explanations about behavior in a rigorous manner. It is important for you to understand the research methods used in psychology so that you can evaluate the validity of the research that you read about here, in other courses, and in your everyday life. Social psychologists publish their research in scientific journals, and your instructor may require you to read some of these research articles. The most important social psychology journals are listed in “ Social Psychology Journals .” If you are asked to do a literature search on research in social psychology, you should look for articles from these journals. Social Psychology Journals:
Note. The research articles in these journals are likely to be available in your college or university library. We’ll discuss the empirical approach and review the findings of many research projects throughout this book, but for now let’s take a look at the basics of how scientists use research to draw overall conclusions about social behavior. Keep in mind as you read this book, however, that although social psychologists are pretty good at understanding the causes of behavior, our predictions are a long way from perfect. We are not able to control the minds or the behaviors of others or to predict exactly what they will do in any given situation. Human behavior is complicated because people are complicated and because the social situations that they find themselves in every day are also complex. It is this complexity—at least for me—that makes studying people so interesting and fun. Measuring Affect, Behavior, and CognitionOne important aspect of using an empirical approach to understand social behavior is that the concepts of interest must be measured (Figure 1.7, “The Operational Definition”). If we are interested in learning how much Sarah likes Robert, then we need to have a measure of her liking for him. But how, exactly, should we measure the broad idea of “liking”? In scientific terms, the characteristics that we are trying to measure are known as conceptual variables , and the particular method that we use to measure a variable of interest is called an operational definition. For anything that we might wish to measure, there are many different operational definitions, and which one we use depends on the goal of the research and the type of situation we are studying. To better understand this, let’s look at an example of how we might operationally define “Sarah likes Robert.” One approach to measurement involves directly asking people about their perceptions using self-report measures. Self-report measures are measures in which individuals are asked to respond to questions posed by an interviewer or on a questionnaire . Generally, because any one question might be misunderstood or answered incorrectly, in order to provide a better measure, more than one question is asked and the responses to the questions are averaged together. For example, an operational definition of Sarah’s liking for Robert might involve asking her to complete the following measure:
The operational definition would be the average of her responses across the three questions. Because each question assesses the attitude differently, and yet each question should nevertheless measure Sarah’s attitude toward Robert in some way, the average of the three questions will generally be a better measure than would any one question on its own. Although it is easy to ask many questions on self-report measures, these measures have a potential disadvantage. As we have seen, people’s insights into their own opinions and their own behaviors may not be perfect, and they might also not want to tell the truth—perhaps Sarah really likes Robert, but she is unwilling or unable to tell us so. Therefore, an alternative to self-report that can sometimes provide a more valid measure is to measure behavior itself. Behavioral measures are measures designed to directly assess what people do . Instead of asking Sarah how much she likes Robert, we might instead measure her liking by assessing how much time she spends with Robert or by coding how much she smiles at him when she talks to him. Some examples of behavioral measures that have been used in social psychological research are shown in Table 1.3, “Examples of Operational Definitions of Conceptual Variables That Have Been Used in Social Psychological Research.”
Social Neuroscience: Measuring Social Responses in the BrainStill another approach to measuring thoughts and feelings is to measure brain activity, and recent advances in brain science have created a wide variety of new techniques for doing so. One approach, known as electroencephalography (EEG) , is a technique that records the electrical activity produced by the brain’s neurons through the use of electrodes that are placed around the research participant’s head . An electroencephalogram (EEG) can show if a person is asleep, awake, or anesthetized because the brain wave patterns are known to differ during each state. An EEG can also track the waves that are produced when a person is reading, writing, and speaking with others. A particular advantage of the technique is that the participant can move around while the recordings are being taken, which is useful when measuring brain activity in children who often have difficulty keeping still. Furthermore, by following electrical impulses across the surface of the brain, researchers can observe changes over very fast time periods. Although EEGs can provide information about the general patterns of electrical activity within the brain, and although they allow the researcher to see these changes quickly as they occur in real time, the electrodes must be placed on the surface of the skull, and each electrode measures brain waves from large areas of the brain. As a result, EEGs do not provide a very clear picture of the structure of the brain. But techniques exist to provide more specific brain images. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a neuroimaging technique that uses a magnetic field to create images of brain structure and function . In research studies that use the fMRI, the research participant lies on a bed within a large cylindrical structure containing a very strong magnet. Nerve cells in the brain that are active use more oxygen, and the need for oxygen increases blood flow to the area. The fMRI detects the amount of blood flow in each brain region and thus is an indicator of which parts of the brain are active. Very clear and detailed pictures of brain structures (see Figure 1.9, “MRI BOLD activation in an emotional Stroop task”) can be produced via fMRI. Often, the images take the form of cross-sectional “slices” that are obtained as the magnetic field is passed across the brain. The images of these slices are taken repeatedly and are superimposed on images of the brain structure itself to show how activity changes in different brain structures over time. Normally, the research participant is asked to engage in tasks while in the scanner, for instance, to make judgments about pictures of people, to solve problems, or to make decisions about appropriate behaviors. The fMRI images show which parts of the brain are associated with which types of tasks. Another advantage of the fMRI is that is it noninvasive. The research participant simply enters the machine and the scans begin. Although the scanners themselves are expensive, the advantages of fMRIs are substantial, and scanners are now available in many university and hospital settings. The fMRI is now the most commonly used method of learning about brain structure, and it has been employed by social psychologists to study social cognition, attitudes, morality, emotions, responses to being rejected by others, and racial prejudice, to name just a few topics (Eisenberger, Lieberman, & Williams, 2003; Greene, Sommerville, Nystrom, Darley, & Cohen, 2001; Lieberman, Hariri, Jarcho, Eisenberger, & Bookheimer, 2005; Ochsner, Bunge, Gross, & Gabrieli, 2002; Richeson et al., 2003). Observational ResearchOnce we have decided how to measure our variables, we can begin the process of research itself. As you can see in Table 1.4, “Three Major Research Designs Used by Social Psychologists,” there are three major approaches to conducting research that are used by social psychologists—the observational approach , the correlational approach , and the experimental approach . Each approach has some advantages and disadvantages.
The most basic research design, observational research , is research that involves making observations of behavior and recording those observations in an objective manner . Although it is possible in some cases to use observational data to draw conclusions about the relationships between variables (e.g., by comparing the behaviors of older versus younger children on a playground), in many cases the observational approach is used only to get a picture of what is happening to a given set of people at a given time and how they are responding to the social situation. In these cases, the observational approach involves creating a type of “snapshot” of the current state of affairs. One advantage of observational research is that in many cases it is the only possible approach to collecting data about the topic of interest. A researcher who is interested in studying the impact of an earthquake on the residents of Tokyo, the reactions of Israelis to a terrorist attack, or the activities of the members of a religious cult cannot create such situations in a laboratory but must be ready to make observations in a systematic way when such events occur on their own. Thus observational research allows the study of unique situations that could not be created by the researcher. Another advantage of observational research is that the people whose behavior is being measured are doing the things they do every day, and in some cases they may not even know that their behavior is being recorded. One early observational study that made an important contribution to understanding human behavior was reported in a book by Leon Festinger and his colleagues (Festinger, Riecken, & Schachter, 1956). The book, called When Prophecy Fails , reported an observational study of the members of a “doomsday” cult. The cult members believed that they had received information, supposedly sent through “automatic writing” from a planet called “Clarion,” that the world was going to end. More specifically, the group members were convinced that Earth would be destroyed as the result of a gigantic flood sometime before dawn on December 21, 1954. When Festinger learned about the cult, he thought that it would be an interesting way to study how individuals in groups communicate with each other to reinforce their extreme beliefs. He and his colleagues observed the members of the cult over a period of several months, beginning in July of the year in which the flood was expected. The researchers collected a variety of behavioral and self-report measures by observing the cult, recording the conversations among the group members, and conducting detailed interviews with them. Festinger and his colleagues also recorded the reactions of the cult members, beginning on December 21, when the world did not end as they had predicted. This observational research provided a wealth of information about the indoctrination patterns of cult members and their reactions to disconfirmed predictions. This research also helped Festinger develop his important theory of cognitive dissonance. Despite their advantages, observational research designs also have some limitations. Most importantly, because the data that are collected in observational studies are only a description of the events that are occurring, they do not tell us anything about the relationship between different variables. However, it is exactly this question that correlational research and experimental research are designed to answer. The Research HypothesisBecause social psychologists are generally interested in looking at relationships among variables, they begin by stating their predictions in the form of a precise statement known as a research hypothesis . A research hypothesis is a specific prediction about the relationship between the variables of interest and about the specific direction of that relationship . For instance, the research hypothesis “People who are more similar to each other will be more attracted to each other” predicts that there is a relationship between a variable called similarity and another variable called attraction. In the research hypothesis “The attitudes of cult members become more extreme when their beliefs are challenged,” the variables that are expected to be related are extremity of beliefs and the degree to which the cult’s beliefs are challenged. Because the research hypothesis states both that there is a relationship between the variables and the direction of that relationship, it is said to be falsifiable, which means that the outcome of the research can demonstrate empirically either that there is support for the hypothesis (i.e., the relationship between the variables was correctly specified) or that there is actually no relationship between the variables or that the actual relationship is not in the direction that was predicted . Thus the research hypothesis that “People will be more attracted to others who are similar to them” is falsifiable because the research could show either that there was no relationship between similarity and attraction or that people we see as similar to us are seen as less attractive than those who are dissimilar. Correlational ResearchCorrelational research is designed to search for and test hypotheses about the relationships between two or more variables. In the simplest case, the correlation is between only two variables, such as that between similarity and liking, or between gender (male versus female) and helping. In a correlational design, the research hypothesis is that there is an association (i.e., a correlation) between the variables that are being measured. For instance, many researchers have tested the research hypothesis that a positive correlation exists between the use of violent video games and the incidence of aggressive behavior, such that people who play violent video games more frequently would also display more aggressive behavior. A statistic known as the Pearson correlation coefficient (symbolized by the letter r ) is normally used to summarize the association, or correlation, between two variables . The Pearson correlation coefficient can range from −1 (indicating a very strong negative relationship between the variables) to +1 (indicating a very strong positive relationship between the variables). Recent research has found that there is a positive correlation between the use of violent video games and the incidence of aggressive behavior and that the size of the correlation is about r = .30 (Bushman & Huesmann, 2010). One advantage of correlational research designs is that, like observational research (and in comparison with experimental research designs in which the researcher frequently creates relatively artificial situations in a laboratory setting), they are often used to study people doing the things that they do every day. Correlational research designs also have the advantage of allowing prediction. When two or more variables are correlated, we can use our knowledge of a person’s score on one of the variables to predict his or her likely score on another variable. Because high-school grades are correlated with university grades, if we know a person’s high-school grades, we can predict his or her likely university grades. Similarly, if we know how many violent video games a child plays, we can predict how aggressively he or she will behave. These predictions will not be perfect, but they will allow us to make a better guess than we would have been able to if we had not known the person’s score on the first variable ahead of time. Despite their advantages, correlational designs have a very important limitation. This limitation is that they cannot be used to draw conclusions about the causal relationships among the variables that have been measured. An observed correlation between two variables does not necessarily indicate that either one of the variables caused the other. Although many studies have found a correlation between the number of violent video games that people play and the amount of aggressive behaviors they engage in, this does not mean that viewing the video games necessarily caused the aggression. Although one possibility is that playing violent games increases aggression, another possibility is that the causal direction is exactly opposite to what has been hypothesized. Perhaps increased aggressiveness causes more interest in, and thus increased viewing of, violent games. Although this causal relationship might not seem as logical, there is no way to rule out the possibility of such reverse causation on the basis of the observed correlation. Still another possible explanation for the observed correlation is that it has been produced by the presence of another variable that was not measured in the research. Common-causal variables (also known as third variables ) are variables that are not part of the research hypothesis but that cause both the predictor and the outcome variable and thus produce the observed correlation between them (Figure 1.13, “Correlation and Causality”). It has been observed that students who sit in the front of a large class get better grades than those who sit in the back of the class. Although this could be because sitting in the front causes the student to take better notes or to understand the material better, the relationship could also be due to a common-causal variable, such as the interest or motivation of the students to do well in the class. Because a student’s interest in the class leads him or her to both get better grades and sit nearer to the teacher, seating position and class grade are correlated, even though neither one caused the other. The possibility of common-causal variables must always be taken into account when considering correlational research designs. For instance, in a study that finds a correlation between playing violent video games and aggression, it is possible that a common-causal variable is producing the relationship. Some possibilities include the family background, diet, and hormone levels of the children. Any or all of these potential common-causal variables might be creating the observed correlation between playing violent video games and aggression. Higher levels of the male sex hormone testosterone, for instance, may cause children to both watch more violent TV and behave more aggressively. You may think of common-causal variables in correlational research designs as “mystery” variables, since their presence and identity is usually unknown to the researcher because they have not been measured. Because it is not possible to measure every variable that could possibly cause both variables, it is always possible that there is an unknown common-causal variable. For this reason, we are left with the basic limitation of correlational research: correlation does not imply causation. Experimental ResearchThe goal of much research in social psychology is to understand the causal relationships among variables, and for this we use experiments. Experimental research designs are research designs that include the manipulation of a given situation or experience for two or more groups of individuals who are initially created to be equivalent, followed by a measurement of the effect of that experience . In an experimental research design, the variables of interest are called the independent variables and the dependent variables. The independent variable refers to the situation that is created by the experimenter through the experimental manipulations , and the dependent variable refers to the variable that is measured after the manipulations have occurred . In an experimental research design, the research hypothesis is that the manipulated independent variable (or variables) causes changes in the measured dependent variable (or variables). We can diagram the prediction like this, using an arrow that points in one direction to demonstrate the expected direction of causality: viewing violence (independent variable) → aggressive behavior (dependent variable) Consider an experiment conducted by Anderson and Dill (2000), which was designed to directly test the hypothesis that viewing violent video games would cause increased aggressive behavior. In this research, male and female undergraduates from Iowa State University were given a chance to play either a violent video game (Wolfenstein 3D) or a nonviolent video game (Myst). During the experimental session, the participants played the video game that they had been given for 15 minutes. Then, after the play, they participated in a competitive task with another student in which they had a chance to deliver blasts of white noise through the earphones of their opponent. The operational definition of the dependent variable (aggressive behavior) was the level and duration of noise delivered to the opponent. The design and the results of the experiment are shown in Figure 1.14, “An Experimental Research Design (After Anderson & Dill, 2000).” Experimental designs have two very nice features. For one, they guarantee that the independent variable occurs prior to measuring the dependent variable. This eliminates the possibility of reverse causation. Second, the experimental manipulation allows ruling out the possibility of common-causal variables that cause both the independent variable and the dependent variable. In experimental designs, the influence of common-causal variables is controlled, and thus eliminated, by creating equivalence among the participants in each of the experimental conditions before the manipulation occurs. The most common method of creating equivalence among the experimental conditions is through random assignment to conditions before the experiment begins, which involves determining separately for each participant which condition he or she will experience through a random process, such as drawing numbers out of an envelope or using a website such as randomizer.org . Anderson and Dill first randomly assigned about 100 participants to each of their two groups. Let’s call them Group A and Group B. Because they used random assignment to conditions, they could be confident that before the experimental manipulation occurred , the students in Group A were, on average , equivalent to the students in Group B on every possible variable , including variables that are likely to be related to aggression, such as family, peers, hormone levels, and diet—and, in fact, everything else. Then, after they had created initial equivalence, Anderson and Dill created the experimental manipulation—they had the participants in Group A play the violent video game and the participants in Group B play the nonviolent video game. Then they compared the dependent variable (the white noise blasts) between the two groups and found that the students who had viewed the violent video game gave significantly longer noise blasts than did the students who had played the nonviolent game. When the researchers observed differences in the duration of white noise blasts between the two groups after the experimental manipulation, they could draw the conclusion that it was the independent variable (and not some other variable) that caused these differences because they had created initial equivalence between the groups. The idea is that the only thing that was different between the students in the two groups was which video game they had played. When we create a situation in which the groups of participants are expected to be equivalent before the experiment begins, when we manipulate the independent variable before we measure the dependent variable, and when we change only the nature of independent variables between the conditions, then we can be confident that it is the independent variable that caused the differences in the dependent variable. Such experiments are said to have high internal validity, where internal validity is the extent to which changes in the dependent variable in an experiment can confidently be attributed to changes in the independent variable . Despite the advantage of determining causation, experimental research designs do have limitations. One is that the experiments are usually conducted in laboratory situations rather than in the everyday lives of people. Therefore, we do not know whether results that we find in a laboratory setting will necessarily hold up in everyday life. To counter this, researchers sometimes conduct field experiments, which are experimental research studies that are conducted in a natural environment , such as a school or a factory . However, they are difficult to conduct because they require a means of creating random assignment to conditions, and this is frequently not possible in natural settings. A second and perhaps more important limitation of experimental research designs is that some of the most interesting and important social variables cannot be experimentally manipulated. If we want to study the influence of the size of a mob on the destructiveness of its behavior, or to compare the personality characteristics of people who join suicide cults with those of people who do not join suicide cults, these relationships must be assessed using correlational designs because it is simply not possible to manipulate mob size or cult membership. H5P: TEST YOUR LEARNING: CHAPTER 1 DRAG THE WORDS – INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES Read through the following descriptions of experimental studies, and identify the independent and dependent variables in each scenario.
Factorial Research DesignsSocial psychological experiments are frequently designed to simultaneously study the effects of more than one independent variable on a dependent variable. Factorial research designs are experimental designs that have two or more independent variables . By using a factorial design, the scientist can study the influence of each variable on the dependent variable (known as the main effects of the variables) as well as how the variables work together to influence the dependent variable (known as the interaction between the variables). Factorial designs sometimes demonstrate the person by situation interaction. In one such study, Brian Meier and his colleagues (Meier, Robinson, & Wilkowski, 2006) tested the hypothesis that exposure to aggression-related words would increase aggressive responses toward others. Although they did not directly manipulate the social context, they used a technique common in social psychology in which they primed (i.e., activated) thoughts relating to social settings. In their research, half of their participants were randomly assigned to see words relating to aggression and the other half were assigned to view neutral words that did not relate to aggression. The participants in the study also completed a measure of individual differences in agreeableness —a personality variable that assesses the extent to which people see themselves as compassionate, cooperative, and high on other-concern. Then the research participants completed a task in which they thought they were competing with another student. Participants were told that they should press the space bar on the computer keyboard as soon as they heard a tone over their headphones, and the person who pressed the space bar the fastest would be the winner of the trial. Before the first trial, participants set the intensity of a blast of white noise that would be delivered to the loser of the trial. The participants could choose an intensity ranging from 0 (no noise) to the most aggressive response (10, or 105 decibels). In essence, participants controlled a “weapon” that could be used to blast the opponent with aversive noise, and this setting became the dependent variable. At this point, the experiment ended. As you can see in Figure 1.15, “A Person-Situation Interaction,” there was a person-by-situation interaction. Priming with aggression-related words (the situational variable) increased the noise levels selected by participants who were low on agreeableness, but priming did not increase aggression (in fact, it decreased it a bit) for students who were high on agreeableness. In this study, the social situation was important in creating aggression, but it had different effects for different people. Deception in Social Psychology ExperimentsYou may have wondered whether the participants in the video game study that we just discussed were told about the research hypothesis ahead of time. In fact, these experiments both used a cover story — a false statement of what the research was really about . The students in the video game study were not told that the study was about the effects of violent video games on aggression, but rather that it was an investigation of how people learn and develop skills at motor tasks like video games and how these skills affect other tasks, such as competitive games. The participants in the task performance study were not told that the research was about task performance. In some experiments, the researcher also makes use of an experimental confederate — a person who is actually part of the experimental team but who pretends to be another participant in the study . The confederate helps create the right “feel” of the study, making the cover story seem more real. In many cases, it is not possible in social psychology experiments to tell the research participants about the real hypotheses in the study, and so cover stories or other types of deception may be used. You can imagine, for instance, that if a researcher wanted to study racial prejudice, he or she could not simply tell the participants that this was the topic of the research because people may not want to admit that they are prejudiced, even if they really are. Although the participants are always told—through the process of informed consent —as much as is possible about the study before the study begins, they may nevertheless sometimes be deceived to some extent. At the end of every research project, however, participants should always receive a complete debriefing in which all relevant information is given, including the real hypothesis, the nature of any deception used, and how the data are going to be used. H5P: TEST YOUR LEARNING: CHAPTER 1 DRAG THE WORDS – TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGN Now that you have reviewed the three main types of research design used in social psychology, read each brief summary of empirical findings below and identify which type of design the results were derived from – experimental, observational or correlational. Table 1.4 contains some helpful information here.
Interpreting ResearchNo matter how carefully it is conducted or what type of design is used, all research has limitations. Any given research project is conducted in only one setting and assesses only one or a few dependent variables. And any one study uses only one set of research participants. Social psychology research is sometimes criticized because it frequently uses university students from Western cultures as participants (Henrich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010). But relationships between variables are only really important if they can be expected to be found again when tested using other research designs, other operational definitions of the variables, other participants, and other experimenters, and in other times and settings. External validity refers to the extent to which relationships can be expected to hold up when they are tested again in different ways and for different people . Science relies primarily upon replication—that is, the repeating of research —to study the external validity of research findings. Sometimes the original research is replicated exactly, but more often, replications involve using new operational definitions of the independent or dependent variables, or designs in which new conditions or variables are added to the original design. And to test whether a finding is limited to the particular participants used in a given research project, scientists may test the same hypotheses using people from different ages, backgrounds, or cultures. Replication allows scientists to test the external validity as well as the limitations of research findings. In some cases, researchers may test their hypotheses, not by conducting their own study, but rather by looking at the results of many existing studies, using a meta-analysis — a statistical procedure in which the results of existing studies are combined to determine what conclusions can be drawn on the basis of all the studies considered together . For instance, in one meta-analysis, Anderson and Bushman (2001) found that across all the studies they could locate that included both children and adults, college students and people who were not in college, and people from a variety of different cultures, there was a clear positive correlation (about r = .30) between playing violent video games and acting aggressively. The summary information gained through a meta-analysis allows researchers to draw even clearer conclusions about the external validity of a research finding. Figure 1.16 Some Important Aspects of the Scientific Approach Scientists generate research hypotheses , which are tested using an observational, correlational, or experimental research design . The variables of interest are measured using self-report or behavioral measures . Data is interpreted according to its validity (including internal validity and external validity ). The results of many studies may be combined and summarized using meta-analysis . It is important to realize that the understanding of social behavior that we gain by conducting research is a slow, gradual, and cumulative process. The research findings of one scientist or one experiment do not stand alone—no one study proves a theory or a research hypothesis. Rather, research is designed to build on, add to, and expand the existing research that has been conducted by other scientists. That is why whenever a scientist decides to conduct research, he or she first reads journal articles and book chapters describing existing research in the domain and then designs his or her research on the basis of the prior findings. The result of this cumulative process is that over time, research findings are used to create a systematic set of knowledge about social psychology (Figure 1.16, “Some Important Aspects of the Scientific Approach”). H5P: Test your Learning: Chapter 1 True or False Quiz Try these true/false questions, to see how well you have retained some key ideas from this chapter!
Key Takeaways
Exercises and Critical Thinking
Anderson, C. A., & Dill, K. E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78 (4), 772–790. Bushman, B. J., & Huesmann, L. R. (2010). Aggression. In S. T. Fiske, D. T. Gilbert, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (5th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 833–863). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Eisenberger, N. I., Lieberman, M. D., & Williams, K. D. (2003). Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion. Science, 302 (5643), 290–292. Festinger, L., Riecken, H. W., & Schachter, S. (1956). When prophecy fails: A social and psychological study of a modern group that predicted the destruction of the world . Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Greene, J. D., Sommerville, R. B., Nystrom, L. E., Darley, J. M., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). An fMRI investigation of emotional engagement in moral judgment. Science, 293 (5537), 2105–2108. Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33 (2–3), 61–83. Lieberman, M. D., Hariri, A., Jarcho, J. M., Eisenberger, N. I., & Bookheimer, S. Y. (2005). An fMRI investigation of race-related amygdala activity in African-American and Caucasian-American individuals. Nature Neuroscience, 8 (6), 720–722. Lilienfeld, S. O. (2011, June 13). Public skepticism of psychology: Why many people perceive the study of human behavior as unscientific. American Psychologist. doi: 10.1037/a0023963 Meier, B. P., Robinson, M. D., & Wilkowski, B. M. (2006). Turning the other cheek: Agreeableness and the regulation of aggression-related crimes. Psychological Science, 17 (2), 136–142. Morewedge, C. K., Gray, K., & Wegner, D. M. (2010). Perish the forethought: Premeditation engenders misperceptions of personal control. In R. R. Hassin, K. N. Ochsner, & Y. Trope (Eds.), Self-control in society, mind, and brain (pp. 260–278). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Ochsner, K. N., Bunge, S. A., Gross, J. J., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2002). Rethinking feelings: An fMRI study of the cognitive regulation of emotion. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14 (8), 1215–1229 Preston, J., & Wegner, D. M. (2007). The eureka error: Inadvertent plagiarism by misattributions of effort. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92 (4), 575–584. Richeson, J. A., Baird, A. A., Gordon, H. L., Heatherton, T. F., Wyland, C. L., Trawalter, S., Richeson, J. A., Baird, A. A., Gordon, H. L., Heatherton, T. F., Wyland, C. L., Trawalter, S., et al.#8230;Shelton, J. N. (2003). An fMRI investigation of the impact of interracial contact on executive function. Nature Neuroscience, 6 (12), 1323–1328. Media Attributions
Based on the collection and systematic analysis of observable data. The tendency to think that we could have predicted something that we probably would not have been able to predict. Characteristics that we are trying to measure. particular method that we use to measure a variable of interest Measures in which individuals are asked to respond to questions posed by an interviewer or on a questionnaire. Measures designed to directly assess what people do. A technique that records the electrical activity produced by the brain’s neurons through the use of electrodes that are placed around the research participant’s head. Neuroimaging technique that uses a magnetic field to create images of brain structure and function. Research that involves making observations of behavior and recording those observations in an objective manner. Specific prediction about the relationship between the variables of interest and about the specific direction of that relationship. That the outcome of the research can demonstrate empirically either that there is support for the hypothesis (i.e., the relationship between the variables was correctly specified) or that there is actually no relationship between the variables or that the actual relationship is not in the direction that was predicted. Search for and test hypotheses about the relationships between two or more variables. Used to summarize the association, or correlation, between two variables. Variables that are not part of the research hypothesis but that cause both the predictor and the outcome variable and thus produce the observed correlation between them. Research designs that include the manipulation of a given situation or experience for two or more groups of individuals who are initially created to be equivalent, followed by a measurement of the effect of that experience. The situation that is created by the experimenter through the experimental manipulations. The variable that is measured after the manipulations have occurred. Determining separately for each participant which condition he or she will experience through a random process, The extent to which changes in the dependent variable in an experiment can confidently be attributed to changes in the independent variable. Are experimental research studies that are conducted in a natural environment, Experimental designs that have two or more independent variables. A false statement of what the research was really about. A person who is actually part of the experimental team but who pretends to be another participant in the study. The extent to which relationships can be expected to hold up when they are tested again in different ways and for different people. Science relies primarily upon replication—that is, the repeating of research. A statistical procedure in which the results of existing studies are combined to determine what conclusions can be drawn on the basis of all the studies considered together. Principles of Social Psychology - 1st International H5P Edition Copyright © 2022 by Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani and Dr. Hammond Tarry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted. Share This BookSocial PsychologyThe Social Psychology Program at NSF supports research and research infrastructure to advance basic knowledge in social psychology. Projects funded by the Social Psychology Program support the NSF mission to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity and welfare; and to secure the national defense. Proposals considered by the Social Psychology Program must communicate both the intellectual merit of the science and its broader societal impacts. Proposed research should carry strong potential for creating transformative advances in the basic understanding of human social behavior. Among the many research topics supported are social cognition, attitudes, social and cultural influence, stereotypes, motivation, decision making, group dynamics, aggression, close relationships, social and affective neuroscience, social psychophysiology, emotions, prosocial behavior, health-related behavior, and personality and individual differences. Proposals that develop new theories or methods for understanding social behavior are highly encouraged. Research samples should represent substantial ranges of ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures and other dimensions of human populations. Interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and convergent research approaches are encouraged. Proposals involving non-human animals are considered only if the research offers clear and direct contributions to understanding human social behavior. The program does not fund research that seeks to improve clinical practice as its primary outcome, nor does it consider proposals with disease-related goals, including work on the etiology, diagnosis or treatment of physical or mental disease, abnormality or malfunction in human beings or animals. In assessing intellectual merit, the Social Psychology Program places highest priority on research that is theoretically grounded, based on empirical observation and validation, and with designs appropriate to the questions asked. In assessing broader impacts , the Social Psychology Program places highest priority on proposals that offer strong potential to benefit society, strengthen our national security interests, improve the quality of life, broaden participation in science, enhance infrastructure for research and education, and include a plan for sharing the results with a wide variety of audiences. The Social Psychology Program expects the methods, measures and data that result from NSF support to be openly shared with other researchers and the public. For further guidance proposers should consult Data Management for NSF SBE Directorate Proposals and Awards . The Data Management Plan should articulate how the proposed research will engage with best practices of open science. Researchers are expected to engage in open science practices, and deviations from that should be well-justified. The Social Psychology Program accepts regular research proposals, including Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) proposals, proposals for research in undergraduate institutions (RUI), rapid response research proposals (RAPID) and early-concept grants for exploratory research (EAGER). The program also accepts small conference proposals for events (including workshops) being planned one year or more after submission. The Social Psychology Program does not accept proposals for doctoral dissertation improvement awards. Investigators are encouraged to contact a Social Psychology program director before submitting a proposal to confirm its fit with the scope and priorities of the Social Psychology Program. Such contact will be most productive by sending a one-page (maximum) summary with an overview of the planned proposal, which includes a description of intellectual merit and broader impacts. The Social Psychology program is always interested in identifying new reviewers. Potential reviewers should have a Ph.D. in psychology or related field and have a demonstrated area of expertise relevant to social psychology. Individuals interested in reviewing for the program should send a short description of their areas of expertise (2 sentences) and their CV to a Social Psychology program director. Deadlines: January 15; July 15 How to Write a Psychology Research ProposalWriting a brief research proposal cultivates all kinds of intellectual skills.. Posted May 3, 2018 | Reviewed by Matt Huston NOTE: This post was co-authored with the SUNY New Paltz students in PSY 307 (1) of Spring 2018 (in particular, Zachary Ertrachter, Mariah Griffin, and Gianna Petrera). A solid psychology education should lead to all kinds of outcomes related to analytical skills, statistical reasoning, and research design. One of the core skills that I try to cultivate in my students is the ability to write a clear and concise research proposal. Being able to write a solid research proposal demonstrates the following qualities: * An understanding of some theoretical concepts in the behavioral sciences * The ability to organize one's ideas in a coherent and efficient way * The ability to get to the foundation of a set of research ideas * The ability to write clearly and concisely in a scientific manner * The ability to describe a hypothesis, proposed methodology, and proposed set of statistical analyses * The ability to efficiently contextualize one's ideas in the existing scientific literature in some area * The ability to think about how statistics can be used to examine some research-based predictions * and probably more Toward this end, I tend to give the following assignment to students in my undergraduate class in evolutionary psychology : "Evolutionary psychology is a research-based enterprise. And learning about evolutionary psychology tends to lead people to develop hypotheses about human nature. For this assignment, you are to write a brief paper that does the following:
Importantly, this paper is to be no more than two pages—printed on two sides of a single page. And it should be double-spaced. This kind of assignment, forcing you to get your ideas reduced in a small space matches the kinds of assignments that professionals have all the time—this assignment will help prepare you for this kind of assignment in your future." As an end-of-the-semester activity, to demonstrate the process of writing a research proposal, we actually worked together today (5/3/2018) as a class to develop and to fully create a research proposal. The document below is the result of this work. Nice job, evolutionary psychology students! Research Proposal: A Proposed Study on the Mental Health Effects of Outdoor Experiences Written by the SUNY New Paltz Spring 2018 Evolutionary Psychology Class The evolutionary psychological perspective on human behavior suggests that instances of evolutionary mismatch may lead to adverse psychological functioning (e.g., Geher, 2014). Mismatch can exist in multiple domains, including nutritional offerings, exercise, community size, technology, transportation, and the nature of one’s physical environment—among many others. One important way that modern environments are mismatched to ancestral environments pertains to the proportion of time that people spend in the out of doors. In fact, many evolutionists have made the case that humans have a natural love of the living world (see Wilson, 1984). Based on this reasoning, it may be the case that increased time spent in the outdoors leads to positive mental health outcomes. On the other hand, we might predict that increased time spent in human-made, non-natural environments might have adverse mental health outcomes. Several mental health outcomes have been documented as important in all kinds of human psychological functioning. In particular, this research will focus on depressive tendencies, tendencies toward anxiety , and general psychological well-being. The basic prediction is that increased out-of-door experiences will correspond to less depression and anxiety and higher scores on a measure of well-being. This study will utilize a randomized between-groups design using 200 relatively fit American adults ranging in age from 18-34 selected from Southern California. Using a random-assignment process, participants will be assigned to either (a) the outdoor condition or (b) the indoor condition. Participants in the two experimental conditions will all be included in a climbing camp for two weeks. The outdoor participants will be at an all-outside version of the camp in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Southern California in September. The indoor participants will be at an all-indoor version of the camp at an indoor climbing gym for the same two weeks. Importantly, these climbing experiences will be overseen by the same Climbing Camp with the same activities and personnel. This methodology would allow for the isolation of the “out of doors” variable and will have participants across groups have the same experiences otherwise. Given the random assignment to experimental conditions, this methodology would allow for an examination of the specific effects of the outdoor experience. To measure anxiety, Liebowitz’s (1987) measure of social anxiety will be used. To measure depressive tendencies, Kessler et al.’s (2003) measure will be used. We will create a 5-item Likert scale of subjective well-being that participants will also complete. Anticipated Results Across the three outcome measures, including social anxiety, depressive tendencies, and subjective well-being, it is predicted that the outdoor group will score as less anxious, less depressed, and as higher in subjective well-being. These results will be examined using three between-groups t-tests. Potential Implications Evolutionists are interested in the mismatches between modern conditions and ancestral conditions. Simply being in the out-of-doors or not is a classic mismatch that surrounds us all the time, often unbeknownst to ourselves. The experimental design here would allow us to zero in on the effects of the outdoor experience as it relates to mental health outcomes, controlling for individual differences between groups. If the predicted pattern of results is obtained, then we would have strong evidence suggesting that people function best when they are provided with outdoor experiences. Such a pattern would support an evolutionary-mismatch approach to understanding the interface of people with their physical environments. Here is a PDF link to the two-page paper. Enjoy! Geher, G. (2014). Evolutionary Psychology 101. New York: Springer. Kessler, R .C., Andrews, G., Colpe, L.J., Hiripi, E., Mroczek, D.K., Normand, S.L....Zaslavsky,A.M. (2002) Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress. Psychological Medicine, 32, 959-956. Liebowitz, M. R . (1987). Social phobia. Modern Problems of Pharmacopsychiatry, 22, 141-173. Wilson, Edward O. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press Glenn Geher, Ph.D. , is professor of psychology at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is founding director of the campus’ Evolutionary Studies (EvoS) program.
At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that threatens to derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face our triggers with less reactivity so that we can get on with our lives.
Discovering Psychology Research Proposal TopicsWhen you need to prepare a great psychology paper, choosing a good topic is crucial. It can be challenging to find a decent topic. Still, only with a good theme for analysis, you can prepare a flawless and original psychology research proposal eventually. Many academic assignments are based on interesting subjects. Surely, you need to select the one that is related to psychology. When dealing with psychology papers, choose a solid and simple topic. There is no need to select a wide subject since it simply decreases the time needed for paper performing. There are a few writing steps you need to follow to prepare a perfect article. This piece is a psychology-based research paper. Therefore, it requires a profound analysis of a topic. Further, you need to follow writing guidelines and tips to write down the main ideas and results of your research. You need to be very attentive to the details. Sometimes, it can be quite problematic coming up with a good topic. Still, choosing a proper subject is crucial. The right topic and correct structure assure a perfect final research paper. You need to conduct a prior-research in order to analyze what branch of psychology your topic should be related to. Moreover, checking sources in advance is a great idea. It allows assuring a proper discovery of the topic. Be precise with your paper’s purposes, methods you are about to use, and research tools. Always choose a concise and understandable subject to analyze. Choosing Psychology Research Proposal TopicsWhen writing a psychology research proposal, be aware of the exact branch of psychology. Your paper must be focused on a particular subject. Thus, there is no way to write about a single phenomenon analyzing a few spheres of psychological science. Choose a concise topic and a definite branch of psychology. Better select a narrow branch for your research. It will allow you coming up with solid arguments, a strong thesis statement, and relevant evidence faster. Once you have a defined subject to research, it is easier to check the available sources and materials. It is also easier to provide a thesis statement. Selecting a specific branch of psychology, you ease your topic selection as well. You can prepare numerous great papers on social psychology, psychological disorders, and therapy, human cognition, human development, or a specific psychology career. You can also write about a famous historical figure. You choose for yourself what theme to select based on your personal interests and preferences. It can take time to find enough inspiration to come up with a great topic. Still, you need to pay your efforts to select the best possible subject. A solid topic always determines the paper’s final success. Social Psychology Topics
Psychological Disorders and Therapy
Human Cognition and Development
Interesting Psychology Research Proposal Topics
Developing Psychology Research Proposal TopicsWhen you need to prepare an original psychology research proposal topic, you need to follow some useful guidelines. They can help you to find the best theme. There are the key steps you need to follow in order to select a winning subject:
Psychology Research Proposal: Writing TipsThe psychology proposal usually contains a few parts. You need first to describe the purpose of your paper. Once selecting a topic, you have already figured out the purpose of your psychology proposal paper. You also need to write down the methods used for your paper’s preparation. It will give your readers important information on your topic. Make sure to conduct a prior-research in advance. Check the set of relevant sources and materials to have enough information to prepare a strong thesis statement. Make sure to come up with solid arguments and evidence. You can look for a discussion on the topic. You need to provide a set of important questions in your paper and answer them. Once dealing with a proposal, it is important to follow the tutor’s requirements and guidelines. A psychology research proposal requires a short explanation of ideas. Be aware of your paper’s goals to complete an excellent article. If you deal with a specific language in your research paper, make sure to explain complex concepts. The formatting style is usually assigned by a tutor. Thus, every writer must follow a certain formatting style and assure the paper’s proper structure. It is also important to prepare original and flawless content. Your paper must be useful for other researchers. Preparing a Good Psychology Research ProposalThe useful writing steps can help to complete a good paper. You need to follow some guides to succeed in your academic writing. Every research paper requires a profound analysis of a topic. When writing a psychology-based research paper, make sure to define a certain branch of psychology. It is even better if you narrow it for your research. Further, you need to follow writing guidelines and writing tips to write down the main ideas and research results’ explanation. Be very attentive to the slightest details. From time to time, it can be quite problematic coming up with a certain topic that can be analyzed easily. Still, choosing a proper subject is essential. The right topic and correct structure of your article assure a perfect final content. Be ready to conduct a short prior-research in order to analyze what branch of psychology your topic should be related to and narrow it eventually. Moreover, check the sources on the topic in advance. It will allow assuring a proper discovery of the subject. Be accurate with your paper’s resolutions. Choose a concise and logical subject to study. When writing a psychology research proposal, focus on a particular theme. Consequently, be ready to describe a certain phenomenon once analyzing numerous relevant sources. Choose a concise topic that inspires you. It will allow you coming up with solid arguments, a strong thesis statement, and relevant up-to-date evidence. Once you have a defined subject to research, be ready to use your best writing and analytical talents. Make your work really valuable for your target audience. |
IMAGES
COMMENTS
1. Research Proposal Format Example. Following is a general outline of the material that should be included in your project proposal. I. Title Page II. Introduction and Literature Review (Chapters 2 and 3) A. Identification of specific problem area (e.g., what is it, why it is important). B. Prevalence, scope of problem.
Preparing Research Proposals in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: The Graduate Student Guide to Funding ... This Guide was originally designed for graduate students in psychology in the United States and was prepared by faculty and students as part of a graduate course on grant writing in psychology at UC Riverside. It has been
Choose a Sub-Topic. Social psychologists are interested in all aspects of social behavior. Some of the main areas of interest within the field include social cognition, social influence, and social relationships investigating subtopics such as conformity, groupthink, attitude formation, obedience, prejudice, and so on.
A psychology research proposal is an academic document that a person submits to propose a research project, specifically in the field of clinical psychology. The purpose of research proposals is to outline the research questions and summarize your selected research topic. Another necessary reason for creating this proposal is to present ways ...
Being able to write a solid research proposal demonstrates the following qualities: * An understanding of some theoretical concepts in the behavioral sciences. * The ability to organize one's ...
Attitudes. Violence and Aggression. Prosocial Behavior. Prejudice and Discrimination. Social Identity. Group Behavior. Social Influence. Interpersonal Relationships. Social psychology is a branch of psychology that studies a wide range of subjects related to social behavior.
Research proposal examples. Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We've included a few for you below. Example research proposal #1: "A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management".
Psychology Database Limiters; Literature Review Search; ... A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why it's important, and how you will conduct your research. Your paper should include the topic, research question and hypothesis, methods, predictions, and results (if not actual, then projected). ... Social/Behavioral ...
Social: Facebook Page Twitter Page Instagram Page. Subjects ... Psychology, Sociology, Women's & Gender Studies. Preparing your research proposal. For your Research Proposal, you will prepare a written document that includes an Introduction section and a Methods section. ... psychology, research methods. Call us at 313-593-5559. Text us: 313 ...
These key focus areas within social psychology can be compelling psychology research topics: 1. Attitudes and attitude change. Research projects surrounding attitudes generally examine the components of attitudes and how they develop and can be changed. The three components of attitude are affective, behavioral, and cognitive.
Groups tend to act differently from individuals, and specific individuals will act differently depending on the group they are in. Social psychology research topics about groups consider group dynamics, leadership (see above), group-think and decision-making, intra-group and inter-group conflict, identities (see below) and prejudices (see below).
The Social Psychology Program at NSF supports research and research infrastructure to advance basic knowledge in social psychology. Projects funded by the Social Psychology Program support the NSF mission to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity and welfare; and to secure the national defense. Proposals ...
Research Proposal - Final Paper and Planning Document Propose a field experiment that investigates a social psychology research question. Your proposal must be novel so that if the hypothesis were supported in a subsequent execution, a psychology journal could accept the submission as original work. In order to confront the practical challenges
Being able to write a solid research proposal demonstrates the following qualities: * An understanding of some theoretical concepts in the behavioral sciences. * The ability to organize one's ...
The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Punch, Keith and Wayne McGowan. "Developing and Writing a Research Proposal." In From Postgraduate to Social Scientist: A Guide to Key Skills. Nigel Gilbert, ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006), 59-81; Wong, Paul T. P. How to Write a Research Proposal. International ...
101683 Social Psychology Research Proposal A guide to writing your research proposal (edited from a document prepared by L. R. Vartanian & R. T. Pinkus) In this document you will find some general advice about how to organise the Introduction section of your research proposal, as well as some technical details and more specific guidelines that you need to follow in preparing your paper.
Writing the Experimental Report: Methods, Results, and Discussion. Tables, Appendices, Footnotes and Endnotes. References and Sources for More Information. APA Sample Paper: Experimental Psychology. Style Guide Overview MLA Guide APA Guide Chicago Guide OWL Exercises. Purdue OWL. Subject-Specific Writing.
When applying to study for a PhD or MPhil in the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, you will typically need to send us an initial 500-word research proposal. The content and structure of your research proposal will be influenced by the nature of the project you wish to pursue. The guidance and suggested headings provided here ...
H5P: TEST YOUR LEARNING: CHAPTER 1 DRAG THE WORDS - CLASSIC FINDINGS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. Read through each finding, taken from Table 1.5 in the chapter summary, and decide if you think the research evidence shows that it is either mainly true or mainly false by dragging the correct word into each box.
Microsoft Word - PSY410-Example Research Proposal.doc. PSY 410 - Cognitive Psychology. J. P. Toth. Example Research Proposal (note: the study describe here is not meant to be perfect, but rather to give you an idea of the level of detail that would be most useful for evaluating & commenting on your proposal). 1.
The Social Psychology Program at NSF supports research and research infrastructure to advance basic knowledge in social psychology. Projects funded by the Social Psychology Program support the NSF mission to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity and welfare; and to secure the national defense. Proposals ...
Being able to write a solid research proposal demonstrates the following qualities: * An understanding of some theoretical concepts in the behavioral sciences. * The ability to organize one's ...
A psychology research proposal requires a short explanation of ideas. Be aware of your paper's goals to complete an excellent article. If you deal with a specific language in your research paper, make sure to explain complex concepts. The formatting style is usually assigned by a tutor.