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PSY 326 Research Methods Week Two Discussion. 1. Research Design You have been approached by a pharmaceutical company that has developed a new drug that is supposed to be effective in the treatment of schizophrenia. Before mass producing the drug they want to be sure that it is more effective than the drug they are currently producing. They have hired you to design a research study to determine the effectiveness of the new drug compared with the old one. Discuss what research you would use for this study and why. Be sure to include a brief overview of the study and how you would determine the effectiveness of one drug over the other. Your initial post should be at least 250-300 words in length. Support your claims with at least two scholarly resources, and properly cite any references according to APA style. 2. Hypothesis Testing Psychology
the topic I pick is Depression and Clinical
Use the study you designed in Discussion One of this week titled Research Design to complete this discussion question. Based on the study you designed, you will define the 5 steps of hypothesis testing for your study. Step 1: State the hypothesis. Step 2: Collect the data – For the purpose of this discussion, you will state how you would collect the data. Step 3: Calculate statistics – For the purpose of this discussion, you will indicate the statistics you would use. Step 4: Compare to a critical value – For the purpose of this discussion, you will indicate where you would set the alpha value and why. Note: Step 4 is hypothetical as you are not actually conducting a statistical analysis. Consequently, you will choose if the results of your hypothetical analysis are above or below the critical value. Step 5: Make a decision – For the purpose of this discussion, you will make a conclusion based on hypothetical results from Step 4. Be sure to include a recommendation on the effectiveness of the new drug based on the results. Your initial post should be a minimum of 250-300 words and utilize at least two scholarly sources, cited in APA format. . Assignment
Establishing Reliability and Validity You are a psychologist working for a consulting firm that specializes in survey development. Your firm has been contacted by M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) who wants to develop a survey that will identify teenagers at-risk for driving while intoxicated. They have provided a list of questions that their research suggests will help to identify risk factors contributing to this behavior. They need your firm to work with them to establish reliability and validity of this survey so that they can begin using it to establish risk in young adults across the nation. In a two to three page paper (excluding title and reference pages), discuss the steps that you would take to establish reliability and validity of this survey. Be sure to describe the type(s) of reliability and validity that you are attempting to establish as part of your consulting project. Your paper should include an introduction to these concepts as well as a clearly stated thesis for the development project and a conclusion. You must use two to three scholarly resources APA Week Three Discussions Descriptive Research Briefly discuss the three descriptive designs presented in the reading this week (case studies, archival research, and observational research). Be sure to discuss the strengths and weaknesses associated with each approach. Which of these three approaches do you think is the best descriptive design and why? Finally, indicate what types of research each of these designs would be effective in testing. Your initial post should be 250-300 words and utilize at least two scholarly sources, cited in APA format. 1. Data Description This discussion question has two parts. Be sure to address both parts in your post. 1. This chapter introduces different methods that can be used to describe data. Discuss why describing data is such an important part of the research process. Why are there different methods that can be used to describe data? Do the methods used to describe data depend on the type of research design that you have utilized or it is a function of the data collected? Explain your reasoning. 2. select a quantitative research study. Identify and describe the method(s) used to describe the data in this study. Was the appropriate method(s) identified, in your opinion? Could other methods have been used to
describe the data in this study? Be sure to properly site the study you chose within your post. Your initial post should be a minimum of 250-300 words and utilize at least two scholarly sources, cited in APA format. . Assignment: Research Study and Method This week you will submit a one to two page paper (excluding title and reference pages) that discusses the research study you will critique for your Final Paper. It is essential that the research study you choose to critique must: 1. Be an actual research study, not a review. 2. Contain a literature review of research related to the topic. 3. Have a clearly stated research question (or questions) and a hypothesis. 4. Collect data for analysis. 5. Conduct some type of analysis on the data collected. 6. Interpret the results of the analysis. 7. Discuss the implications of the results of the study. It is important that you complete all of the components of the assignment this week so that your instructor can provide you feedback which you will use to complete the Final Paper. Your paper should contain the following: 1. An introduction which includes the hypothesis, methods, and results of this study. 2. A summary of the study. 3. An explanation of how this study is consistent with the topic and discipline submitted in Week One. 4. A conclusion. 5. The APA formatted reference for the research study and any additional sources used. 6. Two scholarly peer-reviewed resources, other than the text. One of the resources will be the research study that you are discussing. Week four Discussions Survey Research For this question choose a research area that you would like to learn more about. Briefly design a study using one of the survey approaches introduced in the reading this week. The research design should include the type of sampling you will use and why you chose the approach that you did to study this topic. Regardless of the method you choose, include two sample questions that will be part of your study. Indicate why each of these would be good questions based on the principles presented this week. What are the ethical concerns associated with your question or approach? Finally, suggest ways to
improve the response rate or participation levels in your study. Your initial post should be a minimum of 250 to 300 words and utilize at least two scholarly sources, cited in APA format. 1. Data Analysis Assume that you conducted the research study that you proposed in the first discussion question this week and now have the data. Which of the methods used for analyzing survey data would you use and why? Be sure to explain why the approach that you are proposing to use for data analysis is consistent with the survey research method that you employed and the data you obtained. Your initial post should be a minimum of 250-300 words and utilize at least two scholarly sources, cited in APA format. Week five Discussions Experimental versus Quasi-Experimental Designs Discuss the major differences between experimental and quasi-experimental designs. Be sure to address the relationship of variable manipulation to each of these designs and discuss the different types of manipulations that may be used. What dictates the design (experimental versus quasi-experimental) and the type of manipulation used in a research study? Your initial post should be a minimum of 250-300 words and utilize at least two scholarly sources, cited in APA format. 1. Internal and External Validity When it comes to conducting experimental research, interpretation of the results can be influenced greatly by the extent to which an experiment has internal and external validity. Discuss the importance of external and internal validity and some of the threats to each of these. What is the impact of having one type of validity but not the other? If you could only have one type of validity in your experiment which would it be and why? Your initial post should be a minimum of 250-300 words and utilize at least two scholarly sources, cited in APA format. Final Paper Research Study Critique
The Final Paper for this course is a Research Study Critique. For this assignment, utilize the topic and the research methodology approved by the instructor in Week One of the course and the selected peer-reviewed published research study on your topic from Week Three. You will then go through each section of the research study and critique not only the research but also how the research was presented. In many cases, the research is done well but written or presented in a way that is misleading or confusing. Consequently, it is important to evaluate both the research and presentation. This will allow you to apply the concepts learned in the class to the interpretation of actual scientific research. The research study that you chose to critique must: 1. Be an actual research study, not a review. 2. Contain a literature review of research related to the topic. 3. Have a clearly stated research question (or questions) and a hypothesis. 4. Collect data for analysis. 5. Conduct some type of analysis on the data collected. 6. Interpret the results of the analysis. 7. Discuss the implications of the results of the study. Your Final Paper should be eight to ten pages in length, excluding title and reference pages, and formatted according to APA style 6th edition with citations from a minimum of six to eight scholarly peer-reviewed sources. Follow the instructions described below to organize and write your paper. The Final Paper must contain all of the components found in an actual published research study. In each section the content of the paper will be summarized and then critiqued using the knowledge that you have obtained in this course. Writing the Final Paper The Research Study Critique must contain: I. Introduction II. Literature review III. Methods IV. Results V. Discussion I. Introduction The introduction section will provide a general introduction to the topic and why this topic and discipline were chosen. The research study being critiqued will also be introduced in this section. II. Literature Review In this section the literature that the author of the study introduced will be discussed. The critique of this section will be focused on the relevance of the studies reviewed and any
bias in the review. Most research contains numerous side of a debate. The critique should indicate if some research was excluded from the review and if this impacts the interpretation of the review. III. Methods In this section the research method and statistical approaches for the study will be presented. This section should include a discussion of all relevant information to the experimental design such as the approach (qualitative or quantitative), the design experimental, quasi-experimental etc., sampling method, sample size, variables (independent and dependent), measures of the variables, statistical tests and any assumptions noted on the part of the researcher. In this section, the student should provide a critique of all of these factors and suggest alternatives when appropriate. IV. Results In this section, the results of the analysis performed in this study should be presented and critiqued. It is also appropriate to discuss limitations or critique the interpretation of the results provided in each study. V. Discussion In this section overall efficacy of this study will be evaluated. The strengths and weaknesses of this study should be evaluated in this section. Other directions that the researcher could have gone in should be discussed in this section. Finally, the interpretation and future directions proposed by the author of the study should be summarized and critiques as well. The Final Paper: 1. Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length, and formatted according to APA s 2. Must include a title page with the following: a. Title of paper b. Student’s name c. Course name and number d. Instructor’s name e. Date submitted 3. Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement. 4. Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought. 5. Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis. 6. Must use at least six to eight scholarly sources. 7. Must document all sources in APA style, 8. Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA s