Reference no: EM132570926

This term paper is going to require some creative thinking and curiousity on your part. As you read the text and the modules, some questions may come to mind. Questions like "that's interesting, I wonder if it's still true in the computer age?" or "I wonder how young that starts?", etc. The intent of this Assignment is for you to critically think like a Psychologist.

For instance, suppose a psychologist observes students playing video games on a big-screen TV in a student lounge and notices that the men tend to get higher scores than the women do. She might speculate that this gender difference results from differences in the amount of time that men and women spend playing video games. In other words, her hunch is that, in general, men get higher scores on video games because they practice more than women do. Such hunches are often derived from a psychological theory, a general principle or set of principles proposed to explain how a number of separate facts are related. In our example, the researcher's hunch seems to be based on a theory that emphasizes the role of experience in shaping behavior; that is, her theory proposes that the more experience people have doing something, the better they are at it.

Based on her hunch about the cause of gender differences in video game scores, the researcher next comes up with a hypothesis, a specific prediction or research question that can be tested empirically-that is, with data: If malesand females spent equal amounts of time practicing a game, would their scores be equal?

Note that the above is presented for reasons of example only, and is not for use by students, who are required to come up with their own research topic.

The rest of the paper will be your description of how you might empirically answer your question (refer back to Module 1 to understand empiricism). You need to provide a brief literature review of the research that has already been done, in your area of interest, leading up to your research question. You need to explain why your question is worth answering. Then propose one of the research methods you learned about in Text Chapter 1, and Online Module 1 (survey, experiment, case study, etc.), and describe how you would go about trying to answer your question. You do not actually do the research, nor gather data, just describe how you would do it in a scientifically valid, measureable, and ethical manner. Such is a similar process psychologists go through in proposing scientific research.

Use the following headings in your paper: Introduction: Using our example, you would review a couple of scholarly articles on gender differences and video games, and explain how you came up with your question.

Question: State your research question. Such should be empirical (able to be measured), as is the research question stated above. Rationale: Explain why this is an important question....why is it worth answering? Method: Here you would describe how you would attempt to answer your question. You would pick one of the research methods from page 14 of your text. You could do an experiment for example. Describe in detail (use the grading rubric below as your guide) how you would use your chosen research method to answer your question. In our example, you could design a study in which you use the same procedures to teach male and female students how to play a new video game. Then you allow them 30 minutes to practice it on their own. At the end of the practice session, you tell participants to play the game again. The independent variable is the teaching/practice session, and the dependent variable is the score obtained. Remember, this is a research proposal only, you do not have to actually do the research. Conclusion: Summarize and tie everything together.
You should use the following guidelines for this assignment:
• Use at least 2 scholarly sources, in addition to your textbook.
• Length: approx. 5 pages (excluding cover, and references, pages)
• Papers are required to be submitted electronically
• If you use websites as your references, try to avoid .com sites (.org, .gov, .edu are better)
• Use APA format. For more information on APA formatting, check the following resources:

Attachment:- psychology.rar