Reference no: EM133581586

Assignment: Method

Methods Section: The method section will include three sections: Participants, Measures, and Procedure. If proposing survey research, you must select reliable/valid measures and these measures must be attached to your submission. If proposing an experiment, a detailed research protocol should be included.

Participants: Make certain that you include demographics (age, gender, SES, IQ, educational background, health, marital status, etc.). These are just some examples. Briefly mention the size of your sample and how you are going to obtain the sample and make sure that it is a representational sample. Be aware of cohort effects and confounding variables that can skew your results. Note: Sampling methods can include EPSEM - Equal Probability of Selection Method, Simple Random Sampling, Stratified Random Sampling, Systematic Sampling, etc. It can even involve random selection or assignment to groups. Make certain that you have an adequate sample size. Many suggest a minimum sample size of 30. The more the better.

Measures: Be specific about how you plan to evaluate and/or measure your dependent variable. If it is a questionnaire or survey, be specific. How do you plan to administer it? What is the reliability and validity of your instrument? In psychological testing, this refers to the consistency or stability of scores, while validity pertains to the accuracy of your inferences based on your scores. You should also want to include any survey or questionnaire in your appendix. Note: The Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY) and tests in Print (TIP) are sources of information about standardized tests. Other sources can be found in databases such as PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, SocINDEX, MEDLINE, and ERIC.

Procedure: This should include a detailed account of how you plan to conduct your study. How are groups arranged and while testing will there be sequencing effects? If so, you may want to use counterbalancing. An example for three treatment conditions may include sequences such as 1, 2, 3; 2, 3, 1; 3, 1, 2. Are you using pre and post-testing? Describe your control and treatment groups. In other words, fully describe your experimental design: One-Group Posttest-Only Design, One Group Pre-test Posttest Design, Posttest Only Design with Nonequivalent Groups, and Between-participant designs. Other suggestions: Instructions, Consent, Data collection, Debriefing, etc.

A Word about Hypothesis Testing: This should involve formulating a research problem and it should really be in the form of an interrogative sentence that asks what the relationship between two or more variables is. What is the predicted relationship among the variable(s) being investigated? Remember, if your hypothesis is confirmed, then it should answer your question and support the literature that suggested your hypothesis in the first place. Important: The hypothesis must be stated so that is either refuted or confirmed. Remember that it is actually the null hypothesis and not the research hypothesis that is statistically tested in a study.