VERY VERY IMPORTANT ASSIGNMENT

Research an article on social psychology. Then write a research paper answering the following questions concerning the article you selected.



Explain why you picked the article you selected for this assignment. Include a description of how the article’s

focus captured your interest, and why.



Describe the previous research related to your article. You can find such information included at the beginning of

your article. Usually, this information will be under the “Introduction” section or be in the paragraphs before the

“Method” section. Here you need to summarize information, such as introductory descriptions of previous related

research and the author’s or authors’ ideas about why the article’s study needs to be conducted (this may be

stated in the article or may be gleaned from author’s(s’) comments about limitations of previous research). Do not

discuss the article’s study design just yet.



Describe the participants of the research article you read. In your description, include demographic information

(age, gender, race, ethnicity, employment status, college status, or geographic location). You should also include

whether the participants were compensated for their participation or not. You must address each of these

components to the extent that they are included in your article.



Explain the research methodology utilized in the article. You will include whether the article’s study utilized surveys or inventories, individual or group interviews, case studies, laboratory controlled, or naturalistic observations. If your study was an experiment and/or utilized special machinery, you will also include this

information in your essay. This information should be detailed and explain what these components measured.



Summarize the findings of the article. You can find this information in the “Results” section. Some information

might display findings in tables and charts, but these should not be included here. Be thorough and concise when

describing the findings in a narrative format.



Summarize what your article’s author(s) said in the discussion and/or conclusion sections. This information might

be found under “Discussion” and “Conclusion” headings while others will have it in paragraphs near the end of the

article with no distinguishing heading. A discussion section is usually interpretations of findings (i.e., what do they

mean), and a conclusion section is more about author ideas about why the findings occurred. There could be

overlaps. If your article has both sections, you will summarize them both.



Describe three different types of information that were covered in your selected article and in the course textbook.

The information can be discussed in the textbook as theories, concepts, or principles from any chapter. These

three should be distinct, and they must be described in clear and succinct statements with accompanying

explanations of how they relate specifically to the article.



Describe at least two ways that your article has real world applications. To have real world impact means that a

study’s findings are used to make a difference, not that they can be related to phenomena that exist in the real

world. You will need to provide specifics about what might be done with the findings.



Explain something related to your selected article’s focus that the researchers did not cover in their study and that

you would like to learn more about. Your answer should not be a critique of the article or the study methods or a

reenvisioning of the study conducted in a better way. You should think in terms of something you would like to

learn about that was not covered by the author(s) but is related to the article’s focus.

Your paper should be four to six pages in length in APA style.

VERY VERY IMPORTANT -- All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced;

paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations. APA style should be used to write the paper.