Term Paper on "Stereotype and Prejudice the Effects of Positive"

Quoted Instructions for "Stereotype and Prejudice the Effects of Positive" Assignment:

Every source needed has been uploaded to the fax board.

I need a research paper. Topic could be anything within the Psy subject of Stereotype and Prejudice (refer to presentation document that I will send you via email).

You will need to make up a hypothesis, make up data and interprete them.

No abstract is needed.

The paper needs to have at least 3 references. One of them must be one of the articles that I will send you via emails, the other could be anything. References should be mentioned in the introduction.

At some point in the paper, independent variables and the dependent variable must be stated clearly.

If there are two ore more independent variables, you must discuss the main effects and interaction (important).

I need a graph of the data in the paper. So, I think two independent variables are good enough. If you don't graph, please send me your made-up data, so I can do it.

The discussion part (see paper guidelines below) could be a generalization of the hypothesis.

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Guidelines for Psych167AC Papers

Assignment:

Your papers will be due on December 7, the last day of class. Your assignment is to write your own original research article: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References. You are to generate an original hypothesis related to the topic of the class, design an experiment designed to test the idea, and describe hypothetical data in the results section.

Parameters of the assignment:

*****¢ Length: Your paper should be 5 pages long, not including references. Longer papers will be penalized 5 points for each page over limit.

o Title page: Title and SID. Write your name in pencil in the BACK of this sheet. This ensures fair grading.

o Pages 1-2: Background literature and hypothesis. Your background literature should consist of one reading from your syallbus, and at least two other empirical articles from the research literature. The background literature frames and gives rise to your hypothesis. Your hypothesis should be in the form of a statement (e.g., *****I hypothesize that people recall information better if they are in the same state as they were when they learned it*****). Phrasing your hypothesis in the form of a statement ensures that you don*****t end up with something untestable (e.g.,*****Why are people so bad at remembering information?*****)

o Pages 2-3: Methods. This is where you tell us how you will test your hypothesis. An experiment is required with independent variables (that you manipulate) and a dependent variable. Your experiment can have one or two factors, and no more than three levels within a factor. Describe your design, materials, and procedure briefly. You do not have enough space to go into huge detail, so be judicious about what you write. Show that you*****ve been paying attention to all we have talked about with respect to good experimental design.

o Page 3-4: Results. Imagine that you have collected data. Present the results of your study in graphs, and provide a description of the findings as well. Do not make up statistics, but do say whether you expect main effects or interactions. If you are having trouble with graphing software, draw your graphs (with care). Your audience should be able to understand your data and results quickly. A picture is worth a thousand words!

o Page 4-5: Discussion. Brief. What do the results tell us about the phenomenon you are trying to understand? What remains to be understood? Any limitations to your study? What are some future directions?

o References (on a different page)

*****¢ Late penalty: 10 points will be taken off your grade for every day that a paper is late. Papers will not be accepted at all after Dec. 12.

General things to keep in mind.

*****¢ Brevity is key. Brevity, and the distillation of essential information, is the key to a good grade (see Page 2).

*****¢ Go for simplicity and elegance. Your hypothesis and idea don*****t have to be complicated. Go for a straightforward hypothesis, and choose a neat, clean study to test your idea.

*****¢ Revise. Don*****t be fooled by the length of the assignment. An effective paper requires several drafts.

*****¢ Examples: the journal Psychological Science publishes short, sweet papers on interesting topics. Look at papers published here for examples of papers. Readings 7c, 11a, and 11b are examples of papers from this very journal.

A note on the length of the assignment:

Throughout our schooling, many of us are taught that Length is Strength: the longer a report or paper, the more complete, and the better the job.

Your challenge here is different! It is instead to pack a big idea (I hope) into a concise package. You may be worried about being able to do your idea justice in such a short space. It is absolutely possible: look at all the abstracts for those long papers I*****m having you read.

Writing with brevity is hard; it is an art. It means thinking precisely about what stays in and what stays out; what details are important to mention and which not. Two of my favorite quotes:

*****I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of the day taking it out*****

--Oscar Wilde

*****I*****m sorry this letter is so long; I didn*****t have time to write a short one*****

-- Blaise Pascal

Grading:

Your GSI*****s will assign points as follows:

Do you include and discuss 3 empirical articles in your introduction? 10 points

Is there an identifiable hypothesis to test? 10 points

Does the hypothesis logically follow from the arguments of the introduction? 10 points

Does your experiment have clear independent variables? 10 points

Does your experiment have clear dependent variables? 10 poins

Do you operationalize your variables clearly? 10 points

Is your experiment an adequate test of your hypothesis? 5 points

Description of your findings (main effects? Interactions?) 10 points

Clarity of your graphs 10 points

Thoughtfulness of the discussion 10 points

Did you include references? 5 points

TOTAL 100 points

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