Using Figure 1.2 in Ch. 1 of Exploring Research, create a flowchart using Microsoft® Word or a similar program that helps you identify what research design to use for your research question.

Write a 500- to 750-word summary of the ethical issues that affect your selected research question and methodology, including the following:

  • Write a brief statement of the research question.
  • List the possible ethical issues, such as consideration of characteristics of your sample, type of data collection, potential for bias, and so forth.
  • Identify and cite the APA ethical standard concerning the issue.
  • Respond to each issue, specifying how you, the researcher, will minimize or eliminate it.

Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word research proposal including the following:

  • Introduction, including purpose and importance of your topic
  • Literature review based on the Annotated Bibliography assignment
  • Research questions and hypothesis
  • Methods: sample, procedure, and analysis
  • Ethical considerations
  • Discussion: expected results, conclusions, and limitations
  • References

Ground students must complete a poster to present. Online students must complete an 8- to 10-slide Microsoft®PowerPoint® presentation. Both modalities must include the following:

Abstract, including the research question

  • Prior research: literature review
  • Purpose
  • Methods
  • Expected conclusions
  • References

Capstone Quiz

Answer the following multiple choice questions by highlighting the answer. There is one correct answer per question.

  1. Which historical perspective stated that psychologists should study the different components of the mind independently, because to understand how the conscious mind works, we must understand all of its individual parts completely?
  1. Structuralism
  1. Functionalism
  1. Behaviorism
  1. Gestalt
  1. Psychodynamic
  1. Edward Titchener used a method for studying the mind that became popular during the Structuralist period. The method, called _____, required trained participants to report their conscious mental experiences to the investigator. For example, if a person was angry, they would report all of their experiences during the time they were angry.
  1. empiricism
  1. functionalism
  1. contemplation
  1. introspection
  1. conscientiousness
  1. A potential problem with ___________ research is _____________.
  1. longitudinal; cohort difference
  1. cross-sectional; subject attrition
  1. cross-sectional; cohort differences
  1. longitudinal; random assignment
  1. cross-sectional; maturation
  1. Research by _____________ legitimized psychological science when it became the first psychological research presented as evidence to the United States Supreme Court.
  1. Muzafer Sherif
  1. Irving Janis
  1. Mamie Clark
  1. Phillip Zimbardo
  1. Kurt Lewin
  1. To determine whether changing one variable like education will produce changes in another like income, we must conduct _____________________ research.
  1. survey
  1. correlational
  1. experimental
  1. statistical
  1. basic
  1. Mary is studying the effect of high blood sugar on intelligence test performance. Which of these might be her hypothesis?
  1. People should not eat high sugar foods prior to IQ testing.
  1. High sugar foods increase energy and improve IQ test performance.
  1. People who eat high sugar foods before testing will have lower scores on an IQ test than people who do not.
  1. Roughly 75% of people had lower IQ test scores after eating high sugar snacks right before testing.
  1. Individuals should not be given high sugar snacks prior to IQ testing.
  1. Which of the following research methods would be most effective in demonstrating whether the presence of others improves our performance of a task?
  1. An experiment
  1. A correlational study
  1. A survey
  1. A field study
  1. An historical study
  1. Which of the following psychological studies would you expect to have similar results cross-culturally?
  1. Milgram’s study of obedience to authority
  1. Asch’s conformity study
  1. Study of the symptoms of mental illness
  1. Study of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
  1. Study of parenting styles
  1. According to the APA Ethical Standards, psychologists must inform participants of the nature of the research; and that they are free to participate, decline to participate, or withdraw from the research at any time. These requirements, among others, are necessary to ensure the participants’ ______.
  1. anonymity
  1. risk level
  1. informed consent
  1. debriefing
  1. risk/benefit ratio
  1. Making an ethical decision involves
  1. simply applying a clear and definitive set of guidelines for ethical research
  1. deciding that an ethical decision is effective if it makes you happy
  1. identifying what ethical guidelines are relevant in a situation and what is at stake for all parties involved

maintaining the anonymity of the researchers

  1. maintaining the anonymity of the participants
  1. According to the APA Ethical Standards, who is ultimately responsible for the ethical conduct of research done in psychology?
  1. The Institutional Review Board