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APPLIED RESEARCH PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS & EXAMPLES
The components of the Applied Research Project are presented below on separate pages. Each
component begins with the instructions, includes an appropriate example, and finishes with the
checklist from that component’s grading rubric. Most of the components included in the Proposal and
Final Paper are very similar, so I have presented them here together. For the components that have
significant differences, I have included both the Proposal and Final Paper directions, examples, and
checklist items from the grading rubric so you can see the differences. For the components that are only
required for the final paper (e.g., title page, results & conclusion), this is noted. Please note that the
examples given below are from a variety of different papers. Additionally, single spacing was used here
to present examples succinctly, but double spacing is expected in your actual products.
WARNING: These examples are meant illustrate what is expected for the Applied Research Project
assignments. However, they should not be considered the only way to document an observational
project; there are many ways to do this and do it well. Additionally, the writing in these examples was
adapted from actual student submissions and may contain minor errors.
Title Page
DIRECTIONS: FINAL PAPER ONLY - Title Page: Give your project an appropriate title (you can be creative, but make
sure you include the major point of your observational study). Below the title, report your name and your
school’s name (not the abbreviation) on separate lines. If you would like to add an APA-style running head, that
is fine but not required. There should be no extraneous information on the title page (e.g., dates, instructor
name, course number). [Formatting notes: The title page is the first page of your paper and should be included in
page numbering. Do not use fancy colors or fonts. Capitalize all major words (even though you don’t do this for
article titles in the Reference List).]
EXAMPLE:
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Social Norms on a Train in Tokyo: Conforming and Deviancy
Pat Smith
University of Maryland University College
Title Page
Checklist
from
Grading
Rubric
1.
2.
3.
4.
Appropriate title
Author’s name
School’s name (not abbreviation)
Does not contain extraneous information
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Literature Review
DIRECTIONS: PROPOSAL – Literature Review Sample*: Copy and paste one abstract from social psychological
literature relating to your intended observation, and below the abstract explain how it helps form the research
question or observational methodology for your observation (this explanation should be labeled “Contribution”).
DIRECTIONS: FINAL PAPER - Literature Review*: Locate five appropriate abstracts from social psychological literature
relating to your observation. Copy and paste these abstracts in this section of your paper; below each abstract,
explain how this article helped form the research question or observational methodology for your observation
(this explanation should be labeled “Contribution”). Note that an abstract is one of the first elements included in
professionally published articles; it serves as the summary of the entire article. In most cases, the articles you
will consider will be research based (meaning that the authors actually conducted an experiment), but you may
also choose articles that are more theoretical in nature as long as they have an abstract. Many websites contain
unprofessional “stories” that do not contain abstracts; this makes them inappropriate for this assignment,
although you can still use such information with proper citation in your paper’s Introduction.
*Please read the Literature Review section of the Final Paper instructions for more information on choosing
appropriate abstracts. [Formatting notes: Clearly number and label the beginning of each abstract with an
appropriate APA-style in-text citation (i.e., the author’s last names and publication year); e.g., Abstract 1: Smith
& Jones, 2015. Also, clearly label your explanation of how each abstract contributes to your research question or
observational methodology with the subheading “Contribution”.]
EXAMPLE:
Abstract 1: (Moussaid, Perozo, Garnier, Helbing & Theraulaz, 2010)
“Human crowd motion is mainly driven by self-organized processes based on local interactions among
pedestrians. While most studies of crowd behaviour consider only interactions among isolated individuals, it turns
out that up to 70% of people in a crowd are actually moving in groups, such as friends, couples, or families
walking together. These groups constitute medium-scale aggregated structures and their impact on crowd
dynamics is still largely unknown. In this work, we analyze the motion of approximately 1500 pedestrian groups
under natural condition, and show that social interactions among group members generate typical group walking
patterns that influence crowd dynamics. At low density, group members tend to walk side by side, forming a line
perpendicular to the walking direction. As the density increases, however, the linear walking formation is bent
forward, turning it into a V-like pattern. These spatial patterns can be well described by a model based on social
communication between group members. We show that the V-like walking pattern facilitates social interactions
within the group, but reduces the flow because of its “non-aerodynamic” shape. Therefore, when crowd density
increases, the group organization results from a trade-off between walking faster and facilitating social exchange.
These insights demonstrate that crowd dynamics is not only determined by physical constraints induced by other
pedestrians and the environment, but also significantly by communicative, social interactions among individuals.”
Contribution: The authors delve into specific social interactions that tend to be made by pedestrians. This
information can assist with the research regarding mall observations because the author separates the groups in a
similar fashion as I intend to with my observation. There is an observation of friends, family members, couples,
etc. Furthermore, there is an assessment of the dynamic between all of the groups and if the social interactions are
impacted by any specific triggers. Based on the research questions that have been formulated regarding the mall
observation, that information will be beneficial when assessing the different types of interactions that are seen on a
daily basis.
Literature
Review
Checklist
from
Grading
Rubric
The only difference between the proposal and final paper is the number of abstracts required (1 or 5).
1. 1 (proposal) or 5 (final paper) appropriate abstracts
2. 1 (proposal) or 5 (final paper) appropriate explanations for how information contributed to your study
3. Properly labeled
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Introduction & Research Question
1.
DIRECTIONS: PROPOSAL - Proposed Introduction & Research Question: Identify the general social psychology principle
you will be looking for in your observation, describe how the abstract you’ve included in your Literature Review
section relates to your observation (and include a required APA-style citation), and provide your research
question(s). Make sure that your research question is worded as a question and is capable of being answered
through observation alone. The proposal’s introduction will be much briefer than what is expected for the final
paper as you have not done all the research necessary to fully develop these points yet. You will need to include
much more detail in the introduction for your final paper; at this point, I just want to make sure that you have
some initial support for your research question. Note: You should read ahead in your in-class readings if you
intend to investigate a topic that comes at the end of the class. Remember to include APA-style text citations
where appropriate, including any references to things you have learned from your class readings.
2. See the “How APA-Style Citations and References Can Help You Prevent Plagiarism” section at the end of the
syllabus (which was referenced in the Plagiarism Tutorial & APA-Style Citations/References Discussion). Read the
Introduction and Research Question sections of the Final Paper instructions for more details on what kinds of
information to include for this section.
3.
NOTE: This section only applies to the proposal; Proposed Introduction will be replaced by Introduction for the final paper.
EXAMPLE FOR PROPOSAL:
Proposed Introduction & Research Question
Persuasion techniques are often used when attempting to get people to donate to charities (Saylor
Academy, 2012). Getting people to donate money when it is requested can also be thought of as way of getting
them to conform to your demands (Saylor Academy, 2012). According to Lankenau (1999), some panhandlers
increase the likelihood that people will donate to them by engaging in unusual behavior. My research question
is: Will a beggar’s behavior influence whether or not passersby donate when money is requested?
DIRECTIONS: FINAL PAPER – Introduction: This section will “introduce” your reader to the general social psychology
topic you will be observing and summarize what you’ve learned from the abstracts in your literature review
(most, if not all, of the abstracts included in your literature review section should be cited in the Introduction).
This section must build the case for your research question. When you outline your introduction, think of an
upside-down triangle or funnel shape; begin with the most general information, then progress to information
that is more specific to your research question. Start by introducing the topic in general (this could be a few
sentences or a paragraph long) and make sure you include appropriate citations from your classroom text or any
other sources. Next comes the literature review; this is where you will summarize what you’ve learned from the
abstracts (with citations) included in your literature review. The final portion of your introduction should
summarize what you’ve learned from your literature review and end with your research question. Note: You
should read ahead in your in-class readings if you intend to investigate a topic that comes towards the end of the
class. Remember to include APA-style text citations where appropriate, including any references to things you
have learned from your class readings. [Formatting notes: This section should be about 1-2 double-spaced pages
long. See the “How APA-Style Citations and References Can Help You Prevent Plagiarism” section at the end of the
syllabus.]
DIRECTIONS: FINAL PAPER - Research Question: For this observation study, you must have a specific question (or
small set of related questions) that you are trying to answer. This does not have to be labeled as a separate
section of your paper; it can come at end of the introduction section. But you must make sure 1) you clearly state
the question(s) you are trying to answer, 2) your questions are supported by information you included in your
Introduction, and 3) your question can be answered through observation alone. Your question(s) must be
detailed and specific. For example, are there distinguishable behaviors that lead a man to ask a woman to dance
in a bar setting? What are the specific behaviors of people who are paying attention in church? Do older people
influence the behavior of younger people? Note that one good question is better than multiple weak questions,
and too many weakly related questions will make your paper difficult to write. [Formatting notes: This section
will only be a sentence or few sentences long and does not have to be a separately labeled section (but it can be,
if you prefer).]
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EXAMPLE FOR FINAL PAPER:
Introduction & Research Questions
Persuasion techniques are often used when attempting to get people to donate to charities (Saylor
Academy, 2012). Getting people to donate money when it is requested can also be thought of as way of getting
people to conform to your demands (Saylor Academy, 2012). Persuading others to conform their behavior by
donating money involves techniques that are not used only by formal charities. According to Lankenau (1999),
some panhandlers capture attention by using dramatic techniques to increase compliance.
Pedestrians serve as an audience and respond to panhandling by selecting form a menu of responses.
One common response amongst the everyday commuters is the nonperson treatment or passing by a
panhandler as if they do not exist. This sort of behavior is often displayed by those who believe that people get
what they deserve and deserve what they get (Begue, Charmoillaux, Cochet, Cury, & Suremain, 2008). In
other words, these people are unlikely to participate in altruistic behavior toward beggars and panhandlers.
Persuasive techniques, such as the Pique technique, are often used by beggars and panhandlers to
increase compliance from passersby in situations where little attention might be paid otherwise (Burder,
Hornisher, Martin & Newman, 2007). This technique is practiced by presenting individuals with an unexpected
request in an attempt to catch the attention of the intended audience. For instance, in the study by Burder, et
al., 313 passersby were either asked by beggars for a common amount of change or for 37 cents. Those asked
for the uncommon amount of 37 cents were more likely to comply with the request for money due to their
heuristic process being disrupted.
Deviant behavior displayed by beggars and panhandlers may also discourage passersby from
complying with their requests. In a study done by Abbate and Ruggieri (2008), a fake beggar was instructed to
either approach passersby and invade their personal space or allow passersby to make the decision to approach
them. For the purpose of the above-mentioned study, personal space was defined as a moveable, invisible
barrier surrounding individuals. When the beggar acted in a deviant way by invading the personal space of
passersby, this effectively heightened discomfort and negative feelings of the passersby who were approached,
which resulted in decreased compliance amongst those passersby.
Because the behavior of those asking for money could have positive or negative influence on the
likelihood of their requests being met, I would like to investigate how their behavior influences the behavior of
those being targeted for donations. Specifically, will engaging in deviant behavior positively or negatively
influence the likelihood of compliance by passersby when donations are requested? And what techniques used
by street beggars are most persuasive in increasing compliance with their monetary donation requests?
Introduction
Checklist
from Grading
Rubric
Research
Question
Checklist
from Grading
Rubric
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Starts with appropriate social psychological concepts
Includes summarized information from abstracts in literature review
Information is related to observational topic and presented with appropriate level of detail
Does not contain extraneous information
Supports research question(s)
All information from external sources cited
Related to literature review
Supported by introduction
Able to answer with observational methodology
Appropriate number/scope
Worded as a question
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Subjects & Setting
DIRECTIONS: PROPOSAL - Proposed Subjects & Setting: Describe your proposed subjects (e.g., age ranges, gender,
race), including how many people you intend to observe. Also describe the specific setting where you intend to
conduct your observation, including some description of the general geographic area. These may change after
you do more research; I just want to make sure you are on the right track at the proposal stage. Read the Subjects
and Settings sections of the Final Paper instructions for more on what kinds of information to include for these sections.
NOTE: Proposed Subjects & Proposed Setting will be replaced by Subjects & Setting for the final paper.
PROPOSAL EXAMPLE:
Proposed Subjects
My observations will focus on adults who appear to be between the ages of 25 and 65 years of age. I intend to
avoid a population of people that look to be younger than 25 or older than 65 because I feel like they could be in a
different developmental place. I intend to observe males and females, but I am not interested in gender differences
for my study. Similarly, I will include people of any and all racial/ethnic groups. I will observe at least 20 people.
Proposed Setting
I plan to conduct my observations in the local mall of a small, suburban town in Wyoming. I will make my
observations during relatively busy times for the mall in the area where people order food, as this is a place where
lots of lines form. This will increase the diversity of the people I am observing and allow me not to be noticed.
DIRECTIONS: FINAL PAPER – Subjects: Describe the general group of subjects you have observed, including the
number of subjects, estimated ages or age groups, gender(s), racial/ethnic groups represented, and any other
observable information that makes these people special.
DIRECTIONS: FINAL PAPER – Setting: In this section, discuss the setting in which your observation occurred (e.g.,
Where did you make your observation? Were you outside or inside? What was special about this setting? Why
did you need to perform your observation here?) Also name and describe the general geographic area for your
setting (e.g., Was it in an urban/suburban/rural setting? What are the racial, ethnic, and/or socioeconomic
characteristics of the area [with citations to support the characteristics you report]?). Include sufficient detail so
that it is clear how the setting might have affected behaviors discussed throughout your paper. Think like a social
psychologist and describe the details that you would want to know in order to have a better understanding of
what you report about in your project. [Formatting notes: For some observations, the setting will be more
important and need to be described in detail than other observations. You may choose to combine this section
with the preceding section to make a “Subjects and Setting” section.]
FINAL PAPER EXAMPLE:
Subjects
I limited my observations to groups of females who were in a similar age range. While I did not record race or
ethnicity, it is important to note that my subjects were predominantly white. My ability to estimate age is limited,
and to attempt to account for error, I kept the age groups in 10-year increments until the age of 60 at which point I
just recorded the person as 60 or more years of age. I ended up observing 16 women (8 in the 20-30 year range, 5
in the 30-40 year range, 2 in the 40-50 year range, and 1 in the 60+ range).
Setting
This observation was conducted at the only shopping mall in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a primarily urban area with
approximately 64,000 residents (http://www.city-data.com/city/Cheyenne-Wyoming.html). The racial makeup of
this area is primarily white (77%) while the gender distribution approximately equal. The median household
income in Cheyenne of $59,877 per year is similar to the average income for the state of Wyoming. Francis E.
Warren Air Force Base is located at the edge of town, and the city also has a community college. All walks of life
may be found at the shopping mall at any given time which made it a good spot to catch a population sample of
Cheyenne, and the public setting facilitated my ability to observe behaviors unobtrusively. In order to observe
behavior of people as they joined lines, I assumed a position in the eatery area of the mall which provided a good
vantage point of a variety of store fronts where lines routinely formed.
Subjects
Checklist from
Rubric
Setting
Checklist from
Grading
Rubric
1. Appropriate information about subjects given research topic (e.g., age, gender, race)
2. Good details included
3. Number of subjects included
1. Appropriate setting description given research topic
2. Description of general geographic area
3. Good details included
4. Includes appropriate citations (if necessary)
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Observational Methodology
DIRECTIONS: PROPOSAL - Proposed Observational Methodology: Describe how you plan to conduct your observations in
such a way that you will be able to answer your proposed research question. Include as much information as you can. You
can modify before conducting your actual study; this is just to see if you are on the right track. Read the Observational
Sessions section of the Final Paper instructions for more on what kinds of information to include for this section.
NOTE: Proposed Observational Methodology will be replaced by Observational Methodology for the final paper.
PROPOSAL EXAMPLE:
Proposed Observational Methodology
I plan to start my observations in downtown Pyeongtaek. This is a very busy urban area filled with shopping
and market districts, as well as the train station, and all of these areas are full of clearly marked trash receptacles.
My observations of people here will determine whether people litter in public places with available receptacles. I
will then observe in the town square near my apartment, where there tends to be a lot of trash on the ground and no
available trash receptacles. My observations of people here will determine if people are more likely to litter in
public places without available receptacles. I also intend to note whether people are alone or with others when
they either litter or deposit trash in an appropriate trash receptacle.
DIRECTIONS: FINAL PAPER - Observational Methodology: In this section, explain how you engaged in your
observation and detail the behaviors that you observed. Include information that is relevant to your research
question and observational methodology. For example: How did you make your observations (making sure it’s
clear that you are able to answer your research question based on these observations)? What day of the week
and/or time of day did you make your observations? If you had multiple observational sessions, why did you do
this and what made them different? What behaviors were you looking for? Did you code your observations in
any way? How did you keep your observations from being noticed? [Formatting notes: This section may range
from a paragraph to a page or so, depending on the topics discussed for your specific observation.]
FINAL PAPER EXAMPLE:
Observational Methodology
My observations took place over two days. On the first day, I visited Anjeong-ri around 2:00 pm on a Sunday,
observing for 3 hours. The Bazaar was in town. I chose to observe people from within a plaza area at a popular
small restaurant where I could observe the people at the Bazaar across the street from the café. Food vendors could
be found along the street, selling chicken on a stick. I watched as people ordered from those vendors, and ate their
chicken, to see if those sticks would be thrown on the ground or disposed of properly. Despite there being a
market set up here where people could buy food and other items, there was only one trash can in my viewing area.
In addition, there was already plenty of trash on the ground, so many people comfortably added their trash to the
bulk of it. I observed 11 people litter (5 were alone, 6 were with at least one other person) and 3 people used the
trash can (all of the non-litterers were with other people).
On the second day, I took a train to Myeong-Dong in Seoul, arriving during the afternoon. The time was
approximately 3:30 pm. I thought it would be best to sit in the strip of the business district, for a better view of
everyone’s behavior around the high-end outlets, stores, and restaurants. There were plenty of places to eat and
buy water; however, this place was still very clean. Newer recycling bins and garbage cans sat strategically in
convenient parts throughout the strip. As I carefully observed people who purchased food for three hours, I saw
that not many people littered here. During my observation I saw 17 people put their trash in bins (9 were alone, 8
were with at least one other person) and 2 people littered (both were alone).
Observational
Methodology
Checklist from
Grading
Rubric
Proposal - Proposed Observational Methodology
1. Appropriate description and level of detail explaining how observations will be made
2. Planned observations address research question(s)
3. Does not contain extraneous information
Final Paper - Observational Methodology
1. Appropriate description and level of detail explaining how observations were made
2. Observations address research questions
3. Does not contain extraneous information
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Results & Conclusions
DIRECTIONS: FINAL PAPER ONLY - Results & Conclusions: In this section, you will summarize the results of your
observations and relate what you observed back to information reported in your Introduction section (with
appropriate citations). For results, you should report some actual data (summary values, averages, and
percentages are good to report, but raw data should not be included). Some observation topics will lend
themselves more or less to including data (some students have actually included graphs or charts to illustrate
what they observed; this is not required but is encouraged where appropriate). After reporting your results,
explain what conclusion(s) you have drawn based on the results you obtained. Describe how appropriate social
psychology theories, principles, or concepts help explain the results you have reported (with citations). Make
sure you clearly state the answer to your research question(s). You should also include your personal opinion of
your experience with this project, the observations, and results (e.g., Is there something you wish you had done
differently? Is there something you’d like to see done as a next step in this research area?) [Formatting notes: This
section will usually run about one page. You may include graphic summaries of data if your observations lend themselves to
it, but this is not required. You may choose to combine this section with the preceding section to make an “Observational
Methodology, Results, and Conclusions” section, or have a separate “Conclusions section” – as long as all the necessary
information is included. See the “How APA-Style Citations and References Can Help You Prevent Plagiarism” at the end of the
syllabus.]
EXAMPLE:
Results & Conclusions
During my observations, I determined that more people (11/14 or 79%) littered in Anjeong-ri where there
was a lack of trash receptacles than in Myeong-dong where trash receptacles were prevalent (2/19 or 11%). I
believe the reason for this is because Anejeong-ri is not a clean place in comparison to Myeong-Dong, which is a
clean and attractive area. This difference may be the result of social norms and cues. Many of our actions will be
due to following what we have seen in the past (Saylor Academy, 2012), so if we are in an environment that is
already littered, we are much more likely to litter, as opposed to an environment where littering is not the norm.
Another reason for this may be due to what was in place to promote pro-social behavior. While Anjeong-ri had
few trash bins, Myeong-Dong had a plethora of garbage bins within the strip of their business district and not only
did they have garbage bins, they also had recycling bins, which helped to promote the pro-social behavior of
recycling and proper disposal of waste, making such behavior a norm for the majority. I believe littering was a
violation of social norms in Myeong-Dong, while in Anjeong-ri it was not because so many people had littered
there already based on the trash already on the ground.
From what I observed, it did not matter if people were alone or with other people when they littered. It was
close to an even split in both locations; 7/13 or 54% littered alone and 6/13 or 46% littered with company. This
surprised me because I expected there could be some social pressure from being with others while littering (Reich
& Roberson, 1979). At least in my observation, what mattered was the norm for that particular setting.
Additionally, I noticed that young males seemed to litter most, especially when in groups. One explanation for this
is that that men litter more than women because they feel less responsible for environment impacts and consider
recycling to be feminine (Brough, Wilkie, Ma, & Gal, 2016). But since gender differences was not something I set
out to study, this could be an interesting topic for a later study.
I have had similar personal experiences in the past. I found that I did not participate in much “green
behavior” when I lived in Michigan; however, this changed when I relocated to Georgia. The reason why I stopped
littering was because Georgia promoted prosocial behavior through their laws. When driving down an interstate,
you could always find signs that said you would be fined $500 for illegal dumping and littering, which made me
more environmentally aware. This could not be said for Michigan. Also, Georgia seemed to be a lot cleaner than
Michigan from my experiences and you could always find public workers picking up trash, so there was just a big
difference in norms that changed my littering behavior. I hope that more places take advantage of the findings of
the research I reviewed, as well as observed, and install trash receptacles to promote cleaning up our environment.
Results &
Conclusion
Checklist
from
Grading
Rubric
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Appropriate description of behaviors observed
Results reported address research question(s)
Results linked back to literature reviewed in Introduction
Results linked back to social psychology concepts presented in Introduction
Conclusions properly related to results
Personal opinion included about appropriate topics
Does not contain extraneous information
All information from external sources cited
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References
DIRECTIONS: PROPOSAL & FINAL PAPER - References: In this section, list the references you cited in your paper using
proper APA style. Note that you must have references for all the abstracts included in your Literature Review, as well as any
other citations you chose to include in your paper. There should be perfect 1:1 correspondence between information cited
in your paper and references in your list. [Formatting notes: The reference list should appear on its own page. References
should be double-spaced, listed in alphabetical order, and use hanging indentation. See the “How APA-Style Citations and
References Can Help You Prevent Plagiarism” section at the end of the syllabus.]
Proposal Note: The only required reference in your proposal is the abstract from your literature review, but if you include any
other citations in your proposal, they must also be listed in references.
FINAL PAPER EXAMPLE:
References
American Psychological Association. (2016, January 4). Self-esteem gender gap more pronounced in western
countries. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2016/01/self-esteem-gender.aspx.
Atherton, M. (2015). Measuring confidence levels of male and female students in open access enabling courses
[Abstract]. Issues in Educational Research, 25(2), 81-98. Retrieved from
http://www.iier.org.au/iier25/atherton.pdf
Baumeister, R., Campbell, J., Krueger, J., & Vohs, K. (2003). Does high self-esteem cause better performance,
interpersonal success, happiness, or healthier lifestyles? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4(1),
1-44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1529-1006.01431
Furnham, A., Badmin, N., & Sneade, I. (2002). Body image dissatisfaction: Gender differences in eating attitudes,
self-esteem, and reasons for exercise. The Journal of Psychology, 136(6), 581-596.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223980209604820
Kearney-Cooke, A. (1999). Gender differences and self-esteem [Abstract]. The Journal of Gender-Specific
Medicine, 2(3), 46-52. Retrieved from http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/11252852.
Kling, K., Hyde, J., Showers, C., & Buswell, B., (1999). Gender differences in self-esteem: A meta-analysis
[Abstract]. Psychological Bulletin, 125(4), 470-500. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.125.4.470
Saylor Academy. (2012). Principles of social psychology. Retrieved from
http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Principles%20of%20Social%20Psychology.pdf
APA Style
Checklist
from
Grading
Rubric
1. Perfect correspondence between citations & references
2. Perfect APA style in citations
3. Perfect APA style in references
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Organization, Writing Quality & General Formatting
Please make sure to carefully proofread your submissions for proper grammar, mechanics, and punctuation. If
you struggle in any of these areas, I strongly suggest you submit your paper to UMUC’s Effective Writing Center
and get feedback BEFORE submitting to me for grading.
In the Proposal, you will begin documenting your intended observation of social behavior and submit it for
review before engaging in the actual observation to make sure you are on the right track. The proposal should be
written in future tense as you will not yet have engaged in the observation and should be about two doublespaced pages long.
In the Final Paper, you will document your actual observational project. You should be able to modify
information included in your proposal, but make sure that your final paper is written in past tense, as the project
will now be complete. Appropriate content and quality writing are more important than length or quantity;
however, I expect your paper will be somewhere around 10 pages long in its entirety in order to address all the
requirements.
DIRECTIONS: General Formatting: Your paper should be double-spaced, use 10-12 point font, and have 1-inch
ragged-right margins, numbered pages, and indented paragraphs. You are to follow APA style for proper in-text
and reference list citations (that means in the text whenever you are referencing someone else’s ideas and in the
reference list that comes at the end of the paper), but APA style does NOT need to be followed otherwise as this
is not a formal research paper (e.g., you may label the required sections in whatever format you like, as long as
they are all included and clearly identified). Make sure you pay careful attention to your writing style - proper
spelling, grammar, and punctuation, as well as organization, will be graded.
Additional Organizational Information: You need to document the who, what, when, where, why, and how of
your observational project in your paper, and this information should be included in only one section (take
care to avoid redundancy). These topics apply to the sections of your paper like this:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction = Why
Subjects = Who
Setting = Where
Methodology = When & How
Results = What
Conclusions = connects What you found (through Who, Where, When & How) back to the Why in the
Introduction
Depending on your particular topic, you may choose to combine some sections (e.g., Subjects & Setting are
often presented together), but you still need to cover all the information clearly. Your goal is to make sure
your reader understands your observational research project; putting appropriate information in
appropriately labeled sections facilitates this mission. I hope this helps you better organize your writing.
Writing &
Formatting
Checklist
from
Grading
Rubric
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Excellent organization of information within all sections
Proper transitions between ideas
Lack of redundancy
Perfect spelling
Perfect grammar
Perfect punctuation
Proper formatting (e.g., double spaced, ragged right margins, paragraphs indented, pages numbered)
Proper section headings
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