PSYC 362: Research methods
Term paper grading rubric
Please follow the PowerPoint slides “Quantitative research design guideline” or “Qualitative
research design guideline” to organize your paper. The following table is a grading rubric, which
is the ideal. Please be aware of the standards required by scholarly journals, but I will not grade
your paper as a manuscript written by professional researchers.
Criteria
Research components:
Points
2
Please make sure to mention and explain all the essential components in the presentation
guideline, such as research purpose, problem, question, design…etc.
The research method should be a good fit to the research question. For example, if your
focus is about growth of the subjects over time, the best approach is a within-subject
design. If you are interested in how two or three variable interact together to influence an
outcome, you should adopt a factorial design.
Theoretical foundation:
1
The proposal should be based on some psychological theory rather than evaluating
whether the treatment can work or not. The latter is more a program evaluation than an
academic research study. For example, if your study is concerned with the relationship
between collaborative learning and social cohesiveness, the possible theoretical
foundation may be Bandura’s social learning theory.
In the context of psychological research, you need to use variables (observed behaviors)
to indicate specific latent constructs (e.g. religiosity, happiness, depression,
anxiety…etc.).
You don’t have to start with a well-developed theory. But at least you need to discuss
some background information about the problem under study. It is impossible to start any
research with a blank mind. In qualitative research you should use concepts or constructs
instead of variables. A variable is operationally defined (e.g. X = A + B + C) whereas a
construct or a concept is open-ended.
Rigor:
1
Quantitative research: internal validity, external validity, reliability, objectivity
Qualitative research: credibility, transferability, dependability, conformability
APA
If you do not have the APA manual at hand, you can use Google to find an online guide.
I would like to highlight three common mistakes:
2
First, many students put down the names of the databases in the references. Actually,
"with the exception of hard-to-find books and other documents of limited circulation
delivered by electronic databases, the database name is no longer a necessary element of
the reference. This change is made in the interest of simplifying reference format. If you
do include the database name in a reference, do not include the database URL” (APA
2007 update).
Second, the issue number of the journal can be omitted when the page numbers are
consecutive across issues. Please read the following carefully:
Journal Numbered by Volume
These journals start numbering at page 1 in the first issue of the year, and page numbers
continue throughout the year instead of starting with page 1 in each issue. After the
italicized title of the journal, italicize the volume number, follow by the page numbers.
Egerton, G. (2004). Entering the age of human rights: Religion, politics, and Canadian
liberalism, 1945-50. Canadian Historical Review, 85, 451-479.
Journal Numbered by Issue
This refers to journals in which each issue begins with page number 1. After the volume
number, put a period and then the issue number. Italicize the volume number, but not the
issue number.
Messud, C. (2004). Then. Kenyon Review, 26(4), 34-45.
Third, many students use a direct quotation when it is really unnecessary. Indeed, it is
more efficient to simply rephrase the ideas of an article. Nonetheless, sometimes a direct
quotation is needed. For example,
1. The original statement is very profound (e.g, “Ask not what this country can do
for you. Ask what you can do for this country.” Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this
wall!” )
2. The original statement is so complicated that its meaning may be distorted after
paraphrasing (e.g. “Uncritical semantics is the myth of a museum in which the
exhibits are meanings and the words are labels. To switch languages is to change
the labels.”)
3. You want to analyze the original statement word by word.
Use of Literature
The course requires students to complete course assignments using resources from the
University Libraries. Research assistance and subject guides for this course are available
at http://apu.libguides.com/
2
Assignments should be grounded in proper and timely academic sources. Usually
references that are more than 5 years old are not considered good sources unless they are
seminal works (e.g. by Albert Einstein, Adam Smith…etc.). No minimum number of
references is required, but the sources should be substantive enough to represent the best
available literature on the topic.
Cited sources should be traceable and credible (e.g. peer-review journal articles).
Dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, newspapers, and magazines are not appropriate
references for scholarly work. Citing a non-scholarly website, such as an online
dictionary or encyclopedia, is not acceptable in academic settings. The exception is that
you want to analyze the content of the website. For example, in one of my articles I
wanted to point out how the Skeptics website misinterpreted the meaning of metaanalysis, and therefore I quoted the website.
Today virtually anyone could set up a website and thus information pulled from the
Internet may not be trustworthy, unless the website is held by a respectable organization
(e.g. National Institute of Health, Harvard University …etc.)
Usually textbooks and magazines are not considered appropriate sources. You may
wonder why textbooks are not acceptable. Consider this scenario: If Stephen Hawking
publishes a book on the relationship between quantum mechanics and the origin of the
universe, and his references are: Astronomy 101 and Introduction to Physics, will you
buy his book?
If 30% of your references are textbooks, magazines, and websites, it is excessive.
Grammar, sentence structures, organization, and writing style
2
This is self-explanatory. Please proof read your paper carefully.
Total:
10