Week 5: Research proposal reminders
Section
Max.
marks
Content
Title
2
IV and DV (precise and no more than 15
words)
Introduction
20
Past research; rationale; hypotheses
Methods
20
Participants; materials; design; procedure – in
enough detail for someone else to replicate
the study
References
6
Full APA-style references for all citations in
main text
Word limit: 2000, but aim for a
maximum of 1500
(not including title or references)





Straightforward and informative (not more than 15
words)
Enough to explain your study without going into
too much detail
Examples:
◦ Too little detail: Fast food purchases
◦ Too much detail: Differences in the fast food purchasing
habits of men and women in the last month in Brighton
◦ Just right: Differences in the fast food purchasing habits of
men and women
Independent Variable = the value being
manipulated or changed
Dependent Variable = the observed result that is
dependent on the independent variable

What is the IV and DV in the following titles?
◦ Differences in the fast food purchasing
habits of men and women
◦ The impact of a sensation-seeking
personality trait on alcohol consumption
◦ The effects of aging on reaction time in a
signal detection task


Quick explanation of research area
Summary of relevant past research (and
perhaps its flaws)

Purpose of study

Brief description of methods

4 Hypotheses (2 categorical and 2
continuous)
◦ Aim to predict differences between groups rather
than relationships between variables

Up to 1200 words

Categorical hypotheses:
◦ 2 categorical variables
◦ e.g. “Men prefer to buy fast food at Burger King,
while women prefer to buy fast food at McDonalds”

Continuous hypotheses:
◦ 1 categorical variable and 1 continuous variable
◦ e.g. “Males consume a larger quantity of alcoholic
beverages per week than females”
◦ 2 continuous variables (not for this term)
◦ e.g. “As age increases, scores on a memory test
decrease”

Give enough information so that it is obvious
what you intend to do

Subsections:
◦
◦
◦
◦
Participants
Materials
Design
Procedure
Write in paragraphs (no lists!)

Number of participants

Sex (# of men, # of women)

Who (students, women, the retired,
etc)

Volunteers or paid?

Any other demographics that might
be necessary

Things you will be using:
◦ Questionnaire (do not include the whole thing!)
◦ Any other materials you think are necessary to
include
◦ DON’T INCLUDE: Pen, A4 paper, etc.

Identify:
◦ Independent variable(s)
◦ Dependent variable(s)
◦ Design: within-subjects, between-subjects or
mixed?


Don’t worry about this section this term
Just say you will use a questionnaire design

Explain how the experiment will be carried
out

Step by step breakdown of what will be done

Informed consent


Write in future tense
Write in third person where you can (e.g.
“Participants were asked to complete a
questionnaire”) and avoid first person (“I
asked participants to complete a
questionnaire”, “We asked participants to
complete a questionnaire”)

Back up your assertions

Refer to people you tested as ‘participants’
not ‘subjects’

Double-space

Colours: Stick to greyscale

Put a title on each section

Number your pages

Check your spelling and grammar

Check your references – they are worth six
marks