Gender Effect on the Level of Preference for Companion Animals Essay

Please cover the required content in detail according to the requirements in PPT. The format follows the requirements of APA research paper. And use tables and icons when analyzing data.Please be on time.

PSY 395 – Final Research Paper

Due April 22^nd at 5 PM

For every 24 hour period that you turn your report in early, you will add 1 percentage point to your grade on the report, up to a maximum of 5 percentage points. You must get your report in by the time that your lab section starts to get the extra credit points for that day. For example, if you are in the lab section on Friday at 10:20 and you turn your report in at 10am on Thursday 4/27, you will get one percentage point added to your grade. However, if you turn it in at 11am on 4/27, you will not receive any extra credit.

The final research paper is worth 15% of your final grade, and this handout describes what needs to be in your APA formatted final research paper and serves as the grading criteria your TA will use. Notice, I’ve broken it into 150 points to help with grading.  You are expected to have incorporated the feedback your TA gave you on your research proposal into your final research paper. Your final research paper needs to be in APA format and style from start to finish, and must include all of the sections indicated below. Again, it is expected that you will update the text of your research proposal and use it for your introduction and method sections (the grading scale below reflects this). Every individual must hand in their own written proposal. Plagiarism will result in an automatic 0 for the assignment and you will be reported to the university.  If you have questions, ask your TA.

These sample APA papers might be useful: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20090212013008_560.pdf http://supp.apa.org/style/PM6E-Corrected-Sample-Papers.pdf 

Title Page (5 total points)

Include title, author’s name, institutional affiliation, running head, and page number. You do not need an author note.

Abstract and Keywords (10 total points)

See Lab 8 slides for the five steps to an abstract. Your abstract should present a clear and succinct summary of your hypothesis, method, and basic findings.

Your APA formatted abstract and keywords will be graded according to the following criteria:

Abstract (7 points)

(1 point) An introduction to the topic.

(1 point) A statement about the purpose/hypotheses of the paper.

(1 point) A summary about the participants and procedures.

(1 point) A summary of the results.

(1 point) Conclusions and implications.

(1 point) Overall, was the abstract clear and succinct?

(1 point) The abstract should be between 150-250 words.

Keywords (3 points)

Include at least three keywords to help researchers identify your work.

Introduction (15 total points)

State the phenomenon you are interested in and provide a general “big picture” description of the research question you are trying to address. Include a causal statement of how the psychological processes that underlie your phenomenon relate to each other; addresses “why” or “how” the phenomenon works; and describe of how the theory is important to generally understanding or changing behavior.

You must use 5 original sources to motivate your research question and hypothesis(es). These articles need to be empirical (not book chapters) and peer-reviewed. Describe what others in the field have done and give background and justification for the experiment that you are proposing. Be sure to point out strengths of the studies that you are reviewing as well as weaknesses and unanswered questions that justify your current research question.

End with a specific prediction or empirical question (hypothesis) that clearly follows from or tests the theory. It must represent a clear prediction about operationalized variables that reflect the hypothetical constructs underlying the phenomenon.

Your APA formatted introduction will be graded according to the following criteria:

(Opening/Hook) A statement of the problem and why it is important. (5 points)

(3 points) Is the research question stated in such a way that it has specific implications for observable events in the natural world?

(2 points) Is the question clear and concise?

(Literature Review) A review of related research literature. (5 points)

(2 points) You need to cite at least 5 original source articles. These citations need to make logical sense and be in correct APA style.

(3 points) The review of the related research needs to be in correct and logical progression to the predictions or hypotheses.

No quotations from articles or any other source. Any quotation will result in 0 points for this component.

(Transition) Connect the lit review info to your current predictions (3 points)   

(1 point) Use of appropriate transitional terms.

(2 points) Your prediction or hypothesis should have a logical connection from your question and your brief review of the literature. So, does the connectivity principle hold? What does this research add? Why does is connect? For example does it: Extends past research? Fill gaps? Use new methodology? Address limitations?

(Final Paragraph) A clear and succinct statement of the prediction(s) and hypothesis(es) (2 points)

(1 point) The prediction should predict a specific set of events you can observe

in the experiment.

(1 point) The prediction or hypothesis needs to be clear and succinct.

Method Section (15 total points)

Your method section needs to clearly lay out the methods that you used. Since you have now conducted the experiment, your method section should be written in “past tense” (e.g., Participants completed…). Be sure to include the following information as it pertains to your experiment. Each method section subsection (e.g., participants) should be flush left and bolded.

Your APA formatted method section will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

Participants (5 Points)

            (1 point) Report the number of participants you recruited.

(1 point) Give the age of the participants.

            (1 point) Give the gender of the participants.

(1 point) Report any other demographic criteria that may be relevant for the results.

(1 point) Report how the participants were recruited, and if they received anything for participating (course credit, money, etc.).

Materials (5 points)

(3 points) What stimuli or measurement tool did you use? Describe the measures/stimuli/surveys you used. Include and operationally define all of the variables and items used. The slides for Lab 4 show an example of how to write about surveys and might be useful.

            (1 points) Where did you get these measures (other researchers, create your own, etc.)?

            (1 points) Are the measures known to be valid and reliable? How? Also, you now know how to analyze internal consistency.

Procedure (5 points)

            (2 points) Discuss the design of the experiment and all of the control features.

            -Identify the number of conditions you used in the experiment.

-Identify whether the order of the conditions was counterbalanced between or within subjects.

-Identify the factors that were controlled for in the experiment.

(3 points) Report exactly what happened to the research participants.

-Identify whether the participants completed an informed consent.

-Identify the main task of the participants.

-Identify the main steps of the experiment.

-Identify the amount of time the participants spent in the experiment.

Results (40 total points)

Describe the statistical analysis you used to analyze your data. See Lab 2 and 4 slides.

Your APA formatted results section will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

State the purpose of the analysis. (5 points)

            Justification should be given for the analyses performed.

Identify the descriptive statistic to be used to summarize the results. (5 points)

            How did you operationalize the DV(s) you measured?

Present a summary of the descriptive statistics. (10 points)

(4 points) Use the appropriate descriptive statistics given the nature of your DV.

(4 points) Summarize the descriptive statistics across conditions in the text itself.

(2 points) Reference and describe your figure as a way to point out the major finding that the reader should focus on. This could also come after you present your inferential statistics.

Present the inferential statistics that are relevant for answering your research question / evaluating your DV. (10 points)

            (4 points) The appropriate inferential statistic was used.

            (4 points) Interpretation of the results was appropriate.

            (2 points) The order/presentation of the inferential statistics is correct.

State the conclusion that follows from each test, but do not discuss implications. (10 points)

            (6 points) State each conclusion in terms of your variables.

            (4 points) Correct interpretation of results.

Discussion (45 total points)

Provide a brief summary of your results. Discuss the implications of these findings and how they related to your hypothesis. Also, place your results into the “big picture”. Make sure to discuss any limitations to your results. If your results were not significant, why was that the case?  Was your theory wrong, did you test it wrong? What issues with internal and external validity did you have? For every problem with validity, make sure to briefly suggest what could be done to control for this in a future study. See Lab 8 slides.

Your APA formatted discussion section will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

Summary of results (5 points)

            (2 points) Review of problem and hypothesis.

            (1 point) Hypothesis supported or not.

            (2 points) Description of what your results mean in words.

Relate results to past research (5 points)

            Tie your results to those of previous studies presented in your literature review.  Are your results consistent with previous studies or do they differ? Cite the specific studies you are referring back to.  You want to discuss how your results relate back to theory proposed in the intro, or other relevant theory (consistent with theory, contradicts theory, builds on theory) you did not previously review in the introduction.

Why did you get your findings? (10 points)

            Explain your results. Discuss your thoughts on why the results occurred as they did. What mechanisms might be in play? What can we conclude from the results?

If your results support your hypothesis:

                                                                 i.       Offer two different explanations for why your variables may have been related to each other.

If your results differ from your hypothesis, but you still believe your hypothesis is correct:

                                                                    i.      Offer at least one explanation for why your hypothesis might be correct although your results do not support it (e.g., some idiosyncrasy in your sample or your measure)

                                                                  ii.      As well as at least one explanation for what it might mean if your results are reliable (that is, your hypothesis was not correct).

If your results differ from your hypotheses, and you now conclude that your hypothesis is not correct:

                                                                    i.      Offer two different explanations for why your variables may not have been related to each other.

Limitations (10 points)

            (5 points) You should point out 2 internal validity issues. Make sure to suggest how to control for each issue in the future (could be put here or in the future directions).

            (5 points) You should point out 2 external validity issues. Make sure to suggest how to control for each issue in the future (could be put here or in the future directions).

Future research (5 points)

Give the readers ideas about how this research can be improved upon. You should provide at least two.  Suggest areas of study or questions to answer that would be useful in future research, given your results and the limitations of your study. Future studies might also address the changes you would make in future studies given what you learned from this one.

Practical implications (5 points)

            Describe why your study was important and meaningful.  How did it advance the field of psychology, improve people’s lives, suggest changes in behavior, or offer suggestions for interventions?  Provide at least one implication, but two is preferred.

Final conclusions (5 points)

End with a closing section, so that your paper does not end abruptly.  This might include a summary of your main results, a summary of main conclusions of study, and some statement(s) of the broad contribution(s) of the study.

Example - The experiments reported here suggest that threats to manhood may trigger men to become riskier and more short-sighted. Experiment 1 found that men took greater financial risks (i.e., bet more money) after a gender threat as compared to men in an affirmation condition. In Experiment 2, after a threat to their manhood, men pursued immediate financial satisfaction rather than waiting for finances to accrue, but only if the decision was made publicly. Whether manhood threats were directly implicated in the recent financial crises that continue to plague the U.S. economy, the current findings are at least consistent with such an interpretation. Certainly, they are suggestive enough to warrant further investigation into this critically important question.

Throughout the discussion, be sure that points you raise (e.g., an explanation or limitation) are fully explained.  Do not just state what a future direction might be. Instead, say how or why it remedies a limitation of your current study.

References (5 total points)

Give the full reference for all cited articles in APA format. Remember, you must cite at least 5 original sources.

Overall formatting (15 total points)

-Double spaced

-Times New Roman

-12 point font

-Proper formatting of headers, title, and page numbers

-Proper use of italics

-Grammar

-Spelling

-Layout

-Paragraph structure

-Sentence structure

-Overall clarity

-Overall Adherence to APA style

EXTRA CREDIT: Figure (10 total points)

You only need to provide a figure (a table is not needed).

Your APA formatted figure will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

Figure number and title (1 point)

General layout (9 points)

            (3 points) Correct Y-axis label

            (3 points) Correct X-axis label

            (3 points) Correct values