The Empirical Investigation

Group Assignment

Students will be assigned to groups by Prof. Huff. Under special circumstances individuals can volunteer to form a group if this occurs before Friday Sept. 14. Most groups will have little trouble getting their work done if they pay attention to my advice to groups. If there are problems with groups dynamics, under special circumstances, group members can be fired and group members can transfer. Group members will all receive the same grade for the project, but I will use a rating system to move deserving individuals up or down by no more than a letter grade from the group's grade.

Choosing a Topic

1. Each student should independently generate 2 questions that follow the guidelines
2. After finding out your group assignment, discuss the different topics and rank order three that work for the group.
3. Discuss your rank ordering with the TA in charge of your group
4. Choose a topic in consultation with the TA.

Preparing an Empirical Question Report

• a short title
• list your names as authors in APA style.
• Use an APA style header to mark off each section below, stating in no more than one sentence each:
  1. The empirical question.
  2. Topic areas in the text(s) to which it corresponds.
  3. Keywords that you could use in a library literature search.
  4. The name of each variable and its operationalization
  5. The plan for data collection
  6. The plan for data analysis
  7. Ethical considerations of your study

Preparing the Annotated Reference Report

• Make an appointment as a group with a reference librarian (optional)
• Bring a copy of your Empirical Question Report with you to the meeting
• Refine your Keywords and search terms in conversation with the librarian
• Split up to find encyclopedia, books, and journal reviews of the area
• Prepare an annotated reference report
  1. Prepare 5-7 annotated references for sources you will use.
  2. Choose a short title and list your names as authors in APA style.
  3. The paper should have two sections, set off with APA style headers: 1) Empirical Question and 2) Annotated References.
  4. Your empirical question should be at the top of the page.
  5. References should be in APA style
  6. Each reference should be followed by one paragraph that summarizes the work, with particular attention to its application to your empirical question
  7. The annotated reference report should be no longer than 5 double-spaced pages, with APA style fonts and spacing.
  8. Use APA style page numbers.
  9. The sample Annotated Reference Report has examples of doing APA style references of several sorts. To find the correct format for your reference, see the APA style guide in the reference room or look at this online guide to APA style.
  10. Make sure to refer to the grading rubric we provide as you compile your Annotated Reference Report.

Preparing your Empirical Method Outline

1. Choose a short title and list your names as authors in APA style.
2. Describe at a conceptual level your independent and dependent variables
3. Describe in detail the procedure you will use to measure or manipulate each variable, using an APA style header to label each variable. Be sure you have pretested any coding system you describe.
4. Include a sample data row in a spreadsheet format.
5. Describe any ethical considerations you think are relevant to your study.
6. Consult with the TA in charge of your group on a first draft of this before turning it in.
7. The sample Empirical Method Outline provides you with an idea of what I am looking for..

Collecting your data

1. Prepare and pretest any coding sheets you will need in advance of the observation time. Design these with 1) ease of coding and 2) ease of data input in mind.
2. Make sure to sample behavior ahead of time to familiarize yourself with the environment.
3. Devise a way to collect your data in the shortest amount of time possible.
4. Type your data into a spreadsheet as soon as possible and make a backup copy.
5. When you are done, send the TA in charge of your group an email note indicating this.

Preparing your Analysis Summary

1. Include a cover sheet with your project title and author names.
2. Compute simple statistics (means), graphics (boxplots, scatterplots, histograms), and tables to present your main findings. Use the handout in class to help arrange these.
3. Present these simple statistics in pictorial form (with clear labels)
4. Write a summary sentence that describes the pattern you have found.
5. The sample Analysis Summary provides you with an example of what I am looking for. You do not have to use Excel charts the way I do in this paper. Careful, clear charts done by hand are acceptable.

Preparing your Empirical Poster

• Draft. The draft consists of all the printed pages, powerpoint slides, and graphs or tables you will use. These all must be in poster format rather than in the format of the intermediate reports. Staple these together with an APA style title page.
• Final Poster. A guide to formatting your poster is available. This will be rated by your collegues in the class, using this form.

1. Mark the most important excerpts from your Empirical Question Report, Annotated Reference Report, Empirical Method Outline, and Analysis Summary.
2. Arrange them in Powerpoint or Word using the handout of APA Poster style.
3. Revise them to make a smoothly flowing report.
4. Include pictures that help explain and add visual interest, but that still look professional.
5. Have someone proof read it for you.

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Guidelines for Empirical Questions

• The question must be about behavior, attitudes, or experiences that have implications for psychological processes.
• The measured variables must be able to be collected with reasonable reliability and validity in a questionnaire format.
• The investigation must be in compliance with APA ethical guidelines
• The investigation must fall within the class's agreement with the local ethics committee.
• The empirical question your group chooses must be approved by the TA in charge of your group.

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