Here are my instructors requirements:
Students may choose to research any topic covered in PSY 150 and compose a 5-7 page paper on the selected topic. The 5-7 pages must be content- this does NOT include your Title page and References page. NO ABSTRACT page is needed. You MUST have an APA formatted Title page, References page, and in text citations. Use the APA format checklist I have given you, to help you.
All papers must be written in APA format, with an APA formatted Title Page and Reference page.
Headers and page numbers are expected to be in APA format.
NO Abstract page is needed.
The Title and Reference pages are in addition to the actual pages of text (as mentioned above in the first paragraph).
All references used must be scholarly references, and at least four references are required. Use nclive.org, Wake Tech’s Library resources, the Virtual ILC, and many more resources to help you find scholarly references and to help you with your paper. Look under the “Student Support” tab in the left hand column of our Blackboard course page to help you find resources that can help you with your paper.
One reference may be your textbook.
It is the student’s responsibility to research APA format and to be sure to avoid plagiarism (use in text citations).
This is worth 100 points.
Okay, for example: let’s say you are taking the class and become interested in culture. Well, in order to research a topic, you will need to get more specific, so you start looking at scholarly references through Wake Tech’s online library resources and find an article. After reading this article, you ask yourself “Are we aware of the culture we transmit?”. This becomes your research question! You’ve got it! Now, you wonder, “how am I going to write about this in a paper for Mrs. Arnette to grade?!?!”
So, you want to tell me your research question, and then break down each source you have found, so that you can tell me (your reader) about the research that has been done to answer this question. Include:
1) Who did this research?2) Where was it done? In a lab, in a natural setting, in the US, in Russia, etc.3) What did the researchers do? Who were the participants, and what did the researchers have them do?4) What did they find?
Let’s say you found an article where researchers asked Chinese mothers and American mothers to read to their infants. Using the above (#s 1-4), you want to include in your paper the following:
Publication: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (2009).
Participants: A total of 49 mother/toddler pairs, 25 from middle America, and 24 from Beijing, China- comparable in education and age
Design: Mothers and toddlers brought into a playroom and recorded in three 10 minute play sessions (1) with mechanical toys, (2) with regular toys, and (3) reading a picture book (equal # of pgs. From picture books used in US and China).
Findings: Mothers from China, when reading used more verbs- “we pick the flower”, “we smell the flower”, whereas, mothers from the United States, used more words that promoted the individual- “look at the petals”, “look at the stem”, noting the individual parts.
It will not look like that, as you will make it flow in a well written paper, like this: “In their study Geno and Ross (2012) asked 49 mothers from China and the United States to read aloud to their children. When reading, the researchers found that…….”
Be as SPECIFIC and DETAILED as possible. Use in text citations to tell where your information is coming from, and to avoid plagiarism, be sure to give credit to your sources. Be careful not to copy word for word from your sources, but to place things in your own words.
