PSYC 1100: Introduction to Psychology

Introduction to psychology

Instructions for the Term Paper:

The purpose of the term paper is to provide you, the student, with an opportunity to explore an area of psychology in greater depth. The paper is to be a 5 - 7 paper review of some topic pertinent to psychology NOTE: THIS IS A COURSE IN PSYCHOLOGY. THUS, YOUR TOPIC NEEDS TO RELATE TO PSYCHOLOGY.
Paper topics must be approved by the instructor. See your syllabus for instructions.
At least five references for your paper must come from refereed journals (not Psychology Today or Newsweek, for example). NOTE: Do not rely heavily on popular literature, for example, a book you happen to see at Borders Books. Often times these books are not empirically based. Also, do not take the bulk of your paper from one source or from secondary sources. I want an integration, analysis, and critique of all of your readings, in particular, the current research in the area you have chosen to study. Textbooks for this or any other class are not appropriate references for a psychology paper.
All papers must be typed, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, and in APA style format.
If you are in doubt as to what this means, see me for details.
or
- Go to OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab

Note that one of the major purposes of the paper is to facilitate your learning of APA format. Thus, you will need to become familiar with this publication format. We will discuss the format in class but you will also need to consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.) (the library has copies). Note that all journal articles for APA journals such as the American Psychologist are written and referenced in APA format. Forty percent of your grade will be related to your use of APA format.

While you may already be familiar with the concept of a literature review and what it entails, I would like to just reiterate some basic information.

The basic format and structure of a literature review is discussed in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (remember, you are not conducting empirical research or writing a theoretical paper, thus the information concerning these two types of articles is not relevant for this class). The Publication Manual also provides all necessary information concerning referencing and writing style.
You can find examples of literature reviews in psychology journals. These are articles not discussing a specific study conducted by the authors but rather reviews, evaluates, and critiques all of the research in a specific content area. Often, the words "a review of the literature" or simply "a review" will be part of the article title. My two articles on Ageism and Life Review are examples of small-scale literature reviews.
Do's and Don'ts

Do:
Develop an bibliography of the key research related to your topic

Critically evaluate the research

Draw connections and correlations between the various research studies

Examine points of contradiction and hypothesize the reasons for these discrepancies

Organize your paper (you should outline before you write)

Provide the reader transitions between ideas

Reference appropriately

If your writing skills need work - check out the writing center (poorly written papers will not be accepted towards fulfilling the paper requirement)

Don't:
Paraphrase an existing literature review

Rely heavily on secondary sources (no textbooks or magazines should be used - use primarily articles published in professional journals)

Rely on popular literature (e.g. books from Borders - these tend not to be empirically based)

Include anecdotal information (e.g. information from your personal life or stories you heard about someone else's life/experience)

Discuss each article separately as if writing an abstract on each

For more information, see also: Bem, D. J. (1995). Writing a review article for Psychological Bulletin. Psychological Bulletin, 118, 172-177.

More info about literature reviews can be found at http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/crow/student.htm#writing including a good handout which can be downloaded at http://www.depts.washington.edu/psywc/handouts/pdf/litrev.pdf

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Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have concerning your paper.