PSYC2001 - Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology - UNSW

Assignment Task

The assignment is designed to give you the experience of critically evaluating inferential data analyses and conclusions drawn from them in published research. “Critical” here does not mean that we want you to criticize everything about the article. Rather it means that you should approach it with a sceptical but open mindset, only accepting the authors’ conclusions where they have provided evidence and justification. This task is deliberately open-ended and involves judgment on your part. The assignment draws on material from both the first two thirds of the course, including lectures, tutorials and labs as well as online modules (in particular, the module on writing a Results section).

Using UNSW Library resources, find a research article from a psychology journal published in 2023.

We recommend that you read several empirical journal articles, and choose one that allows you to demonstrate your understanding of the questions below.

If your article includes multiple experiments, choose one experiment, and if this experiment includes multiple analyses, choose one analysis that involves testing a null hypothesis.

Questions

(a) Identify the analysis in the article pdf by using the highlighter tool in Adobe Reader. Describe the analysis, stating clearly which variable/s are

(i) dependent variables

(ii) independent or predictor variables

(b) Identify

(1) the experimental hypothesis being tested

(2) the null hypothesis being tested

(c) Comment on the statistical power of the analysis, and what impact this might have on the interpretation of the outcome?

(d) Was the outcome of the hypothesis test linked clearly to the corresponding descriptive data?

(e) Use the highlighter tool in Adobe Reader to identify the conclusions drawn by the authors from the test in question. Do the conclusions follow from the test?

(f) What additional information would have been provided if the authors had also reported the results of an estimation procedure?

(g) Comment on the good or bad aspects of the design, analysis or interpretation; for example, are there threats to validity; or improvements that could be made?

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