Download INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
1500 to 2000 total word count (not counting
appendices or abstract)
Introduction.
Goal: to communicate your understanding of the
theoretical knowledge that underlies the issues
surrounding your experiment
--Broad understanding of the perspective
--Main theories related to your experiment
--Narrow to studies related to your
--Culminate with research question
Example: Loftus replication
The key to a strong intro is your ability to
connect your research question to the
underlying theories.
Cognitive Perspective
In general
Memory concepts
In general
Perception
L/T Memory theory relevant to eye
witness testimony
Loftus’ research question
etc
In the lab:
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Access at least three sites to provide you with some
solid theoretical background knowledge
Develop our intro paragraph accordingly.
Find at least three related studies.
Begin your works cited page as you find relevant
studies—Use APA citing
 Use
OWL as your resource for how to cite your sources
Tasks today:
#1 – Paragraph 3 of the intro—what goes in it?
#2--IA Instructions/rubric
Using the rubric, together with the info from your
psych book, you will evaluate your intro paragraph,
revise as needed, develop para 2 & 3.
#3--Unpacking the IA
At your table, you will assess a completed IA against
the rubric.
Title Page
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Experimental method & topic of study
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The hypothesis should determine how the title is constructed.
Candidate name & number
Instructor name
Psychology HL
Date/month/year of submission: April 20, senior year
Final word count—HL needs to be 1500-2000, not
counting appendices
Table of Contents
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All pages should be numbered—including the
appendices (which don’t count for word count)
Label all sections as indicated on this PowerPoint
 Abstract,
Intro, etc.
Abstract
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Should not exceed 300 words, which do not count
towards the minimum 1500.
Summary of the study:
Aims
 Methods
 Results
 Conclusion
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REMEMBER, YOU NEVER PROVE ANYTHING IN AN
EXPERIMENT!!! Results suggest or indicate, they do not
prove!
Introduction—about 3 pages (d.s)
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Intro paragraph: general intro to the psychological subject area
under investigation. Identify the perspective that is being
addressed—biological, behavioral, cognitive, etc.
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Body: Literature review: Discussion of original study, summary of key
theories relevant to the study and subsequent research studies, cited
in APA format—at least three additional studies. (Forty Studies is a
resource you can use)
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Research question under study—this will generally be the concluding
sentence to the intro paragraph.
Must include dates, describe study & explain the results.
Conclusion:
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Rationale and justification for your study—the Aim.
The aim and both hypotheses of your study clearly stated. (Null and
research hypothesis)
Stay in academic voice!!
No ‘I/we’
Broad
3 studies
Study being replicated
Your study
Aim
Hypothesis
Null hypothesis
Body of introduction
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Body: Literature review: Discussion of original
study, summary of key theories relevant to the
study and subsequent research studies, cited in
APA format—at least three additional studies.
(Forty Studies is a resource you can use)
 Must
include dates, describe studies & explain the
results connecting to the research question.
Paragraph 3
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Includes the AIM of your investigation
The hypothesis
The null hypothesis
Aim
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What is being investigated and what is expected.
 Less
precise than an operationalised research
hypothesis.
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Example: The aim of this study is to investigate how
the use of category headings affects the number of
words that bilingual students at SHS can recall.
Hypotheses-must include the
Hypothesis and the Null Hypothesis
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Research hypothesis: clear, concise prediction of what is expected to
be demonstrated in the experiment.
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Must be operationalized; must be evident how the variables will be
quantified and may be one or two-tailed.
Example: the mean visual search time taken to find the letter Q in a list
of random rounded letters will be longer than the mean visual search
time taken to find the letter Q in a random list of straight letters.
Null hypothesis: states that no significant difference is expected to
be found between the groups on the measure of the dependent
variable, and that any difference found is due to random variables.
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Example: There will be no significant difference in the mean search time
for locating the letter Q in lists of random round letters and random
straight letters.
Designing your experiment
Tasks for today—completed form must be turned into
me before you can proceed.
Experiments have to be run after school (i.e., under
my supervision)
Turn in form + materials list, informed consent
document, standardized instructions that will be
read and debriefing statement.
Method—divide into 4 parts
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Design:
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must state the method used with details of the type of
design: independent samples versus repeated measures,
within or between measures
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Identify advantages & disadvantages
Must explain and justify why this method/design was chosen
 Must identify & explain any controls
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Independent & dependent variables must be clearly
identified as well as extraneous variables.
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Identify advantages & disadvantages
Discussion of counterbalancing as means of addressing outside
variables
Address ethical considerations.
Use Psych Through
Diagrams for
Strengths/Weaknesses
Ethical Considerations—a solid
paragraph
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Responsibility to the profession of psychology.
Acknowledgement of others’ work and publication
Honesty in reporting results
Monitoring
Competence of the investigator.
Personal conduct of the investigator.
Informed consent—Note: if consent form is not included, will score a
zero
Respect for participant integrity.
Justification for using deception.
Participant’s right of withdrawal.
Confidentiality of findings.
Debriefing.
Use of non-human animals in research.
Method
Participants
Sample of 15-20
Characteristics of general population being sampled
number, age, gender
Selection and allocation procedures must be identified &
justified. If sampling isn’t random, must be clearly
justified.
Opportunity sample is what is generally used, (just explain why) but
allocation to groups must be random.
Method
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List of materials developed for use in the experiment.
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Basic materials such as tables, chairs need not be
mentioned.
Refer to sample copies of materials developed that you
will include in the appendix and label each—a/b/c
Examples:
Standardized instructions
 Informed consent
 Debriefing notes
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Method
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Procedure
 Careful,
accurate description of how you carried out
the experiment.
 Bulleted list is fine
 Chronological order, beginning with the development of
materials
 Enough detail so that experiment could be easily
replicated.
 Must include reference to the ethical issues you
identified in the design paragraph above.
Results
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Raw data
Numerical and graphical reporting of the data collected.
Mean is generally used for integral data.
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Can be done on the computer—one chart is usually sufficient.
Make sure you have labeled the X,Y axis and have a title for the
graph.
Must be in both narrative (explain verbally) as well as
graphical.
Data should be reported in a way that reflects the claims
made in the aims and hypothesis.
Must include inferential statistics with your justification of the
use of the inferential statistical test chosen.
Inferential statistics requirements:
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HL students should understand and use levels of
measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio),
measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode),
measures of dispersion (range, standard deviation,
variance), normal distribution of data (standard scores,
frequency, skewed distribution).
Should include:
operational definitions
 Hypothesis testing (research and null hypotheses)
 Statistical significance (probability and levels of confidence)
 Appropriate usage of statistical tests and limitations of
those tests
 Non-parametric tests such as Wilcoxon, chi-squared.
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Descriptive statistics
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Descriptive statistics organize your raw data so it makes
sense to others.
Descriptive statistics only tell you a difference, not
whether that difference is significant enough to accept
your hypothesis.
Measure of central tendency that you will use:
Mean: the average
 Standard Deviation: s = √ ∑d2
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N-1
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You will need to include your raw data in a chart form
as well as the calculation of the mean
Inferential Statistics
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Inferential statistics measure how large an effect
(difference) is required for psychologists to conclude
that a result is significant—not due to chance
factors.
Goal: to test the statistical significance of your
results, to determine if your research hypothesis was
accepted.
Psychologists have concluded that for most purposes
in psychology, the 5% level of significance (P<0.05)
is appropriate—a result at this level can be said to
be less than 5% likely to be due to chance factors.
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For the narrative section—you will need to address
why you selected the T test (related t-test.) It is
used for the following situation:
 Experimental
design: repeated measures or matched
pairs
 Minimum level of data: nominal (your data is interval)
 The test counts the number of times one condition is
larger than the other and compares this with what
would be expected by chance if there was no real
difference between the conditions.
What the t-test does:
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The test looks at the actual size of the differences
between each participant’s scores in the two conditions.
To determine the likelihood that the difference between
the two conditions was due to chance, the test takes into
account the mean difference for the group as a whole
and the variation in the size of the differences for
individual participants. It is unlikely that you would find
a large mean difference between scores in the two
conditions combined with little variety in the difference
scores for each participant unless there was a real
difference between the conditions.
Steps in the process:
For the pair of scores from each participant:
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b)
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Subtract the score in condition B from that in condition A, to produce the
participant’s d score (difference)
Square each d score
Add up all the d scores (∑d)
Add up all the d2 scores. (∑d2)
Divide ∑d by n (the number of participants) to find the mean d score (d)
Find t using the formula below.
t=
d
√
∑d2 - (∑d) 2 /n
n(n-1)
6)
Use a t-table to find whether the result is significant. (Coolican, p. 662) To do
this you will need the t score and the degrees of freedom (df). The value of
df is found using the formula: df = n-1
Discussion--The most important part—
worth the most points
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Should frame your discussion in reference to the original study you are replicating
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compare your results to the original study as well as the additional ones cited in your intro
Discuss the variables
Balanced discussion of strengths & weaknesses of the methodology used—key
component!
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The goal of this section is to demonstrate your knowledge of research design
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Relevant modifications and areas of further investigation—address further studies.
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Flaws and limitations that may have affected the outcome
Possible confounding variables
Do not use “should have been a larger sample!”
Justify why you chose the particular design as the best suited.
Informed conclusion
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Underline your conclusion as the final paragraph in the discussion.
Summarize your results.
Generally you will want to state that the findings are restricted to the population where
the experiment was conducted.
References
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Use APA
 Definitely
do not use Wikipedia!
 For any internet source, needs to be an EDU at the end.