instruction
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PSY30003 (2018) – Individual Research Report
You are expected to perform an exploratory factor analysis on the items assessing the four factors
underlying modern racism such as those mentioned by Henry and Sears (2002), describe the steps
taken to select the final items, and evaluate the psychometric properties (i.e., reliability, validity) of
your final scale.
The following sections should be included in the report:
1) Title Page (in APA style)
2) Introduction:
• Unchanged from Assignment 1, unless the feedback suggested that your hypotheses missed
the mark.
o The Introduction will not be marked again and will not be included in the word count.
However, if your hypotheses are not appropriate it may result in you doing analyses
which do not adequately assess validity. This will lead to losing marks for your
Results section and potentially also for your Discussion.
3) Method
• Describe the sample and measures used in your validation strategy. Do not include scales that
you did not use.
• You can include the following statement under the Procedure sub-section of the Method: “An
online survey was completed by undergraduate students at an Australian university at a time
and place of their choosing.”
4) Results:
This section should describe:
• The results from the factor analysis (or analyses if you performed more than one), including a
justification for the extraction and rotation method used, factor analysis statistics, and a
description of the scale and inter-factor correlations. If items were removed, also describe the
process through which the decision was made to exclude these items.
• A reliability analysis of the (revised) measure, including Cronbach’s alpha and related item
statistics (e.g., alpha if item deleted) for the composite scale and each of the subscales.
• Descriptive statistics for all measures used.
• Correlations, t-tests, etc. as appropriate that address your validation hypotheses.
o The Scale Validation Table Guide document on Blackboard gives an idea of how
these results can be presented.
5) Discussion:
This section aligns with what is expected in a Discussion from any other lab report. It should
present an evaluation of your (revised) measure, including:
• Statements about the factor structure, items included/deleted, and implications for the
definition and measurement of the construct being investigated.
• A discussion of the reliability of the final scales.
• A discussion of the evidence for the validity of the scales.
• A discussion of any revisions to the scale and recommendations for how it should be
validated in the future.
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6) References:
• In-text referencing, presentation of the results, and the reference list should be in APA 6th ed.
format.
Marking
The research report is worth 50% of your final grade in this unit, and will be marked out of 100.
Weightings of individual sections are as follows:
Title page: Mandatory (0 marks)
Introduction: (0 marks)
Method: 10 marks
Results: 45 marks
Discussion: 40 marks
APA formatting, spelling/grammar: 5 marks
Submission requirements
The assignment should be a maximum of 2000 words. This does NOT include the title page,
Introduction, Tables, or References. There is no minimum or maximum word length for any specific
section.
Assignments should be double-spaced using a standard 12-point font. Use APA formatting
throughout. As your formatting guide, refer to the APA Publication Manual and
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/lib/studyhelp/referencingtool.html
Assignments are to be submitted through Turnitin no later than 11.55pm on Sunday, May 27. A
cover sheet should also be included.
You must check that your assignment submission has correctly uploaded, in an acceptable file
format, well in advance of the deadline. Allow plenty of time to correct any technical difficulties, as
they will not be considered the basis for any extension.
As per the unit outline, a penalty of 10% per day applies for late submissions. Submissions more
than 5 days late will receive zero marks.
Extensions may be granted in exceptional circumstances. Requests for extensions must be submitted
to the convenor (Brad Elphinstone – belphinstone@swin.edu.au) before the due date. All extension
requests must be accompanied by appropriate documentation (i.e., a medical certificate for illness, a
counsellor’s/psychologist’s letter for psychological issues or personal circumstances). The
documentation should indicate the length of time for which the student was impacted by the
illness/circumstance. Remember that pressure of other work (whether university work or paid work)
does not count as a basis for an extension. Students should not assume that they will be granted an
extension until they are notified of its approval.
Plagiarism, as always, will be taken extremely seriously. This includes directly copying from source
material or another student, or paraphrasing another student’s work. At the lowest level of severity,
zero will be awarded for a particular section. More serious examples of plagiarism will result in a
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mark of zero being given for the assignment overall, or expulsion from the unit in accordance with
Swinburne’s policies on Student Academic Misconduct: http://www.swinburne.edu.au/policiesregulations/statutes-regulations/student-academic-misconduct/