instructions
Final Project : Description
Topic: How sleep quality and attendance grade affect student’s academic performance
Project Content :Your final project research paper should be uploaded online as a .pdf document in APA format (double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins). Late submissions will be penalized 1 point per day – even a minute late will be considered late. Keep your final project concise; simple writing is good writing. Based on past experience, your paper will likely be around 10-pages in length. However, please don’t worry about the page count – just make sure that your paper contains the following sections :
- Title Page :Who are you, what is your topic, and where/when was this research produced?
- Abstract :How can you summarize your paper / capture attention in 150 – 250 words?
- Introduction :What is your research question? What past research has been conducted on this topic, and why is this past research not the final say on the topic? How will your study advance understanding of the topic? What are your specific hypotheses (null and alternative)?
- Methods :What steps did you would take to test your research question? Note that your study must include one correlational main effect, one experimental main effect, and one interaction effect.
- Results and Figures : What do the data “say” about the relationships between your variables? How would you visually organize and summarize your findings if (a) you reject the null hypothesis and (b) you fail to reject the null hypothesis? Are these results “real” or “chance”?
- Discussion : What are the key points of your paper? What are the limitations of your research, how might you address these limitations, and what issues should future research explore?
- References : What empirical articles did you cite in your paper? (In APA format!)
Final Project : Grading Rubric [16 points Total]
A detailed grading rubric for the final project paper is printed below. Details for all other final project components will be announced in class, and will be graded based on completion and effort. Please talk to me in class or office hours as soon as you have any questions about the final project.
Abstract & Title Page [1 point]
- Student included a title page in APA format [.5]
- Student wrote a 150-250 word summary of their paper purpose and findings [.5 points]
Introduction and Literature Review [5 points]
- Broad opening sentence introduces research question and dependent variable [.5]
- Review of past literature summarizes the results of at least five (5) citations from peer-reviewed empirical articles, relates past research to your question, and helps focus a broad question to specific hypotheses [2.5]
- Limitations of past research and need for current research explained [1]
- Null and alternative hypotheses clearly identified for (1) the main effect of two separate variables and (2) the interaction effect based on the combination of both variables. [1]
Method [4 points]
- Participants are described (sample size, age, sex, incentives, recruitment) [.5]
- Procedures and measures are appropriately designed to test the study hypotheses [1]
- Measure for the dependent variable is described in terms of reliability and validity [1]
- Manipulationfor one independent variable is described in detail needed for a replication [1]
- Measure / manipulation for second independent variable in detail needed for a replication [.5]
Results [5 points]
- Student reported results of the bivariate models to test the main effect hypotheses [1]
- Student reported results of a multivariate model to test the interaction effect hypothesis [1]
- Graphs for main effects and interaction effects are visually appealing and correct given the student’s hypotheses. [2]
- Student correctly explained graphs using statistical terminology. [1]
Discussion [2 points]
- Key findings summarized, with description of relevance to other research or society. [.5]
- Discussion of biases and other limitations that might affect results of study. [1]
- Discussion of at least one future research direction. [.5]
Deductions and Extra Credit
- Student turned in final project late [ ____ / -1 point per day]
- Paper was not written in APA format (text and references) [-2 points]
- Paper included many typos and / or grammatical errors in writing [-2 points]
- Student plagiarized any part of her / his paper [student receives a zero on the assignment]
- Student did an exceptional job! [ ____ / + 2 points]