Main Project

Timeline

Design & Measures Section Draft due Sun, Mar 30

Data Analytic Plan Draft due Sun, Apr 13

Group Presentation + slides due Mon, Apr 28

Final Group Project

The goal of the final project for PSYC 641 is to develop a research proposal similar to what you might see as a pre-registration. You will be placed into groups, which will be your “research lab group”. Your group will be tasked with developing a study to answer a central question (e.g., How does mood impact sleep in youth?). As a group, you will develop the Research Deign of a single study to accomplish the main research question. Your individual portion will then consist of using a subset of the data from the study to answer an even more specific question (e.g., What role does positive affect play in the relationship between stress and sleep?).

The best way to think about this is you and your team have been given a small grant to study a main focus. Since resources are limited, we want to collect as much data as reasonably possible to address as many different questions as possible. This project will mimic a real-world lab collaboration effort.

Project Proposal

Goal: To create a proposal for the final project.

Overview: You and your group will define a broad theory/aim/research question. From there, each group member will identify a specific focus. Think of this as starting one set of data collection that will have a central focus, but each of you will have a specific component. It may make sense to think about the data collection technique (e.g., cross-sectional, longitudinal, experimental, etc.) as a group and then identify the component that you will focus on.

The goal of this assignment is to clearly identify the overarching theory of your group as well as the specific research question or aim that you seek to accomplish for your portion of the project.

Work with your group members to identify a central theory or question that you are interested in examining. This can be an extension of a current research project, or something that is new and novel. You can build upon the theory that was started at the beginning of your group, but you don’t have to.

Structure: 2+ pages double spaced. Calibri, Arial or Times New Roman font. 1-inch margins. Minimum of 3 citations. Begin with a brief introduction to the topic and identify the broad theory of your group. This will then lead into the rationale for your specific portion. Highlight the importance of your research question and be sure to have this stated clearly. It can be helpful to have these identified as “Aims” of the project.

This specific assignment is not set to be a complete evaluation of how you create a study. Instead, I want you to be able to communicate your thought process in a structured way resulting in a single focus or aim.

Design & Measures Section Draft

This document will be submitted individually by everyone in the group. There is one section (Study Procedures) in which I expect everything to be the same across all group members. Each section is outlined below.

Format: Use the headers below to help with the structure. Then make sure the document is double-spaced, 1-in margins and using Calibri, Arial or Times New Roman (or similar) font size 12pt.

Examples:

Research Question & Hypothesis (Individual)

This section is just a reminder of what you are doing. Shouldn’t be longer than a paragraph.

Provide the overarching research question/aim that your group is focusing on (i.e., why are you doing this study)
Identify your specific research question within the larger study of your group

Study Procedures/Design (Group)

Here you will go through all the steps and the needed information. Make sure you are able to highlight the design of your project. This section will take approximately 1 - 2 pages.

Specify whether your study will be experimental, quasi-experimental, or non-experimental and justify your choice. Also indicate the type of design that you are planning to use (e.g., cross-sectional, longitudinal, cohort design, etc.)
Describe your sampling method and justify why it is appropriate for your study
- Provide information on what the recruitment strategies are going to be
- Discuss any potential sampling biases and how they will be addressed.
Walk through what the participant will be experiencing during their visit or throughout their participation in the study
What kind of space and physical materials will you need (computer, eye-tracker, EEG, etc.)
Be sure to discuss any ethical issues that may arise in your study and how you will address them

Measurement - Operationalizing the Construct (Individual)

Within this space, you will be writing about the things that are unique to your own research question. Be sure to include the relevant measures and the appropriate citations. Look to existing literature to find how they can structure things. This section will take approximately 1 - 2 pages.

Clearly define and operationalize all constructs involved in your research
Explain how you will measure or manipulate these constructs in your study
Identify the specific questionnaires or how you will be examining these constructs

Diagram of Proposed Analysis (Individual)

Using the DAG framework, identify the model that you want to examine. This can just be an image.

Peer Review

You will receive two Methods drafts from members outside of your group to read and provide feedback. Please provide detailed comments to help support the writing of your peer. The instructor will provide you with a template and ask you to provide a score/grade. This grade will not impact the grade that the student receives for their submission.

Data Analytic Plan Draft

After getting some feedback on your methods draft, you can hopefully incorporate this information into creating a robust data analytic plan. Information taken from the OSF Pre-registration template. A copy of this is also posted in myCourses.

This will be a draft of your data analytic plan. Please be as detailed as possible. The goal of this portion is to be similar to what would be included as a pre-registration. Identify the variables, the scoring, and the statistical tests you will be performing. Indicate if you have any exploratory measures, and what steps those may be. If you feel bold enough, write some R code (not a requirement).

Use the sections below to continue to build your analytic plan.

Hypotheses/Aims (2 point)

Reiterate your hypotheses or aims concisely.

Variables and Model (8 points)

Identify the constructs that you are going to be using in your model and how they will be measured. This can be a list. Propose your model diagram (DAG). You should have already done this in the last piece, but here you can update it based on any feedback.

Example

Depression – Mean scores on Beck Depression Inventory
Anxiety – Sum scores of Anxious Arousal subscale on MASQ

Statistical Models (30 points)

What statistical model will you use to test each hypothesis? Please include the type of model (e.g. ANOVA, RMANOVA, MANOVA, multiple regression, SEM, etc) and the specification of the model. This includes each variable that will be included, all interactions, subgroup analyses, pairwise or complex contrasts, and any follow-up tests from omnibus tests. If you plan on using any positive controls, negative controls, or manipulation checks you may mention that here. Provide enough detail so that another person could run the same analysis with the information provided.

This is perhaps the most important and most complicated question within the preregistration. Ask yourself: is enough detail provided to run the same analysis again with the information provided by the user? Be aware for instances where the statistical models appear specific, but actually leave openings for the precise test.

Data exclusion (10 points)

How will you determine what data or samples, if any, to exclude from your analyses? How will outliers be identified and handled?

Exploratory analyses (Optional)

If you plan to explore your data to look for unspecified differences or relationships, you may include those plans here. If completed, the points for this section will be included under the “Statistical Model” section.

Final Paper

I have put together a template that you should be able to access through Google Drive. It is view only, so feel free to make a copy or download.

Final Paper Template Link

Paper Sections

The paper will follow what we have worked on throughout the semester. I try to highlight in the document where each section can go. You will likely need to update what you have written so that it can all work together. I have the expectation that this will look like a final draft of a pre-registration that follows the sections I have outlined in the template.

Introduction

You can pull just about everything from the Project Proposal. Update the organization so that it reflects any changes that you’ve made throughout this process. Show the reader why it is important to study this area. Each claim that you make should have some evidence to back it up. Provide information on gaps or limitations. This is where you give yourself an “alley-oop” (or some other non-sports term) to show the reader that your study is going to fill those gaps, or expand the literature in a meaningful way. Integrate the feedback that has been provided.

Current Work

This is the section where you are highlighting the goals of your study and providing the slam-dunk to your alley-oop (I have never typed that word and it just looks wrong…or something a Midwesterner would say when they pass by you too closely). Provide your specific hypotheses/aims and show how important they are and why you are making them.

Methods

Participants & Procedures

State that your work is part of a larger data collection procedure. Then walk through what sampling is going to look like to get the folks for your portion. Identify the steps and things that the participant will be doing as well. See the document for more comments.

Measures

Be specific about the measures and have it mirror what I have in the template. I gave an example of a measure.

Data Analytic Plan

Update what you have already put together based on my feedback.

Reflection/Discussion

Reflect on the process and rate your group members. See template for specifics.

Group Presentation

Rubric (same information as below)

General Instructions

The presentation will be approximately 10 – 15 minutes. Below are the different components that I will be looking for. You have the freedom to present the information in whatever order makes sense for your group. I would suggest beginning with an overall introduction, introduce the main topic area, provide general procedures and then each individual will highlight their portion with any specifics that have not already been covered.

Think of this as though you are pitching your proposed research project to a group of investors to get funding to run the project.

Introduction (15 points)

From: Project Proposal

Establish the topic and why it should be researched

Discuss prior research relevant to existing study

Establishes rationale for existing project (what is missing from past work, or what are we building on?)

Clearly state the Research Question or Problem (group & individual)

Design & Methods (30 points)

From Design & Measures

Give relevant information on planned sampling procedures

Specific definition of the study design and the procedures for each study visit (i.e., what does the participant do)

Provide operational deﬁnitions for all constructs used in study and which measures will be used to define them

Data Analytic Plan (30 points)

Show your visualization of your proposed model

Highlight your data exclusion criteria

Indicate the specific data analytic technique

Walk through the steps taken to analyze the data using your proposed statistical methodology

Be sure to specify which analyses are confirmatory vs. exploratory

Discussion/Reflection (10 points)

Reflect on generalizability of your findings

Identify how sampling procedures may limit the conclusions

Indicate what next research could investigate

Style/Other (15 points)

All sections above are included and organized clearly

APA format is used properly (citations, tables, etc.)

Presenters do not over-rely on text

Presenters attempt to use a variety of media where possible to minimize viewer fatigue of having to read slides over and over

Responds to questions appropriately

There is an overall cohesion among all research questions