PSYC2020 Assignment 2 Essay

Assessment 2: Research Report & Reflection

Word Count: 2100 words

Due: Week 9, Monday 11:59 AM

Sub-weighting: Assessment 2 accounts for 70% of your Proposal mark (A1 + A2 = 60% of course total)

This assessment builds on your draft proposal from Assessment 1. You will submit a full research proposal (referred to as a report), along with a short reflection on the collaborative process that supported its development. This is an individual submission.

i) Report (1800 words):

Your report will include the following sections: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Discussion, and References.

You may build directly on content from your Assessment 1 draft, revising and extending it based on feedback, new readings, or refinements to your research question or design. While you collaborated in groups to shape your ideas, your final report must reflect your own interpretation, structure, references, and writing style. Your final report may share similar content and citations to your draft proposal. It is up to you to decide how to incorporate the marker's advice to enhance your final submission, or in some cases students prefer to make major changes to their research focus - markers will not refer to your Assessment 1 submission or your group's discussions when reading this proposal.

Literature Review:

Extend the literature review from your draft (Assessment 1) by integrating and critically evaluating empirical and/or theoretical evidence (from at least 15-20 journal articles).

Build a logical argument that leads to and clearly justifies your proposed research question or hypotheses.

Methods:

Describe the methods you would use to test your hypotheses, including participants, materials, procedure, and proposed analysis.

Justify your choice of statistical approach in relation to your research aims.

Discussion:

Summarise your hypothesis and study aim.

Discuss predicted findings and their implications for the literature more broadly, linking to the gaps identified in your introduction.

Address methodological strengths and limitations, and any design decisions you made. Include recommendations for future improvements and provide (brief) rationale for excluding these improvements in the current study.

Reflect on the potential real-world application of your findings (considering both the implications if your hypothesis would be supported and what they would be if it is not supported.

Conclude by summarising your study's aim and expected findings, and highlighting the potential benefits of resolving the issue your proposal identifies.

References:

Cite references in-text and compile a References list according to APA (7th edition) guidelines, ensuring all articles cited in your text are listed.

Note: While you developed your project ideas collaboratively, your final submission must be written independently. Your literature review, interpretation, and discussion should reflect your individual critical evaluation and synthesis of the literature

ii) Reflection (300 words):

This section must be included at the end of your report, after your reference list. It draws on your experience participating in your research group discussions and planning.

Use the DIEP framework to structure your response. You should reflect on:

1. What worked well in your group (e.g., communication, resolving disagreements, creating an inclusive environment)

2. Any challenges that arose

3. Insights you gained about collaboration in research settings

4. How this insight connects to past experiences

5. How you will apply it to future group or professional work

Important: This reflection cannot be completed meaningfully without genuine participation in your group’s early discussions (Weeks 2–4).

Resources to Guide You Through Writing a Research Proposal:

The Research Report Template: Please submit your report using this template. Note that this template is a guide of what to include in your report. It is up to you to ensure that it is formatted according to APA 7th guidelines prior to submitting.

PSYC2020_A2Report_Template.docx

The Research Report Rubric: Follow closely to understand the marking criteria. This rubric outlines the specific requirements and standards your report will be evaluated against. Use it to ensure that all key elements are addressed and to guide the quality of your work.

PSYC2020_A2Report_Rubric.pdf

Research Report Exemplar: This has been kindly provided by a previous student and offers a useful example of structure and content of a research proposal. You can use it to understand the expectations and format, but ensure your work reflects your individual understanding and approach (this topic cannot be used for your own research proposal, nor is this exemplar perfectly formatted or composed). PSYC2020_A2Report_Exemplar.pdf

Your Group Forum (Topic Specific), Course Forum (General Questions), and Teaching Staff (via the Discussions tab or Zoom drop-ins!) should all be used to support the writing up of your research proposal.

Word Count:

The overall word limit for Assessment 2 is 2100 words (including all in-text citations and subheadings but excluding the title page, abstract, reference list, and any appendix—an appendix is rarely necessary). The report is 1800 words, the reflection is 300 words. There is a 10% leeway for each component.

Abstract: Should be 150 words and is not included in the 2100-word count. This is a strict maximum word limit.

Penalty for Going Over the Word Limit: Only content within the word limit will be assessed. Markers will indicate where the word count was exceeded and will not mark beyond that point.

Note that the template includes suggested word counts for each section to help you stay on track. Markers will not check the word counts for each section (except for the abstract, which should be 150 words and is independent of the 2100-word limit).

Additional Resources

Monique's guide on common mistakes to avoid when writing your research proposal.

Monique, a very experienced Cognitive Psychology OT, has kindly put together a document to guide you in avoiding some of the common mistakes that have been made in the past when writing a research proposal. We hope you find it helpful!

Common mistakes students make for their research proposals

• Making wrong inferences from statistical test chosen i.e., inferring a correlation from an ANOVA

• Not addressing all necessary components for the abstract i.e., jumps straight into aims before introducing the topic or the problem that will be addressed through the proposed research, not ending with a conclusion type statement such as potential implications of the proposed research.

• Not using contemporary sources i.e., over 10 + years old (unless a seminal paper)

• Having mean/median ages calculated somehow in their methods for participants age. There should be no mean age because the research hasn’t been collected or analysed. Instead, should look like “100 male and 100 female participants that range from 18-65 years of age will be recruited” etc.

• Presenting the proposal in the incorrect tense. It all needs to be in future tense as the research hasn’t been conducted. E.g., this study aims to…/ this study will collect…/participants will… etc

• Not explicitly stating inclusion/exclusion criteria

• Not sufficiently detailing measures. Should have information on number of items, possible scores, cut offs, what a high score means what a low score means etc.

• Having really long-drawn-out sentences. Less is more in academic writing. Read work out loud when proofreading to see where a sentence should stop, and actually take the time to proofread your work and make sure that all references are correct. We shouldn’t be seeing referencing mistakes in a second-year course

• Don’t overuse abbreviations, try to avoid them unless absolutely necessary i.e., the word is repeated throughout the proposal

• Keep the procedure detailed but clear and easy to follow.

• Justify your sample size using other research.

• Make the argument clear for your hypothesis in the literature review. A reader should almost be able to guess your hypothesis by the time they get to the end of your introduction.

• Explain how your proposed study is doing things different/better/improving on existing research

• Discussions can be difficult to write so follow the rubric closely. Discussions should always start with a summary of the proposed study, use current literature and theory to explain potential findings, critique methodology/mitigate limitations, make specific future recommendations, describe implications of the potential research