Research Project 2 Journal Article Critique

Part of conducting psychological research is reviewing and understanding published research studies. In this research project, you will choose one of the topics that will be covered in this course (e.g., play, gender roles, moral development, effects of television) and find a research report in a journal (e.g., Adolescence, Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Family Therapy, Journal of Marriage and the Family) on the chosen topic. Read the article and write a report about the article. Enclose a copy of the first page of the research article (include the abstract which briefly summarizes the entire research study) with your report. In addition to including the main points of the study, give your personal reactions to the research findings.

Questions

1. Can you use the title of the study to identify the independent and dependent variables? (Many titles are in this format: "The effects of IV on the DV.")

2. What did you learn from the introduction section? What is the historical background of the research topic? Which earlier research findings are given as most relevant to this study? What theoretical explanations are emphasized in this section? What is the hypothesis of the present study?

3. What did you learn from the methods section? Who were the subjects? What procedures (e.g., apparatus, directions, assessment tools) were used?

4. What did you learn from the results section? What kinds of statistical procedures were used? What did you learn from charts, frequency tables, and bar graphs? What results did the authors say were statistically significant?

5. What did you learn from the discussion section? How did the authors interpret their results? Did they provide alternative explanations? Did they talk about the limitations of the preset research study? What future research studies were suggested?

6. What kinds of ideas did this article make you think about? Can you design a similar study on this topic?

Chapter 3

Research Project 1

Heritability of Height

The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the concept of heritability by using height as the characteristic. You will do a kinship study of two families (one of the families can be your own) to collect the necessary data. Record the height of all family members over 18 years of age and separate them by sex. Calculate the mean and range of heights of both sexes for both families and compare them. This exercise is intended to give you experience both with a kinship study design and with the concept of heritability for a variable with a clear operational definition. Use the following format to record heights. Then answer the questions that follow.

Person/Sex Family 1 Family 2 Data Family 1 Family 2

Self

Mother Average female

Father Average male

Grandmother 1 Tallest female

Grandmother 2 Tallest male

Grandfather 1 Shortest female

Grandfather 2 Shortest male

Sibling

Sibling

Sibling

Aunt

Aunt

Aunt

Uncle

Uncle

Uncle

Cousin

Cousin

Cousin

Other

Other

Other

Questions

1. Which family in your sample is, on average, taller for both males and females?

2. Of the taller family, how many females are taller than the females in the shorter family? How many of the males are taller than the males in the shorter family?

3. From your data, does it appear that height is an inherited trait?

4. What is the advantage of examining the heritability of a variable like height rather than a variable such as temperament or intelligence?