OVERVIEW: For Part I of this two-part assignment you identified and summarized elements of a published scholarly article selected from the classroom Resources Folder. For Part 2, which is due by the end of Week 6, you will analyze, connect, and reflect on aspects of your selected article. Note that the words “succinct” and “thorough” repeat regularly in the instructions below. They will serve as reminders that this is a formal assignment and sentence fragments, bulleted lists, conversational or other types of casual language cannot be used.

In completing Part 2 you will:
--Describe a research method alternative to the one used by your selected article’s author(s) to study the same phenomena

-- Evaluate the potential impact on the “real world” of your selected article’s research;

-- Apply three concepts from required textbook readings;

-- Identify an aspect of the article’s topic focus about which you would like to know more

In composing your work use complete and clearly articulated sentences in one or more paragraphs, as assigned below, a minimum of 250 words each and citing sources in the body of your writing and in a References list attached to the end of it. Proofread your work carefully as proper spelling, grammar and writing structure are required. All answers must be your original words or paraphrases of material in your selected article or the course textbook. No other sources may be used. Copying from published material is a violation of the University policy on academic integrity and will void all points for this assignment with no option for revision and submission.

**You may work on this assignment ahead of its deadline but may not submit it prior to Week 6 of the 8-week course term.

Begin your Part 2 work here.

Then respond to the following succinctly and thoroughly in the spaces below

NOTE: You must complete your work in this document, save and attach it to the assignment tab; while you may want to do so as a back-up, content pasted into the assignment page Student Comments space cannot be accepted as a substitute for an on-time attachment submission and cannot be graded. Inserting your answers here will change the number of document pages and the location of particular items at the top, middle or bottom of pages.

While you may not remove or reorder items or change font sizeor other elements of this document and need to place your responses directly under each item, page number increases or an item moving from the top, middle or bottom of a page as a result of you entering your responses is to be expected and is not of concern.
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ANALYSIS – 30 points possible (15 points each)

The authors of the article you have selected for this assignment used a particular research design, group of participants, and set of study methods to investigate a research question (sometimes referred to in scholarly articles as the “hypothesis tested”). As you know from early assigned readings in the course textbook, research questions can be investigated using a variety of methods.

1. Write a succinct and thorough paragraph in the space below either justifying or challenging the use of your selected article’s research methods used to examine its research question. NOTE: You must base your writing on the course textbook information about which research methods are best suited for which types of studies, not on personal opinion or preference, and choose just one position here. A paragraph that both justifies and challenges the use of an article’s research methods or that states why one position cannot be chosen cannot not be assigned points. Include in the body of your writing appropriately placed and formatted source citations for both the article and the course textbook.
2. Write a succinct and thorough paragraph in the space below describing a research method other than the one noted in your selected article that the article author(s) could have used to conduct the same study and explain why it would be suitable as an alternative method. NOTE: The alternative research method you select must be suited for the article’s study so you will want to review the assigned course readings on the various types of methods. Include in the body of your writing appropriately placed and formatted source citations for both the article and the course textbook.

CONNECTION – 50 points possible (25 points each)

1. In the space below, write a succinct and thorough paragraph (250 words minimum)describing three concepts, theories or principles from the course textbook that can be related the focus of your selected article. NOTE: Research methods and statistical analyses have already been addressed earlier in this assignment and cannot be used as textbook concepts here. Include in the body of your writing appropriately placed and formatted source citations for both the article and the course textbook.
2. One of the most interesting aspects of the field of psychology is the application of its concepts, theories, and principles to everyday life. In the space below, write a succinct and thorough paragraph (250 words minimum)describing at least 3 different ways that the research conducted by your selected article’s author(s) can impact the “real world”. Include in the body of your writing appropriately placed and formatted source citations for the article and the course textbook (if you use the latter in the construction of this paragraph).

REFLECTION – 50 points possible (25 points each)
1. Although the author(s) of your selected article addressed many aspects of its focus of study, it is inevitable that components were not discussed that might also be interesting. In the space below, write a succinct and thorough paragraph (250 words minimum)explaining one aspect of your selected article’s focus that the researchers did not mention that you would like to know more about. Include in the body of your writing appropriately placed and formatted source citations for the article and the course textbook (if you use the latter in the construction of this paragraph).

2. Combined, the Week 3 and Week 6 portions of this assignment provided several opportunities, to identify the key components of a published scholarly journal article, to demonstrate knowledge of research methods use in studying psychological phenomena, (Week 3); and second, to develop and hone article summary and analysis skills (Week 6). With the second opportunity in mind, in the space below, write a succinct and thorough paragraph (250 words minimum)describing three aspects of summarizing and reviewing a published scholarly journal article that you now understand that you didn’t know about before starting the assignment. NOTE: You are reflecting on your learning experience here, not summarizing or evaluating the selected article. This is the only part of the assignment to be written personal reflection style. It is expected that you would have few or perhaps no source citations here, using them only for portions of your reflective work that are directly based on either your selected article or the course textbook.

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SPELLING, GRAMMAR, AND CITATIONS – 10 points possible
(Nothing to type here. This is an alert to go back and proofread your writing and make any needed corrections before submitting this assignment to avoid the loss of these 10 important points. Tip: Look for basic grammar errors [ex: using “their” when you are talking about one person), misspellings and typos, correctly spelled but incorrectly used words that SpellCheck won’t catch, sentence fragments that don’t state complete thoughts, run-on sentences that should be split into smaller ones or sentences that read awkwardly or don’t make sense when you read them aloud, etc.).