Do creative people see optical illusions differently than most analytical people?

 Research Proposal and Study Design Project
Instructions and Outline

 Research Literature Review
Include at least ten (10) primary journal articles (references) that address the topic.
In addition, include at least ten (10) in-text citations within the paper.
• References are to be scholarly sources from the following databases:
o APA PsycARTICLES from EBSCO
o Psychology (Gale)
o Psychology Database ProQuest
▪ Do not use Book Reviews
• Scholarly books can be used as References. Do not use the Textbook
• DO NOT use popular non-scholarly web sites (Wikipedia, etc.) or summary web
sites (Associations, government, etc.).
o References and in-text citations need to be in proper APA Style.
• Each Reference must be included in the body of the paper through having at
least one in-text citation in the paper.
• References MUST be pre-submitted to the class Embedded Librarian for
approval. No paper will be accepted without this approval.
Use the provided outline and directions below to compose an APA Style paper, 8 to 10
pages in length (double-spaced).
Students will submit their paper to Safe Assign and review the Originality Report before
final submission.
Paper Outline & Directions
• Title page: manuscript’s first page
– Running head (abbreviated title) and page number (1)
– Title of the paper
▪ It should identify the main variables or theories, as well as the
relationships being investigated.
– Author name(s) (byline) and affiliations
Abstract
• Concise summary of the paper that focuses on what was done and what was
found. Between 150 and 250 words
• The abstract appears alone on page 2 of the manuscript.
• Written last, after the rest of the paper is done.
• An empirical study’s abstract includes:
– A one-sentence statement of the problem or research question
– A brief description of the participants
– A brief description of the research method and procedures
– A report of the (expected) results

– A statement about the conclusions or implications
▪ Research Proposal: Implications of the expected results
Introduction
• Provides the background and orientation that introduces the reader to your
research study.
• A statement of the question/problem or purpose of the study and explain
why the problem is important
• A review of the relevant literature.
– Provides a rationale for your study.
• Identify relevant variables and clearly define them
• Identify the hypotheses and how they relate to the research design
• A description of the research strategy (method) that was used to evaluate
the hypothesis or to obtain an answer to the research question
Method
• A relatively detailed description of how the study was conducted, including
information about the subjects or participants, procedures, and materials
used.
Participants
• Number of participants
• How were they chosen: eligibility and exclusion criteria
• Basic demographic characteristics of the group, including age, gender, and
ethnicity
• Any other characteristics relevant to the study (e.g., IQ or psychopathology
diagnosis).
Procedure
• Provides a description of the step-by-step process used to complete the study.
Include
• (1) a description of selection procedures
• (2) the settings and locations in which data were collected
• (3) any payments made to participants
• (4) ethical standards met and safety-monitoring procedures
• (5) any methods used to divide or assign participants into groups or conditions
and how many individuals were in each condition,
• (6) a description of instructions given to participants
• (7) the research design
• (8) any experimental manipulation or intervention
• (9) any apparatus or materials that were used.
Materials
• Includes identification of the variables and how they were operationalized; that
is, how they were defined and measured.
• Each questionnaire used in the study requires a description, a citation, and an
explanation of its function in the study (what it was used to measure).
• Include information on the instrument’s psychometric properties (evidence of
reliability and validity). Expected Results
• Summarize how the data will be collected and analyzed o State the planned statistical analysis including the descriptive statistics and
inferential statistics
• State the expected or anticipated results
• Implications of the expected results
• Limitations of the proposed research study

 Research Proposal and Study Design Project
The Research Process 

 The process of planning and conducting a research study involves using the scientific
method to address a specific question.
• During this process, the researcher moves from a general idea to actual data collection
and interpretation of the results.
• Along the way, the researcher is faced with a series of decisions about how to
proceed.
For this course, Research Methods in Psychology, students will compose a Research Proposal
and Study Design Project. That is, students will follow The Steps in the Research Process listed
below from Step 1 to Step 6b. Due to time constraints and practical limitations students will not
be able to conduct an actual study. Thus, we will NOT BE ABLE to complete Steps 7-10.
Below are listed The Steps in the Research Process. Each step is explained and includes the
specific tasks involved in each step. We will follow these steps over the course of the semester. Research
Proposal and Study Design Project page. You will be submitting your References for screening
and approval.
The Steps in the Research Process
1. Find a research idea and formulate a research question: select a topic and search the
literature to find an unanswered question or a question which you believe needs further
research.
– Weeks 1-3
– From the literature search compile your References
– Submit research topic:  – Submit References:  Form a hypothesis: a tentative answer to the research question.
– Goal of the research study is to demonstrate that your answer (your hypothesis) is
correct.
– The likelihood of a hypothesis being correct is often based on previous research
results.
– Submit Research Question and Hypothesis: 3. Determine how you will define and measure your variables.
– The variables identified in the research hypothesis must be defined in a manner
that makes it possible to measure them by some form of empirical observation.
– These decisions are usually made after reviewing previous research and
determining how other researchers have defined and measured their variables.
– By defining variables so that they can be observed and measured, researchers can
transform the hypothesis into a specific research prediction that can be
evaluated with empirical observations in a research study.
1. Formulate research prediction through incorporating operationally
defined variables into the research hypothesis
– In your literature search find measurement instruments (tests, questionnaires,
scales) that you can use in your research study.
1. Provide the names of the measurement instruments
2. Provide information regarding the validity and reliability of the
instruments
3. Identify the scales of measurement of the measurement instruments
(nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio).
– Submit Operational Definitions and Research Prediction:  4. Identify the participants or subjects for the study, decide how they will be selected, and
plan for their ethical treatment.
– Determine how many individuals you will need for your research
– Plan where and how to recruit them.
– Determine and identify your sampling method. See Table 5.1 (titled 8.1)
1. Identify limitations of your sampling method.
– It is the responsibility of the researcher to plan for the safety and well-being of
the research participants and to inform them of all relevant aspects of the
research, especially any risk or danger that may be involved.
1. Develop a written informed consent form. A consent form contains a
statement of all the elements of informed consent and a line for the
participant’s and/or guardian’s signature. See Table 4.3 for a list of the
common components of consent forms
– Submit Participant Selection Process and Informed Consent Form: 5. Select a research strategy to evaluate your research hypothesis.
– General approach and goals of a research study
– Usually determined by the type of question asked: variable relationship or cause
and effect
– Choose among descriptive, correlational, experimental, quasi-experimental, and
nonexperimental.
– Five research strategies
▪ Category 1: Strategies that examine individual variables
• Descriptive
▪ Category 2: Strategies that examine relationships between variables by
measuring two (or more) variables for each participant
• Correlational
3
▪ Category 3: strategies that examine relationships between variables by
comparing two (or more) groups of scores
– Experimental
– Quasi-experimental
– Nonexperimental
– Comment on how your research strategy can influence both internal and external
validity.
1. Consider threats to internal and external validity of your study
1. Identify possible threats to internal validity.
1. Identify possible confounding variables.
2. Identify possible threats to external validity
– Consider and address any possible ethical concerns regarding the research study
6. Select a research design.
– How to implement the research strategy
– Decide on the specific methods and procedures you will use to conduct the
research study, i.e. correlation, experiment, quasi-experiment, and
nonexperimental.
• Require decisions about three basic aspects of the research study:
• Group versus individual
• Same individuals versus different individuals
1. Examine changes within the same group of individuals as they move
from one treatment to the next.
2. Uses a different group of individuals for each separate treatment
and examines differences between groups.
• The number of variables to be included
• Research Procedure
• Details about how the study is to be done
– Exact, step-by-step description of a specific research study
• Includes a determination of:
– Exactly how the variables will be manipulated, regulated, and measured
– Exactly how many individuals will be involved
– Exactly how the individual participants will proceed through the course
of the study
• Description of the research procedure is typically presented in the method
section of the research report
6a. Planned Statistical Analysis: based on your research strategy, plan the statistical
analysis. Include both the descriptive statistics and inferential statistics you plan to
use in the research study
• Three research strategies and distinct data structures:
– Category 1: descriptive research strategy
• One group of participants; one variable measured per participant
• See Table 15.12
– Category 2: correlational research strategy
4
• One group of participants; two (or more) variables measured for
each participant
• See Table 15.13
– Category 3: experimental, nonexperimental, and quasi-experimental
research strategies
• Two or more groups of scores with each score a measurement of
the same variable
• See Table 15.14
• Submit Research Strategy, Design, and Planned Statistical Analysis: 6b. Expected Results: final section of the body of the research proposal
• Summarize how the data will be collected and analyzed
o State the planned statistical analysis including the descriptive statistics and
inferential statistics
• State the expected or anticipated results
o Implications of the expected results
• Limitations of the proposed research study
• Submit Expected Results:

The following steps are NOT being done due to class time restrictions

 7. Conduct the study.
– Finally, you are ready to collect the data.
8. Evaluate the data.
– Use various statistical methods to examine and evaluate the data.
9. Report the results.
– One important aspect of the scientific method is that observations and results must
be public.
– This is accomplished, in part, by a written report describing what was done,
what was found, and how the findings were interpreted.
10. Refine or reformulate your research idea.
– Most research studies generate more questions than they answer.
– If your results support your original hypothesis, it does not mean that you have
found a final answer.
– Instead, the new information from your study simply means that it is now possible
to extend your original question into new domains or make the research
question more precise.
– Typically, results that support a hypothesis lead to new questions

Grading information: 

Knowledge of
Topic and
Depth of
Thought
(50)

(50)
Displays a thorough
understanding of the
topic. Provides complete
detailed responses that
address ALL parts of an
APA Research Proposal

Depth and
Integration of
Research
(30)
(30)
Utilizes and effectively
incorporates more than
ten scholarly sources,
and there is no need for
additional citations.

APA Style
(10)
(10)
Error free APA Style.
Particular emphasis on
References and in-text
citations

Quality of
Writing
(10)
(10)
Writing is original,
organized & clear, and
free of grammatical,
spelling, and punctuation
errors.

Please note: there must be 10 references taken from the intructed databases. I already have 4 references to use which are the following: