M6 Assignment – Article Review 2 – Social Network Sites and Well-Being: The Role of Social Connection

Please refer to the Module 1 content guide entitled “How Do I Read and Review a Journal Article” for a full review of the instructions on how to find relevant information within published academic research. Within your submission, you must answer the questions listed below. Your submission must be written in essay style, be 3-5 pages in length (double spaced), and must follow the APA guidelines for citations. Please refer to the content guide labeled, “How do I use APA style to Cite my Sources?” in the Research Basics Module for details on how to do this. There is a grading rubric attached so you can understand how your submission will be assessed. You will notice there are two possible scores listed for each category. This is to allow points to be distributed differently if you are reviewing an article with one study compared to an article with more than one study. 

Below are four articles about the potential for harm or benefits of social networking sites. Select one article and conduct a 3-5 page (double spaced) critical review according to the questions listed. DO NOT write out the questions in your paper.

Articles

Clark, J. L., Algoe, S. B., & Green, M. C. (2018). Social network sites and well-being: the role of social connection. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(1), 32-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417730833

NOTE: Article are not all the same type. Some articles contain experiments, and some are theory articles that present a new or updated theory and support it with arguments based on academic literature. Read the article you select carefully and decide if it contains an experiment(s) or if it is a theory paper. Then select the appropriate method below: either (1) questions for articles with experiments or (2) review of a theory article. Use these as guides to write your review.   

Use these Questions for Articles with Experiments

1. What was the rationale for the current research (the answer to this should include a discussion of previous literature and main psychological concepts or theories)? Be sure to cite and reference secondary sources. These are sources utilized by the authors of the study under review.
2. What is the current hypothesis/es or research questions?
3. How many participants were in the study? Describe the group of participants (gender, age, race, religion).
4. Describe the procedure. In other words, what happened to the participants from the time they began the study until the time it ended. Make sure to include any measures (surveys or questionnaires) and/or materials (technology or props).
5. Did the data support or fail to support the hypothesis or what or the answers to research questions? The answer should be in plain English. You should not be using numbers (statistics) in your answer.
6. What are the implications of the research? In other words, how does this work affect everyday people, theory formation, interpretation of current events etc… Make sure to describe the principles, theories, and, or concepts being examined within the article and how they relate to Media Psychology. You can reference the textbook within this answer to tie in some of the concepts we are learning.
7. What were the limitations of the current study? You do not need to use the limitations given by the author(s) of the study. Feel free to rely on what you’ve learn about research methods and ethics to suggest your own.
8. Be sure to cite sources in the text of your writing. In addition, all sources used in the review must be referenced in a reference section.
9. Use APA 7 style for writing stylistics, citation style and reference style.
10. Write in paragraph style (no bullet points or numbers) always keeping an academic tone.
11. The 3-5 pages must contain content and do not include title or reference pages.  

Note: Do not list the questions in the paper. Just use the questions as a guide on what content to include. 

Use this Outline for Articles that Discuss Theory with no Experiment (similar to M1 review) 

How to Write this Article Review

The organization for this article review assignment is listed below.

I. Introduction and Rationale

    A.    What is the author’s rationale?

          1.     Why was the article written?

          2.     What do the secondary sources say?

Secondary sources are those found within the article under review. These usually provide theoretical support for the author’s rationale. ALWAYS cite and reference secondary sources.

    B.     What is the author’s thesis statement?

A thesis statement is a declarative sentence that may be followed by one or two more sentences that explain what it is the author(s) intends to write about. This is the author’s main argument(s).

    C.     What are the main psychological theories and/or constructs used in the article? Be sure to describe them and not just list them.

    D.    Methodology

Methodology refers to how the authors of an article chose to support their thesis statement. Some common methodologies include experiments or meta-analyses. There are many more methodologies. As stated, this article contains no experiment. Be sure to discuss this in your review.      

II. Body

1. Explain the proof that supports the thesis statement(s)?
2. Describe broad areas of application of the psychological theories and constructs used in the article.
3. What general implications may be made based on the evidence presented?

III. Conclusion

    A.    Paraphrase thesis statement

    B.     Paraphrase how the thesis statement was supported.

    C.     Offer limitations to the article.

           1.     Limitations in methodology

           2.     Limitations in the generalizability of findings

    D.    Present areas of future research (if the author(s) do)

In scientific inquiry every article and every methodology have limitations. Limitations refer to issues with reliability, and internal and external validity. I am not asking you to define these terms or to go into great detail. However, students must present at least one item for each of the two limitation categories above: (1) limitations in methodology and (2) limitations in the generalizability of findings

Limitations in methodology refers to how might the author’s chosen methods for supporting their thesis statement(s) be limited in deriving a substantive result.

Limitations in the generalizability of findings refers to how might the author’s conclusions be limited in application outside of the article across cultures and demographics.

Plagiarism and AI Checking Tool

A plagiarism checking tool has been enabled for this submission. Once you submit your work, your instructor will receive a similarity report detailing any overlap between your paper and the work of others. Assignments found to have a high similarity score will receive a zero grade without the opportunity to revise and resubmit. 

In addition, any work suspected of AI use will be submitted to an external AI checking tool. Assignments found to have a high likelihood of AI use will receive a zero grade without the opportunity to revise and resubmit. 

NOTE: Good academic writing contains little to no quotations. Instead, students are expected to rephrase sources and cite their work correctly. Points may be deducted if sources are not thoroughly rephrased. In addition, points may be taken off if too many or too long quotations are used. Finally, using verbatim, unmarked, and/or uncited content from sources may result in the assignment being returned for revision and/or a grade of zero.