Research Scientific Investigation
Milestone One Worksheet: Topic Selection and Introduction
Review the critical elements that must be addressed in the final project. Use this worksheet to develop Milestone One. You should build on the ideas from the Module One discussion to select your final topic.
1. Identify and briefly summarize the topic related to psychology that you will study. [An example would be cognitive psychology with the specific topic being memory in emotional situations.]
2. Summarize at least two articles that you might use in the literature review section of the introduction that are relevant to the topic you want to research. List the APA reference citation followed by the summary.
3. Discuss the bias and limitations present in the articles. Support your discussion with specific examples from the articles. [Bias and limitations might include things like a small sample size, research being funded by a private corporation, etc. You should use specific examples to illustrate instances of bias and limitations.]
4. Discuss other factors that might impact the credibility of those articles. You might look at how the research methods used influenced results, or you might look at the setting of the research. Anything in the article that might impact the outcome of the research could be discussed here.
a. Explain how the bias and limitations may inform or influence your research.
[Here you will discuss how the bias or limitations previously discussed would impact the results. For example, if research on a drug is sponsored by a drug company, this sponsorship might lead to a more favorable interpretation of the results or suppression of negative findings.]
b. Summarize the research design and methods described in these articles.
[Discuss the research methods used in each article. For example, was it a correlational design or a case study?]
c. Discuss the appropriateness of the research design and methods in these articles. Were they appropriate for the research questions and hypotheses? [Discuss whether or not the research method was appropriate. For example, was the correlational method the best way to answer the article's research question? Discuss why or why not based on application of different research methodologies.]
d. Discuss whether or not the research design and methods in these articles align to the expectations of the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists. Support your discussion with specific examples from the articles.
[Here you should examine whether or not the research methods used were ethical based on APA standards. Use the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists to provide specific examples.]
e. Based on your evaluation of these articles, discuss which research design and methods you feel will be most appropriate for the research you want to conduct. [After reviewing the literature, this section should discuss which research method would be most appropriate for your research topic. Provide examples from your literature review to support your choice of research method.]