Content: One of the main objectives of this course is to learn how to write an empirical report on the results of the personality and anxiety study conducted in class, and the number of factors in life affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
Students will be provided with three to four hypotheses and the corresponding results to report on their paper. All hypotheses must be included.
Length: 1. Title page- 1 page
2. Abstract- 1 page
3. Introduction- 1 ½ – 2 pages.
4. Method- 1 page
5. Results- 1 page
6. Discussion- 1 ½ – 2 pages.
7. References- 1 page
8. One tables and one Figure appropriate for presenting your results- 1 page each, total of 2 pages. You may include more than one of each, but they will not count towards the minimum page requirement.
Total length: 10-12 pages- Length of subsections might vary.
Format Details: Meticulous APA style.
1. Title page
2. Abstract
Extract information from each section of your paper and present the information in the same order that your paper presents the information.
• Introduction: Problem under investigation, purpose of study, hypotheses
• Method: Participants, experimental design (predictor, outcome), basic information, BFI and anxiety questionnaire.
• Results: State results, describe direction of effect.
• Discussion: Theoretical implications of your results (what does it mean). Relate findings to the studies reviewed in the introduction section. Conclusions.
3. Introduction
Introduce the topic and define your terms (what is state anxiety, trait anxiety, the big five factors model, etc.), all with proper references.
Provide a coherent summary of the literature and critical conclusions at the end of each section.
There are 3 hypotheses. For each hypothesis, present background information. Relevant peer reviewed articles with citations.
In the last paragraph of your Introduction, describe the purpose, the outline of your study (including anxiety questionnaire and BFI with citation provided in Lab), the variables, and state the hypotheses.
4. Method
Participants:
Report the number of participants, age (range and mean), gender distribution of the sample, etc., as instructed in the corresponding lab. Include APA ethical guidelines citation also as instructed in the Lab.
Materials:
Describe questionnaires (including citation)
• Basic information Questionnaire (no citation needed)
• Anxiety Inventory (STAI; include reliability and validity information from electronic source in Canvas)
• Describe the Big Five Inventory (BFI) and its scoring procedure
• Give a brief description of the tasks and items
• Number of items (see references in Canvas and reference accordingly)
• Type of score, how was it calculated, etc.
• 4-point scale, etc.
Define scoring of the tests and the meaning of the scores, specify state anxiety and BFI and define what the scores mean.
Report the design of the study spelling out the predictors (IVs) and outcome (DVs) variables (along with operational definitions).
Procedure:
Describe each step in chronological order.
Describe the instructions given to participants.
Describe the task from the point of view of the participants.
• Participants were presented with…
• Participants rated….
• Participants completed….
• Participants reported…
• Participants estimated…
Time participants took to answer the survey.
5. Results:
Report descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations for all predictor and outcome variables).
Report inferential statistics for each hypothesis.
Refer to Table AND Figure (if you decide to use more than one, which is optional, you must refer to each in the corresponding section). Only ONE table and ONE figure count towards the total page count and are part of the minimum requirements.
6. Discussion:
Start your Discussion with an assessment of the results in relation to your hypotheses.
• Rephrase your hypotheses and state whether your results support or fail to support the hypotheses.
Relate your findings to previous literature and hypotheses (cite previous studies)
• Did we find the same results as previous studies?
Limitations
Future Studies
Conclusions (Critical thinking!)
7. References: Everything cited throughout the paper must be listed in the References section. Everything in the References section must be cited in the paper.
You must cite at least EIGHT sources. THREE provided in Canvas plus (minimum) an additional TWO ( student articles) you must provide after approval. In addition, you must cite the author of the State and Trait Anxiety Questionnaire, and properly cite the online source provided in Canvas (see Questionnaire Information in the Research Paper Resources Module). In addition, you must cite the ethical guidelines of the APA as instructed in the Lab.
8. Tables and Figures as appropriate for presenting your results.
IMPORTANT: The tables and figures provided in the results lab PowerPoints are not in APA format.
Copying and pasting them into your paper will result in losing points.
Other issues: You cannot make use of quotations in this assignment, only properly referenced paraphrasing.
Plagiarism: Any instance of plagiarism will be reported and will result in a failing grade.
Introduction Content
The purpose of the introduction section is to introduce the primary topic of interest, provide a literature review, and introduce the present study.
General writing guidelines
● Do not use any quotes in your introduction or any other section
● Do not use vague terms, such as “mind” or “brain”- this goes for all sections
● Every sentence should have a purpose and be informative. If something is not directly relevant or informative, then delete it from your paper.
● Avoid Fluff in your writing:
– Unnecessary words or redundant words (e.g., Participants that participated in the study…)
– Pointless modifiers (e.g., completely, absolutely, just, really, in order to)
– Empty content (e.g., the brain is still a mystery)
APA in-text citations
● Do not reference the author by their full name.
– Example: “In 1968 James Windes found…” Instead say: “Windes (1968) found…”
● Do not to refer to an author as “he/she” after you cite them.
– For example, “He found that incongruent stimuli took longer to recite than congruent stimuli” instead say “Incongruent stimuli was found to take longer to recite than congruent stimuli.”
● If you discuss content from a particular article for several successive sentences, then you do not need to cite the author in each sentence. However, if you want to bring up an article again in a different paragraph or section, then you should cite it again.
– For example, do NOT say: “Windes (1968) used congruent and incongruent sets of numerals in a Stroop paradigm. The incongruent numerals were found to take longer to recite than the congruent numerals (Windes, 1968).
– Instead, say: “Windes (1968) used congruent and incongruent sets of numerals in a Stroop paradigm. The incongruent numerals were found to take longer to recite than the congruent numerals.”
First paragraph
● Within the first sentence, you should be introducing the “problem” or topic that’s going to be discussed in your manuscript.
● The general idea of our term paper is that COVID-19 has impacted many different aspects of life. There may be individual differences in how well people are coping with the impact of COVID-19 that have a basis in personality traits and how prone an individual is to anxiety.
Subsequent paragraphs
● The goal of the subsequent paragraphs is to set the stage for the present study. What research has been done on these topics so far? How is our current understanding of the topics lacking?
● I would recommend discussing the STAI and BFI in separate paragraphs.
● In one-two paragraph(s) discuss the STAI. What is the STAI? What is state anxiety? How does it differ from trait anxiety? What research has been done using the STAI thus far (discuss the required sources for the STAI on Canvas). Mention any articles you picked out that are related to anxiety or the STAI. Include additional resources, if you want. Compare and contrast methods and findings of your different sources.
● In one- two paragraph(s) discuss the BFI. What are the five personality traits? What do each of them mean? What research has been done using the BFI measure thus far (discuss the required sources for the BFI that are on Canvas). Mention any articles you picked out that are related to personality or to BFI. Include additional sources, if you want. Compare and contrast the methods and findings of your different sources.
Final paragraph
● Introduce the present experiment (the one we did in class)
● Explain the purpose/aim of the present study…Our research aim was to evaluate the relationship between neuroticism, state/trait anxiety and life factors that have been affected by COVID-19. Say this in your own words!
● Most importantly, discuss the predictions/hypotheses- it’s important that you backup your predictions with rationale.
●
● There are four hypotheses you will need to discuss in your own words. The hypotheses are listed below:
1.) When considering all five personality measures as predictors, it is expected that [IV] neuroticism will be a significant predictor of [DV] state anxiety while [IVs] agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness will not. (Will be tested using multiple regression.)
Explanation: Individuals who have high levels of neuroticism are expected to report more anxiety on a moment-to-moment basis (i.e., state).
2.) When considering all five personality measures as predictors, it is expected that [IV] neuroticism will be a significant predictor of [DV] trait anxiety while [IVs] agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness will not. (Will be tested using multiple regression.)
Explanation: Individuals who have high levels of neuroticism are expected to report more anxiety on average (i.e., trait).
3.) It is expected that there will be a significant positive correlation between the reported number of aspects affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and trait anxiety.
Explanation: Individuals who are more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to have more anxiety on average (i.e., trait), and vice versa (i.e., those who have more anxiety on average are expected to have been more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic). Remember: correlations are bidirectional!
4.) It is also expected that there will be a significant positive correlation between trait anxiety and state anxiety.
Explanation: Individuals who are more anxious on average (i.e., trait) are expected to have more anxiety on a moment-to-moment basis (i.e., state), and vice versa (i.e., individuals who are more anxious on a moment-to-moment basis are expected to report more anxiety on average). Remember: correlations are bidirectional!
4 assigned source must be use ( attached)
STAI Information
Literature Review : Julian(2011) Measure of Anxiety
Endler and Kovoski (2001) State and Trait Anxiety Revisted
Paradigm Shift to the integrative Big Five trai taxonomy
2 student articles source ( attached)