The Seminar/Tutorial Format Psychology 401 is normally team-taught by two faculty members. Initially, students meet as a group for a few weeks in seminar format where the focus is on selecting a topic for one's literature review and learning techniques and skills for conducting the search and writing the paper. Presentations for statistical software packages may also be included. Once the student has chosen her/his individual topic of research, the class format changes to individual tutorials and each student meets with one of the two instructors on a regular basis. The course culminates in seminar form for oral presentations.
Library Resource Material. Selected Reference Sources in Psychology contains a list of psychology journals, selected reference materials, and literature search procedures available in Andrews Library. This information should be valuable in locating relevant literature for your thesis project. In choosing a particular topic, students assume responsibility and cost of obtaining necessary books and journals NOT available from Andrews Library. (The department cannot sponsor trips to distant libraries.)
Nature and content of an I.S. paper in psychology. Almost without exception an I.S. paper would include an evaluative review or summary of research literature in a specified topic, analogous to articles in the Psychological Bulletin (but not usually as exhaustive in its coverage of the literature). Depth of understanding is more important than breadth of coverage. The literature review section of an I.S. proposal or a completed senior I.S. is broader in its scope than the usual brief introduction section of a journal research article, but at the same time does not summarize the collected knowledge of the Western Hemisphere (work with your advisor to decide the appropriate level and extent of coverage).
A common problem has resulted from students' attempts to incorporate everything they read; such a paper falls apart. The paper must have unity. The theme must be clear and stated explicitly at the beginning; then the whole paper will contribute toward that stated purpose. If for some reason your paper treats several related topics, then divide the paper into 2 - 4 chapters, such that each chapter is a unified treatment of one theme.
Style and format. Style of a literature review, or course, cannot be standardized the way the format of a research report is. Nonetheless, guidelines are useful. Avoid the loose, chatty style of magazine articles as much as you avoid the stuffy, obfuscational style of the worst in journal articles. Organization should be as tight and as clear as possible; skillful use of headings (Science recommends about one heading per three typed pages and even more frequent headings can be helpful), transitional sentences, and a table of contents in outline form will help clarify the organization. Addition of an appropriate introduction and a strong conclusion section will contribute to communication.
Models for the type of paper we expect can be found in the review articles in Psychological Bulletin or the "Articles" (not "Reports") in Science. Certain articles in American Psychologist or Psychological Review or even some textbook chapters might also be useful models.
Incomparable (and indispensable) advice on writing is available in a little book by W. Strunk and E. B. White (The Elements of Style. New York: Macmillan, 1959), whose pithy advice is recommended to all who ever write or speak to communicate. (The writer of these Guidelines might take heed, too!) A book by Howard Becker (Writing for Social Scientists) is very useful for overcoming common writing blocks and writing style problems.
Criteria for evaluation (grading) Psychology 401 is graded like other psychology courses. That is, grades A through F are given. The criteria listed below represent the important aspects of grading the written product:
1. The usual general evaluative criteria which one can never operationally define but which are inevitable, including (but not limited to) clarity of thought and expression, apparent depth of understanding, understandable organization, vigor and interest of presentation, meaningfulness, etc.
2. How well the paper as a whole fulfills its stated purpose (all papers must have a clear explicit statement of purpose near the beginning).
3. Adequacy of the student's evaluation of the ideas s/he presents. This criterion is essential because a primary purpose of college education is development of one's ability to critically sort good ideas from bad.
4. The degree to which the paper uses primary literature rather than secondary sources.
5. Appropriateness and understanding of the primary sources used.
6. The degree of specificity or explicitness rather than generality or vagueness. (For example, when you cite experiments you might include information about their procedures and measures, rather than merely repeating their conclusions.) Support your paper with evidence, not authority.
7. Effective use of all resources available (bibliographic methods, books, journals, advice, data, whatever else is appropriate for the particular topic).
8. Maturity (or "professionalism") of presentation (this is, of course, interpreted within the context of the degree of mature presentation expected of an undergraduate student; the topic must be selected so that it falls within the capabilities of the student at this level).
9. Integration of the material and perspective and control of the content.
10. The design of the proposed research. A properly designed I.S. study not only must be scientifically sound, but must be feasible. Can the study be done within the time restrictions and are the resources available?
11. The clear understanding of the ethical and animal welfare considerations of the proposed research.
12. The degree of preparation for statistical analysis and interpretation of the data that is evident in the proposal.
Other advice--miscellaneous. Nearly every student doing a library paper has had difficulty in the final paper traceable to careless use of note cards, evidently because the student is not accustomed to keeping track of such a great amount of verbal information over such a long time. Thus, even though they are obvious, the following reminders are important.
Most important is to differentiate clearly among verbatim quotations, close paraphrases, and summaries in your own words. You might use squared quotation marks in your note cards to indicate paraphrases so that in the final paper you will be reminded to check and make sure that in altering the paraphrase you did not unwittingly end up with the author's original words again. Proper learning of these particular research skills is probably the greatest benefit to be derived from this sort of I. S. project, so that failure here is a much more serious loss than the mere accidental plagiarism that it appears to be. In any case, quotations should be used sparingly.
It may seem too obvious to mention, but you need to record carefully the source (reference) of every idea or quotation on your note cards both for later checking as you write and for referencing in your final paper. The distinction between primary and secondary sources is particularly important, but it is often lost in the writing; indicate unambiguously in both your text and your reference list that a reference is secondary whenever it refers to material not read in the original; indicate also the secondary source from which you got the information, of course. Secondary sources should be avoided, where possible.
The first month when the class meets in seminar, much of the time is spent helping you choose and hone your topics to those that are manageable. Once you begin to meet with your advisor in tutorial format, it is your responsibility to keep her/him informed of your progress. A paper of I.S. scope and magnitude requires steady work over the entire semester and a part of the criteria for grading includes the process of developing the paper. It is advisable to schedule regular appointments with the advisor and to set up a time table.
The final draft of your paper should be in APA style, without misspellings, but needn't be bound. As is true with any major piece of work, you should make a copy. When using a word-processor, always make adequate backups and save your work frequently while writing. Computer or computer disk failure will not be accepted as an excuse for missed deadlines.