THE TOPIC I WANT YOU TO USE IS AGGRESSION RESEARCH PROJECT: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT WO

THE TOPIC I WANT YOU TO USE IS AGGRESSION
RESEARCH PROJECT: TOPIC DEVELOPMENT WORKSHEET ASSIGNMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
This assignment is the first in our Research Project series. It provides an opportunity for you to
take a closer look at a topic related to social psychology. You will use your work in this
assignment to sharpen your research while you prepare to write your Research Project:
Literature Review Assignment later in this term.
INSTRUCTIONS
For this assignment, you will:
1. Show the progression of topic development using a copy of the table provided below.
Note: Sample data is provided. Please do not use this topic or any of the references.
2. After completing your copy of the Research Project: Topic Development Worksheet
Template, you will submit your completed template and APA-formatted title page along
with a PDF copy of each article you choose related to your topic (see the criteria below).
Steps
1. Begin with a general topic.
2. Narrow your general topic by selecting a topic from one chapter in our textbook.
3. Skim the chapter to identify one topic within the chapter that interests you. Read that
section and write down questions that come to mind.
4. Identify one question that interests you most. This will become your research question.
5. Begin your search to determine what has been discovered on your topic. This will be a
preliminary look at the topic. Feel free to flag articles that look like they may be helpful
but don’t be in a hurry to create a final list.
6. Based on what you find in the literature, formulate a preliminary purpose/thesis
statement. Your thesis statement should:
 Be a response to your research question that identifies your topic,
 State your position, and
 Provide evidence to support your position.
This purpose statement may need to be adjusted/refined as you conduct your research.
7. Finalize your research process by choosing at least 5 articles from the JF Library. All 5
must be from peer-reviewed journals published within the past 5 years. All five must
describe original research and each article must support your research question and
purpose statement.
PSYC 312
Page 2 of 2
How to identify “original research”
Original research articles will include the following sections:
 Abstract
 Introduction (will not always identified with a label)
 Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
The abstract for original research will likely include words such as these:
 Study
 Sample
The abstract for original research will NOT include these words:
 Review
 Meta-Analysis
 Editorial
 Commentary
8. Download a PDF copy of each article selected. These copies will be submitted with your
assignment (you will upload a total of six documents: This worksheet and 5 separate
articles). The PDFs should be named using the first author’s last name as the document
identifier. For example: Smith.PDF
9. Final Steps
 Create an APA-formatted title page to use as a cover sheet for this document.
 Self-check using the assignment instructions and grading rubric.
 Begin reading and taking notes on your articles, as they will be used for the
upcoming Research Project: Literature Review Assignment.
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.