A2: Research in Psychology
With the expansion of technological resources and the availability of information at our fingertips, it is important the we all know how to think critically about our resources. The purpose of this assignment is to compare and contrast information presented in main stream media (i.e. anything) to information presented in peer reviewed journal articles (i.e. science). Although the information presented in the media and research that you cite, the intended purpose of each article is different and should be reflected in the writing style.
Psychology in the News
STEP 1: Find a popular news article from within the past 10 years that reports on the results of a psychological study. This should not be a blog entry, but a published article from a news source such as Time Magazine, The New York Times, Newsweek, NPR, CNN, Fox News, etc. A great place to look is the . Read through the article and ensure that it is descriptive and sufficiently long enough in order to draw conclusions from the original research mentioned. You may also use social media resources, just be sure to cite them correctly.
STEP 2: Did you know that you are paying for access to peer reviewed journals in our library? Go find the psychological study or studies that are mentioned in the news report. Sometimes those are not freely available online, so you may have to track down the original study through the . You can find these articles within reputable journals, such as the , , , , , , , , and .
STEP 3: Write a paper between 250-500 words that:
- describes and summarizes both articles
- compares and contrasts the key points, style, and purpose of the news article with that of the research article
- examines if the news article accurately describes the research
- includes correct (both in-text and in a reference page) for both of the articles
- NOTE: for more information regarding APA Style formatting, please visit the (OWL) at Purdue University.
