Final Exam Essay Prompt

Final Exam Essay Prompt (Total = 50 points)

Please respond to each part of the prompt in a text file (e.g. MS Word document), based on the article selected by you and your instructor. Label each part of your answer clearly by the numbers/letters in the prompt, making sure to list your name and the article information at the top of the file.

Student Name:

Article Info (APA citation, or at minimum first author name, year of publication and title):                                                                      

1. Introduction (6 points)
   1. Context – State in your own words why this study was important. What knowledge did it aim to gain that we did not already have, or what presupposed knowledge did it aim to challenge? Often, the introduction will list opposing views on a topic, so summarize those briefly in as much as you feel they are key to understanding the study at hand. 3 pts.
   2. State the experimental hypothesis on main purpose of the study – the claim the authors sought to test, or the specific point they sought to clarify. 3 pts.
2. Methods (19 points)
   1. Describe the type of data collected, in terms of the ideas we have discussed in class (categorical/ordinal/interval/ratio; continuous/discrete; active/attribute, etc.). 2 pts.
   2. Describe the experimental population – number of subjects per group and defining characteristics. Also let me know if you feel that this population was well chosen, and if are there any issues with subject selection that might affect the study’s validity. 2 pts.
   3. Describe the experimental design and procedure. 2 pts.
   4. List key constructs and the operational definitions used to study them, at minimum for the dependent variable(s) but also for any other important concepts. 4 pts.
   5. List the independent variables studied, and their levels (if applicable). 3 pts.
   6. List the specific dependent variables measured. 3 pts.
   7. Describe the data analysis approach. 2 pts.
   8. Include (cut and paste) any figures that are needed to understand the methods used. 1 pt.
3. Results (14 points)
   1. Detail the claims made in the paper – some papers will have several connected claims. For each one, cut and paste the relevant figure(s) or table(s) into MS Word and describe the details below. For each one, include:
      1. The main finding (e.g. “There was a significant difference between group A and group B”). 4 pts.
      2. The statistical test used, and the value obtained – label explicitly:
         1. The type of test (e.g. between subjects t-test, one-way anova, etc.) and the specific comparison (e.g. treatment A vs treatment B). 3 pts.
         2. The value of the test statistic (e.g. F(df-b,df-w)=some value) and p-value (e.g. p=.006). 3 pts.
         3. The measure of effect size, if listed (e.g. d=0.3). How would you characterize this effect (small, medium, large)? 1 pt.

• Was any correction for multiple comparisons done, and if not, should there have been? 1 pt.

1. List an additional analysis that might have been conducted on this data, that you feel might yield additional clarity or address something else related and important to the study. 2 pts.

4. Conclusions (11 points)
   1. What conclusions did the authors draw about their results? Was the experimental hypothesis supported by the data? Do you feel like these conclusions were well supported by the data, or were the claims made more general than what the data actually suggested? 4 pts.
   2. How do the results of the study fit in to the context listed in the introduction? Have unclear issues been clarified? 2 pts.
   3. What issues do the authors mention as limitations to the study? 2 pts.
   4. What might be additional limitations to the study, or possible threats to internal or external validity that haven’t been discussed? 3 pts.