Assignment:
For this assignment, you will write an annotated bibliography using a minimum of three different sources from the KU Library. To help you get started, you can use the different studies that you shared with the class on the Discussion Board and in seminar this week. It is recommended that all of these articles be related to the topic that you will be doing your research proposal on: the articles annotated here can be those used as part of the background material in the research proposal. Be sure to choose actual scientific studies (not a meta-analysis or a literature review on a topic) that provide for a different perspective on your topic.
An annotated bibliography for research includes a listing of citations for each different source of information with each citation followed by a brief description of the study and a critical analysis of the research report. The purpose of an annotated bibliography is to help the researcher make sense of the many conflicting and sometimes contradictory results. Most researchers group the different studies together by topic or themes in order to see if a particular pattern emerges. Hopefully, you will begin to see this in your bibliography.
Upon completion, an annotated bibliography helps the researcher gain an understanding of the entire body of research on a particular subject (i.e., not just one study). In other words, putting together an annotated bibliography helps the researcher to get a broader sense of the results of many different studies on the same subject. In addition, an idea of how the different studies connect to one another and the important themes that are related to a topic often emerge in this process. This is an important first step to take when attempting to develop quality research questions and hypotheses.
Assignment Directions
Select a minimum of three and no more than five different research reports on a relevant topic of interest in the field of psychology. Do your best to include a few different types of sources in your bibliography (e.g., peer reviewed journal, newspaper, book, etc.). In addition, make sure that your sources are current (within the last five years).
At the beginning of the Assignment, please include a statement (one or two sentences) indicating what topic or concept connects the articles summarized.
Start off with the full text citation for each study in boldface. Be sure to list your different sources in alphabetical order.
Immediately after each full text citation, summarize the following details from the cited source:
1. A full citation of your source, formatted per APA style guidelines
2. A brief description of the research questions and hypotheses
3. The method and any criticisms
The results
1. The conclusions and any concerns that you may have
2. A critical analysis of the quality and credibility of the study and author(s)
3. How this study connects to or contrasts with other studies on this subject
4. An explanation of how this study will shed new light on your topic
Make sure to provide enough details for the reader to get a clear sense of the study. Ideally you will have two "paragraphs:" the first covering the first four bullet points above, the second covering the remaining three.
After the three to five articles have been listed and annotated, end the Assignment with a couple of paragraphs describing how the process of putting together an annotated bibliography helps researchers to develop quality research questions and hypotheses.