To prepare for your original posts, complete the steps below:
Choose a construct in which you are interested.
- Locate at least one article using this construct in a correlational study.
- Locate at least one article using this construct in an experimental study.
- Make sure the construct is discussed as either a predictor variable in the correlational study and an independent variable in the experimental studyoras a criterion variable in the correlational study and a dependent variable in the experimental study.
- Review each study paying close attention to the operational definitions for all variables and the findings of each study. Note you only need to read enough of the study to make sense of the results pertaining to your variable of interest. If the studies have descriptions of other variables and findings for those variables you can disregard those as long as you understand your construct of interest.
After you understand your studies and are ready to post about them complete the following steps.
- Create a Word document with the abstract from each of your articles and any part of the Method and Results sections you think will help others understand your study if they want to read a brief amount of material. You may copy and paste this material, but label the sections it comes from and make sure to cite the article at the top of the page. Once you have completed this document you will attach it to your post.
- State the name of your construct and the operational definitions used in each study.
- State the hypotheses for your construct in each study.
- State what each study says about cause and effect based on the findings.
- State how convincing you think the cause and effect arguments are given the experimental evidence.
- Explain whether you think the studies are more concerned with internal or external validity.
- Explain any deficiencies you see in the studies' reliability, validity and/or operational definitions and state what you would do to address them.