Assignment: Research Consumers
While your application and evaluation of research design and statistics in this course has been in the context of peer-reviewed journal articles and research, most of the research you will encounter outside of your formal studies will be in the context of lay sources - newspapers, popular press, Facebook threads/posts, cable news shows and so on. What are the differences between peer-reviewed, academic research, and research reported in the popular press? How do you go about being an intelligent consumer of research in the popular press? If you were to advise friends and family about how to interpret research claims they encounter in their daily lives, what advice would you share and why?
The response should include a reference list. Double-space, using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.
Resources
Required Text
Sukal, M. (2013). Research methods: Applying statistics in research. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Chapter 12: Choosing an Appropriate Statistical Test
Recommended References
American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author.
Cengage Learning (2005). Statistics Workshops.
Choosing the Correct Statistical Test
MicrOsiris. (n.d.).The decision tree for statistics. Adapted from Andrews, Klem, Davidson, O'Malley, and Rodgers, A guide for selecting statistical techniques for analyzing social science data (2nd ed.).
Trochim, W. M. K. (2006). Selecting statistics. In Research methods knowledge base (2nd ed.).Retrieved from Web Center for Social Research Methods Web Workshops.