Assignment: Social Psychology Issues Research Proposal
Description
complete a Research Study Proposal to investigate a social-psychological issue to allow you to put into practice what you have learned throughout this course by designing a hypothetical research study proposal.
The Research Study Proposal will be divided into two assignments: Research Study Proposal Part I and l Research Study Proposal Part II.
The topic of your research study should be on a social-psychological issue. Social Psychology focuses on the impact of social environments on individuals or groups.
Two examples of social psychology focused studies are:
A study that researches the impact of public awareness ad campaigns on public attitudes toward the severely mentally ill.
A study comparing types of school administrator responses to reports of bullying and victims’ willingness to report instances of bullying to their parents.
Like other scientific fields, social psychology is increasingly asked to solve the problems that civil society is facing. Major societal issues prompt fierce debates and each side tries to bolster their position by reference to scientific evidence and expertise. This approach is now the rule rather than the exception and no one is surprised when scientists engage in these debates. It is hardly
shocking that societies turn towards their thinkers and researchers when they need solutions to difficulties they encounter in the course of their development. In fact, times of crises can stimulate technical or scientific innovations that are often the source of subsequent societal development. Applying scientific knowledge and methods makes us well-equipped to face problems and search for solutions. Application – and sometimes even the mistakes made during this process of application – may produce discoveries and thus strengthen our scientific knowledge. Social psychology would undoubtedly not be what it is now, if the world had not experienced times of tension and conflict such as the Second World War and the Cold War that followed. A good many valuable discoveries and theories have appeared in reply to the need for quick and efficient reactions during crises or in response to societal problems. Both the discipline and the society can benefit from the development of applied social psychology.
2Kurt Lewin, one of the most outstanding figures of social psychology, is the most quoted author when one discusses the topic of the applications of the discipline or when one speaks of an applied social psychology. His famous “There is nothing so practical as a good theory” (Lewin, 1951, p. 169) is probably one of the most well-known quotations in social psychology handbooks and indisputably in applied social psychology. Yet the use of this quotation often misrepresents Lewin’s view, which advocated a genuine cooperation of the theoretical and empirical sides of the discipline, a true dialogue between its basic and applied aspects. This point becomes clear when what Lewin wrote in a paper entitled “Problems of research in social psychology”, is not truncated: “Many psychologists working today in an applied field are keenly aware of the need for close cooperation between theoretical and applied psychology. This can be accomplished in psychology, as it has been accomplished in physics, if the theorist does not look toward applied problems with highbrow aversion or with fear of social problems, and if the applied psychologist realizes that there is nothing so practical as a good theory” (Lewin, 1951, p. 169). Lewin was advocating the removal of the barrier between the theorist and the practitioner. If this is acknowledged then two ways of facing social issues with an applied social psychology appear.
3First, the way of theorists who analyse a problem or an intervention field in the light of their theories. Their approach is certainly the most widespread within the discipline, and the drastic cut to which Lewin’s words are usually subjected reflects it. It tends to call for the delimitation of specific application fields, which are likely to become so many fields of specialization and expertise for the social psychologist. In this perspective, social psychologists will praise the usefulness and the relevance of their theories to meet the demand of those fields. It sometimes results in the same research appearing in different specialized journals – modified only to suit the conventions of that publication. If some theories are robust and have been empirically tested with success in different fields, others are more specific and can be transferred to a different field only artificially. Most of those fields are classic (health, education, law, work, organizations, etc) and usually form handbooks of applied social psychology, together with their methodological specifics. However, in addition to these traditional fields, there now appear more occasional fields, such as environment, economy and finance, media and new technologies, diversity, etc, which pertain to new social needs or preoccupations. This expansion or this renewal of application fields for established theories mirrors the other way of using social psychology to tackle social issues.
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
Welcome to class
Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to
I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.
Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.
If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.
Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.
Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
- Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
- There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
- Include in-text citations in your response
- Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
- Follow APA-7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
- A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
- Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
- Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
- Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
- Follow APA 7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
- Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
- Here are some helpful links
- The is a great resource
