An article deconstruction. Below are the instructions from the professor. The article is attached.
Article Deconstruction
The purpose of this assignment is to get you reading, evaluating, and understanding contemporary research in the field of social psychology. After all, how can you keep up with the field of social psychology after you graduate if you aren’t used to reading articles about new and exciting research!? We are going to DECONSTRUCT (take apart, examine the pieces of) an academic article. If the information below looks at all frightening, please refer to the Social Psych Reader, Chapter 1 “How Sociologists Do Research.”
Step 1: Select an article. For this assignment, articles should come from the peer-reviewed, academic journal “Social Psychology Quarterly.” In the past, the students have told me that the hardest part of this assignment was finding the article. If you want to find your own, you may search the library databases for an article published in this journal. Or, you can simply choose one of the articles I have posted below. (If you choose to find your own, please see me to ensure that you have selected an appropriate article.) Most of these articles are from Social Psychology Quarterly, although a few are from other journals that cover social psychology topics. Thoroughly read the article that you selected. Please note: academic articles are usually 10-25 pages long¦ don’t wait until the last minute.
Step 2: After reading your article, “deconstruct” it¦ tell me what you found. You should address the following questions in your paper:
Who was/were the authors?
What was the title?
What journal did it come from, and what volume and issue was it published in?
What is the research hypothesis (what do the researchers want to study)?
What research method did the authors use? (How do you know? Justify your answer with information from the Social Psychology Reader.)
Was this the best research method, or would another method have worked better? Why do you think this? (You should name an alternative method from the Social Psych Reader in order to best answer this question.)
Would the results be different if a different research method were used?
How many people participated in the study?
What was the goal of this research? In other words, what were the researchers trying to find out?
What did the researchers actually find? (Summarize the findings.) Was this consistent with the hypothesis, or different? (Were the researchers surprised?)
Did the researchers mention any limitations to this study? If so, what were they?
Did the researchers make any suggestions for future research?
Write up your results in an academic manner. (Use citations and attach a Works Cited or Reference page.) This paper should be AT LEAST 3 FULL pages long, plus the reference page. (NO LESS THAN 850 WORDS in the body of your paper!).
