Research Methods, activity help

Class Activity #1: Research Methods

Directions

First, write a simple hypothesis. State your hypothesis in such a way that it could be tested. Here are some examples:

• Musical ability is an inherited trait.
• People who play video games for more than 2 hours every day are introverted.
• People who are early risers are more successful.
• People who set long term goals are no more successful as people who do not set long term goals.
• Adults who have positive relationships with their same sex parents are less likely to become alcoholics.

Second, describe how you might use naturalistic observation, case studies, survey research, and correlational research to help prove/disprove your hypothesis. Note: When you describe your correlational research, include the two variables you will be examining and the type of relationship you project to exist between the two variables (i.e., positive or negative correlation).

For example, let’s use the hypothesis, People who play video games for more than 2 hours every day are introverted. Here are examples of how these different types of research could be used to research or test this hypothesis:

• Naturalistic observation: go to a video arcade and observe people who play video games for more than two hours and then observe their interactions with others
• Case studies: study the life styles of video game designers (who would spend considerably more than 2 hours/day playing video games)
• Survey research: people who are known to spend 2+ hours playing video games at least 5 days a week are asked a series of questions regarding their social interactions, hobbies, and general life style.
• Correlational research: identified video game players are asked to track the number of hours spent playing video games on a daily basis for two weeks. These subjects are also asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their social habits, the number/types of people they socialize with, how often they socialize, the types of hobbies they engage in (besides playing video games), etc. The subjects’ quality and quantity of social interaction is compared to the average number of hours spent playing video games. This research will show a positive correlation between the number of hours spent playing video games and the types of introverted behavior identified in the questionnaire.

Type your responses in a Word document. Click the assignment title to attach your Word document. Include “activity_one” and your name in the file name to ensure you receive credit for submitting your assignment (activity_one_john_smith.doc).

You can check if your assignment was successfully submitted by accessing your My Grades page. Your assignment should be in Needs Grading ( exclamation mark represents Needs Grading status ) status, which means it is ready to be accessed and graded. Click the exclamation mark to see the Review Submission History page. This assignment is worth 2 points and will be graded according to the following grading criteria.

 

Criteria
1.	Student has submitted a simple hypothesis which could be tested.
2.	Student has submitted an example exemplifying how naturalistic observation could be used to research the hypothesis.
3.	Student has submitted an example exemplifying how a case study could be used to reserach the hypothesis.
4.	Student has submitted an example exemplifying how a survey could be used to test the hypothesis.
5.	Student has submitted an example exemplifying how correlational research could be used to test the hypothesis. The correlational research describes two variables and the type of relationship the student projects would exist between the two variables (i.e., positive or negative correlation).