To meet the research experience requirement, you must complete 1.5 credit hours of research experience using one of the following two options:
- Option A: Participate in Department of Psychology faculty-led research
- Option B: Summarize an empirical psychology article.
All PSY101 students are required to complete this requirement. In the sections that follow, the requirements for research participation and review of an article are outlined. Please read over these sections carefully:
Why do we have this requirement as part of PSY101?
A key learning objective of PSY101 is for students to gain an understanding of psychology as a science. An exciting way to learn about psychological research is to engage in psychological research firsthand! By participating in research, you will be able to learn more about the different types of research conducted by the psychology faculty at Ashoka. In addition, you will be able to learn about psychological research from a participant’s perspective. We encourage you to try and participate in research to meet this requirement as far as possible, and to review an empirical paper if you are not able to or do not want to participate in research.
What is the research requirement for PSY101?
- You need to complete a total of 1.5 research credits to meet the requirement for this course. One hour of research participation is worth 1 credit. If a particular research lasts half hour, you get 0.5 credits, which is the minimum (i.e., even a 15-min experiment is worth 0.5 credits).
- If you choose not to participate in research, you will need to complete a review of a research article for 1.5 credits
Besides earning research credits, will I be rewarded in any other way for participating in a research study?
- Some studies do give rewards to participants (e.g., money), but some do not. This depends very much on the study itself.
How do I participate in research?
- A list of available options of studies is shown on our course website. The list may be expanded (e.g., new studies come onboard) or shrink (e.g., an researcher has gathered enough data) as the semester progresses, so do check from time to time.
- You can review the study details and the requirements to participate and sign up for participation accordingly. Please note that the studies listed here have received the approval of the Ashoka University Institutional Research Board (IRB).
- Please do not sign up for to participate in a study and miss your appointment! In case you have signed up for a study and need to cancel, please contact the researcher at least 24 hours before your assigned time.
What are the guidelines for reviewing articles?
If you choose this option, please do the following:
- Choose a research article (not a review article) in psychology. It is important to know the difference between a review article and a research article. One way to do this is by looking for a study referenced in your textbook. Alternatively, you can look through psychological journals to select your article. Make sure your article includes original research carried out by the authors. The article should include clear method and results sections.
- Write a two-page review (excluding the title page and reference list) of the article. The review should include a description of hypotheses, research method, results, and conclusion. Make sure to end with a short analysis (i.e. what you got out of the article). You may not understand the statistics reported in a results section, but you should still be able to understand what the research found.
- Your submission should include a title page with your full name, semester, year, course number.
- The paper must be typed and double-spaced. You must use Times New Roman font with a 12-point font size. All margins must be 1”. The paper should be sent as a Word document. Please make sure to meet these guidelines to get the credit for your submission.
- Attach a copy of the article you have summarized (doc or .docx format) at the end of your write-up.
- Please make sure your summary is written in your own words and not copied from the article. Plagiarism is a serious academic offence.
- Print and submit your summaries by Apr 29 at a mailbox marked “Research Participation Form/Research Summaries” outside Rm 608 (Admin Block).
- Each report will be graded as Satisfactory (S = 1.5 credit) or Unsatisfactory (US = 0 credit) at the end of the semester.
When do I participate in research/meet the requirement?
The deadline for completion of the requirement is Sunday, April 29 by 11:59pm. This is a firm deadline. We strongly encourage you to complete this requirement earlier in the semester. It is very likely that there might not be enough studies or research time slots for you towards the end of the semester. Furthermore, even though this requirement may not seem like a lot of work right now, it will add to your workload with finals and course assignments more so at the end of the semester.
What do I do after I participate in each experiment?
You will be given a Research Participation Form at the beginning of the semester. You should get the faculty researcher, research assistant, or research student to sign off this sheet whenever you participate in his or her study.
At the end of the semester, or whenever you have completed your research participation requirements, drop the form off at a mailbox marked “Research Participation Form/Research Summaries” outside Rm 608 (Admin Block).
What happens if I do not meet the research experience requirement?
The research experience is an important component of the educational experience for PSY101. If you do not meet this requirement by the deadline indicated, your grade will drop as follows:
- Completed the 1.5 credits research requirement — no drop in grade
- Completed 1 credits — half a level drop in final grade (i.e. A to A-; B+ to B)
- Completed .5 credits —1 level drop in final grade (i.e. A to B; B+ to C+)
- Completed 0 credits — 1.5 level drop in final grade (i.e. A to B-; B+ to C)