Part 1. Create a an empirical, directional research hypothesis with psychology topic. in other words, a statement of prediction about the relationship between two variables (topics).
The hypothesis should be clearly relational OR causal example: o Relational (e.g. “I predict that…is associated with/related to…â€�)
predict a causal relationship (e.g. “I predict that…leads to/causes…â€�).
Part 2: create outline
Paragraph One (Should have at least 2 sources/citations) Goal is to introduce the topic of your paper
A.Get attention with a statistic OR general statement about the topic
B.Introduce topics and literature gap (briefly explain the research closest to your current study and identify the gap; what is missing from this prior work?
C.Specific research goal: Briefly explain what the current study aims to discover; what is your general research question?
Paragraph Two (At least 2 citations): Goal is to Introduce, Define and Explain the FIRST Variable
D.Define the variable): What is the basic definition of the first topic? You should try to use a citation from the first research paper on the topic, which means that this citation may be older than 10 years ago… that’s OK in this case! (Do NOT use a regular dictionary unless the topic has not been scientifically studied before!)
E.Features and/or correlates of variable ( What are some important things for people to know about this variable? If it is type of disorder or condition, what are the features/symptoms? Does it tend to have a negative or positive impact on people? What are some other important variables that it is connected to (called “correlates�)?
Paragraph Three (At least 2 citations): Goal is to Introduce, Define and Explain the SECOND Variable
F.Define the variable (.See above
G.Features and/or correlates of variable ): See above
Paragraph Four (at least 1 citation): Goal is to identifying similar work & the literature GAP
H.Similar Work : In this section describe the study or studies that exist that are the CLOSEST to your current study. You will want to give a bit more information about this prior research (take a few sentences to give some details about the methods and results) than the studies described in paragraphs 2 and 3 since this work is the closest to your own.
I.Literature GAP (1 pt): What did the similar work NOT investigate that your research WILL investigate? ONLY mention literature gaps that your study will address; don’t mention a gap you will not fill or it will confuse the reader!
Paragraph Five (at least 1 citation): Goal is to restate the GAP, emphasize importance of topic, identify specific hypothesis
J.Current Study addresses the GAP : You are just stating what was just stated in the previous paragraph; what was missing in prior work that your study will investigate.
K.Importance of Study : Remind the reader why this is an important topic by restating one of the facts about the variables from paragraphs 2 or 3; is it connected to a negative outcome, for example?
L.Specific Hypothesis : Provide your specific hypothesis and be sure it is directional (amounts of variables if a relational hyp. OR differences in conditions is a causal hypothesis)