Terror Management Theory and the Mortality Salience Treatment

Journal Article Report Assignment
No more than 2 pages, double-spaced, 12 point font, 1” margins.
If you use references, include a separate reference page (that does not count towards your 2-page total).
Submission due by the dates announced in class (or posted on the digital blackboard announcement section). Please submit your assignment by email, in word-document form.
Assignment Overview:
For this assignment, you will be reading and summarizing (in writing) a social psychology-related scientific research journal article. Your article must be a primary source of information that details a study or experiment. Choose any of the available articles on our course website, as highlighted in class. After reading your article, you are tasked with summarizing the major components of the article, including the introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections; this description should be done in your own words, and should provide information that extends beyond the abstract summary that is typically provided at the start of each journal article. You are also tasked with critiquing the article, including your thoughts about any problems with the study design or the researchers’ interpretation of their findings. This critique should consist of your own, original thoughts, and not merely be a rehashing of the original authors’ ideas.
Limit your report to at most 2 pages. If you would like assistance with this project, consider coming to office hours and asking for feedback. In other words, do not wait until the last minute to ask for help. Specific instructions on how to form the report are below.
Grammar and spelling are also graded components of this assignment. Enlisting someone to proofread your work is always a good idea.
Late submissions will be docked 10% each day. If you believe you qualify for an extension, you are responsible for coordinating your late submission with the instructor.
Electronic submissions are to be made through the class website.
Step-by-step instructions:
For your report, spend several sentences (or about one paragraph) for each of the
following areas of your summary/critique:
Describe the introduction: Most journal articles typically begin with an introduction section. Introductions typically explain the researcher’s hypothesis, as well as why they believe their study is important. Briefly describe this hypothesis, as well as how this study is supposed to help answer this question. Also describe why this research is important.
Describe the study design and results: The next section of a research article typically explains how the researchers designed their study, how they collected their data, and then the found results. In your summary of the article, briefly summarize these components.
For example, you can list who the study participants were, what questions the researcher may have asked (or what variables were manipulated), and then the general information
that was found regarding the results. You do not need to replicate any numerical tables when describing the results; just take a sentence or two to summarize the general findings.
If you are having trouble understanding the findings, please email Kerry to ask for help.
Describe the authors’ conclusions: The last part of most scientific articles include a “discussion” section where the authors interpret their results. They may also list some limitations of their study, where they think research needs to go next, and any real-worldimplications of their findings. Briefly describe the main points of their conclusions in one paragraph or less.
Critique the study/experiment: For the final part of your report, construct at least one paragraph that critiques the journal article. If you think the authors’ study design, results, or interpretation are flawed, comment on that here. For example, if you believe the participants chosen for this research are not ideal, make this point and suggest what an ideal participant might look like. Be explicit as to why you feel the study has a particular shortcoming; don’t just state that something was a weakness or problem. Another example: if you believe that the authors overstate the importance of their study, you can discuss why. Lastly, if you have an alternate explanation for their findings or feel that future research should go in a different direction, make your case here and explain why you feel this way.
Suggestion for Journal Article Summary Report Structure:
I. Introductory paragraph that summarizes the study’s hypothesis and the stated importance of the study.
II. Methods & results paragraph that generally describes how the study wa designed and how data was collected. Also list the overall findings, i.e. if their hypothesis was supported (or not). You can also briefly list any other findings that seem important and fall outside the original intent of the researchers.
III. Discussion – how did the researchers interpret their findings? List the main points here, as well as any listed future directions or limitations that you think are important.
IV. Critique – do you agree with the authors? Do you think there are any important flaws to their study’s design? If you could redo their experiment or study, what would you change? These are all possible critiques of any research project, and are just some of the possible criticisms or ideas that you can discuss in this portion of your report