Are people more likely to consume unhealthy foods when in a bad mood?
Psy 3001 Pinto
IRP Required Elements
Below are listed the required components for your Independent Research Proposals. Please note that this paper must follow APA style. Refer to the APA style paper posted in Blackboard, Appendix A of your text, and the APA manual on reserve in the library to assist you in preparing your paper in accordance with APA style.
The assignment is a 10-page paper (not including the Reference page or Title page). I’ve included some guidelines for how long each section should be.
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Research question: Are people more likely to consume unhealthy foods when in a bad mood?
Research method:
One person watches a sad movie. One person watches a happy movie. Both people receive food trays during the duration of their movie with:
cookies and chips, and
Vegetable sticks and fruit salad.
The sample size for the study is 70 people; 35 participants per movie theme (happy or sad) Both food trays need to be weighted prior to the participant watching the film and recorded. After the movie is over, each individual will fill out a mock “movie review” of the film, with a section to suggest similar movies they would enjoy watching, and a section to rate their taste levels for the food items. After they finish this questionnaire and leave, researchers would weigh each tray to determine if there is a weight difference from the beginning of the study. The purpose of this is to determine which food tray, either A or B, was consumed more of for participants either watching the sad or happy film.
Variables: Mood, and food consumption
IV: Mood. (sad/happy)
DV: Food choices (healthy/unhealthy)
This is a between subjects design, and is randomized.
Title Page
Include the running head, title of the paper, your name and affiliation
Abstract (1/2 page)
1-2 sentences describing rationale for your study
Statement of the purpose of your study
Brief description of the Methods (including # of participants and what they will do)
Statement describing study hypotheses & proposed analyses to test the hypotheses
Introduction (5-6 pages)
Introduction is where you review the literature on your topic and build the rationale for your study (i.e., describe what research has shown on this topic, why it is relevant, and what your study will add)
Introduction should end with a paragraph that clearly states the purpose of your study and the study hypotheses. This should include what the IV and the DV are.
Method (3-4 pages)
Participants
Include # of participants you propose to include, how they will be recruited, and any eligibility criteria you propose to use in selecting them
Research Design
State the research design you propose to use in your study. Specify the IV, levels of the IV, the DV (operationally defined) and how participants will be assigned to conditions of the IV.
Measures (or Materials)
*NOTE: If the only Materials in your proposed study are questionnaires, call this subsection “Measures”. If you have materials in addition to questionnaires, call this subsection “Materials”; then make one paragraph describing the measures and one paragraph describing the materials.
For Measures: Include a description of Measures (questionnaires) you propose to use. For each questionnaire, you should 1) describe what the questionnaire is designed to measure, 2) Give an example of an item from the questionnaire, 3) Report the # of items and response alternatives (e.g., true/false, likert-type scale, etc). Be sure to indicate how the response alternatives are labeled (e.g., a scale of 1-5 where 1 = strongly disagree and 5=agree). And 4) Provide a citation
For Materials: Describe any other materials you would need to execute your study (e.g., computers, food, music, reading passages, etc). These will be specific to the IV manipulation you propose.
Procedure
Describe consent procedures
Describe all proposed study procedures in good detail (i.e., what will participants have to do). The procedure should be described in enough detail that another researcher could conduct the same study just by reading your procedure. Elements of the Procedure should include:
Description of the IV manipulation (i.e., conditions participants will be assigned to)
Statement that participants will be randomly assigned
Description of what participants will be asked to do
Explanation of when the DV will be measured
How participants will be compensated for participation
Debriefing procedures
Proposed Analyses (1/2 page)
Describe the specific analyses that you propose to use to test each hypothesis
This should be stated in the following way: To test the hypothesis that ________ a ___________ analysis will be conducted with ____ as the IV (levels: ) and ____ as the DV.
Reference Page
At least 10 references in APA style. References should come from scholarly sources (e.g., peer reviewed journal articles or edited books) and the majority should be recent (i.e., within the last 10 years). See Cozby & Bates, Appendix A and/or the APA manual (on reserve in the library) for guidance in formatting citations.