PSYC 2001 E Research Methods

Assignment #3: Popular Media and Reading Research Instructions

DUE: March 6th, 2023

Assignment #3 is a critical thinking assignment. The purpose of this assignment is to teach

students to pay attention to how the media convey scientific information to the general public.
What we see presented in the media is not necessarily accurate and we should all learn to be
active, not passive, consumers of this information so that we can make informed decisions for
ourselves. Throughout the term, students should watch for a scientific claim made in the written
media (newspapers, magazines, etc.) related to the field of psychology.

Goals/Objective
 To help students become discriminant consumers of information and research
 To think critically about media reports of findings from psychology studies by
interrogating claims made in the media.

Part I: Reading Popular Media

Find a news or media article from within the past 5 years that reports on an empirical
psychological study. The article should report on or refer to empirical research findings from a
study. Published articles should come from newspapers or news sources such as Ottawa Citizen,
Toronto Star, Time Magazine, Global News, CBC News, The Globe and Mail, National Post, CNN,
Fox News, The New York Times, etc. You may also find articles in magazines (e.g., Psychology
Today, Scientific American), or online sites (e.g., iflscience.com).

IMPORTANT! Criteria for an acceptable media article/research study:

1. Research must be a psychological study (not medical, or technological, or other field of
research). This is because some other fields use methodologies that may differ from
what we are learning about in psychology.
2. Media article includes reference to original research study (including author and/or
name of journal) is available in the article (i.e., you must be able to find the original
study; this will be necessary for part 2). The reference to the original article should be
included either as a link or at the end of the article – you have to be able to find the
original paper!
3. The popular media piece is NOT an editorial, column, blog, or opinion pieces (i.e., an
article that does not reference psychological research findings).
4. The original journal or research article has to be an empirical study (not a review,
commentary, or meta-analysis). If you’re unsure about this, you can glance at the
methods section and ensure that there is a sample of participants and research methods
used).
It is strongly recommended that you reach out to a member of the teaching team to ensure
your article is appropriate if you are not sure. If you do not choose an appropriate study then
you may receive a grade of 0 on this assignment.
For this first part of the assignment, you should only focus on the information from the media
article. Please do not read/analyse the empirical study yet (other than look over it for
suitability). Based only on the description provided by the popular media article, describe the
study, including:
1. Participants: The sample or participants (identity, characteristics, representativeness,
sample size).
2. Study design: The type(s) of design (e.g., small N study, observational study, correlational
study, experimental, longitudinal, quasi-experimental, etc.).
3. Study variables: The variables of interest (in terms of both conceptual definitions
and operational definitions).
4. Results and implications: What were the main results or findings?
5. Evaluating the Claim: What type of claim does the headline and/or the media article make
(e.g., frequency, association or causal)? Critique the journalist’s description of the study in
the popular media article. Discuss if the researchers or media made faulty conclusions,
violated scientific information, or generalized findings beyond the scope of the original
research. Is the claim justifiable based on the information about the study in the text
(explain why or why not)? Is the reporting accurate (e.g., is causal language used when it
should not be)? Is the writer jumping to conclusions that are not justified by the design
(based on what is reported of the design in the media article)?
Some of the components above may or may not be mentioned in the popular article – do your
best to describe the details of the study. If not enough information is provided, or if details
are missing or absent, this should be indicated, including what information you would need to
know or what should have been discussed.

Part II: Reading Research

For this part of the assignment, you will primarily be reviewing the research paper on which the
media article is based to identify the important aspects. You will also interrogate or evaluation
the research using the “Three Claims, Four Validities” framework. Finally, you will compare the
media report to the actual study. This assignment allows you to practice reading a research
paper (primary source) to see first-hand how the research is conducted and reported, and
evaluate the claims based on information from the actual study (compared to how research is
often reported in the media).

For this part of the assignment, you need to:

1. Find the original empirical journal article associated with the media report you selected
for Part I. Sometimes these are not freely available online, so you may have to gain access
to the original study through the campus library’s website or PsycINFO.
2. Purpose: Discuss the following elements
o State the purpose, goal, or aim of the study
o Identify the main research question(s)
o Identify the primary hypothesis or hypotheses
3. Describe the research design components, including:
o The sample or participants (identity, characteristics, representativeness, sample
size)
o The type(s) of design (e.g., small N study, observational study, correlational
study, experimental, longitudinal, quasi-experimental, etc.)
o The variables of interest (in terms of both conceptual definitions
and operational definitions)
4. Describe the results or findings, including:
o The statistical analyses used (e.g., Briefly describe how they analysed their data.
Did they use t-tests, ANOVA, regression, something more complex?)
o The main results or findings
o The conclusions or implications
5. Analyse the journal article using the “Three Claims, Four Validities” framework.
o What claim is being made in the study and what type of claim type of claim is it
(hint: you can often determine this based on the language and/or the
methodology or design of the study)? Are multiple claims made?
o Evaluate the four validities (internal, external, construct, and statistical). You
MUST address/discuss ALL FOUR of these in your assignment.
o If you identify issues or problems, what solution(s) might there be to address the
problem(s)?
 Construct validity: How well were the variables measured or
manipulated? Were there potential problems with construct validity (i.e.,
the reliability or validity of the variable operationalizations)? Discuss test-
retest reliability, interrater reliability, internal reliability, face validity,
content validity, convergent/divergent validity, criterion validity (as
applicable to your study).
 Internal validity: Can you make a causal conclusion? Are there potential
third variables or confounds that could explain or account for the results?
Are there alternative explanations for the outcome?
 External validity: To who or what can the results be generalized to?
Discuss this in relation to who was sampled for the study and how they
were sampled (sampling method).
 Statistical validity: How well do the data support the conclusions? Discuss
statistical significance, confidence intervals, effect size, replication,
restriction of range, outliers (as applicable to your study).
6. Compare and contrast the media article (Part 1) to the research article (Part 2).
o Discuss any differences in how the media article discussed the study compared to
the empirical article.
o Evaluate whether the journalist reported the empirical findings accurately or not
in the media article now that you’ve read the original study. For example, how
well did the popular press describe the study, its conclusions, and its
implications? Was the journalist’s claim justifiable now that you’ve compared it
to the original study (explain why or why not)? Was their reporting accurate (e.g.,
is causal language used when it should not be)?
 o Discuss if the researcher(s) or journalist made faulty conclusions, violated
scientific information, or generalized findings beyond the scope of the original
research. Did the writers jump to conclusions or make statements or claims that
were not justified by the design or results?
7. Concluding statement about the process of comparing media reports of research to
original research papers. Summarize the ideas analyzed and provide remarks to bring
closure to the assignment.
8. Attachments:
o Attach a copy of the original news article or ensure the hyperlink is in your
reference if the article is available digitally.
o Attach the PDF of original journal article(s). Attachment must be the full article,
not just the abstract.
o Marks will be deducted for not attaching or linking articles.

Other Instructions:
 The format expected is that of an American Psychological Association (APA) style paper
(both in-text and in references).
 Papers must be presented in essay format (no point form), but you may use “I” to refer
to your perspective or opinion when asked to evaluate or critique.
 Papers will be graded on writing style.
 Papers should be 6 to 8 pages in length (double-spaced, Times New Roman, font 12),
plus cover page and references.
 Assignments that exceed the page limit may be subject to penalization (e.g., assignments
that excessively exceed the page limit may not be graded beyond the page limit).
 Include a copy or a link to the original media story (if online)
 Include full PDF of the journal article with your assignment.

Example:

Media article example:

Petter, O. (2018, December 16). Regular cinema trips could help guard against
depression old age. The Independent. Retrieved from www.independent.co.uk

The media article above references the following empirical study:

Fancourt, D. & Tymoszuk, U. (2019). Cultural engagement and incident

depression on older adults: Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of
Aging. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 214 (4), 225-229.
https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2018.267