Social Science Study Humans are social beings, so social psychology is personally relevant to everyone.
Type of Service:Academic Writing
Work Type:Essay (any type)
Format:APA
Pages:3 pages – 1,650 words, Single spaced
Academic level:Undergrad. (yrs 3-4)
Discipline:Psychology
Find a Social Science Study
Number of sources:0
Paper instructions:
What is the goal and purpose?
Humans are social beings, so social psychology is personally relevant to everyone. The purpose of this assignment is to apply a social psychological concept to your life. This assignment will challenge you to identify and describe a concept in social psychology that you find particularly interesting and then examine how the concept applies to your life in a meaningful way. This assignment is an opportunity to think deeply about how the course content is personally relevant and expand your sense of self-awareness.
What should I write in the paper?
Select a concept covered in this course that you find interesting. This should be a theoretical concept in social psychology. Describe why you selected this concept.
Identify and describe the concept. Clearly explain how the concept works. Provide a real life example of concept to illustrate the concept.
Clearly describe at least one empirical research study and its findings that support the validity of the concept. Cite the author(s) of the study in APA-style (e.g., “Katz & Braly, 1933”). Identify any limitations that might challenge the validity. The study can come from the numerous studies described in the textbook.
Think deeply about how this concept is personally relevant, and discuss how the concept applies to your life in a meaningful way. Describe the ways in which the concept is exemplified in your life and fits your experiences well. Also consider and describe the ways in which the concept is inconsistent with your experiences.
Explain how understanding and applying the concept to your life could be useful. Describe why knowing the psychology behind your social behavior is important.
Reflect on the assignment so far. Describe what has surprised you in analyzing the concept and how it applies to you. Identify any unexpected insights or patterns.
How should I structure and format the paper?
There should be at least one paragraph for each of the prompts above; as such, write at least six paragraphs. Each paragraph should have about five to seven sentences.
The format is one-inch margins, 12-point/Times New Roman black font, left-aligned, and single-spaced. The minimum length is 750 words; the maximum is 1000 words. List the reference(s) on a separate page; the word count does not include references.
DO NOT USE DIRECT QUOTES! Paraphrase in your own words and cite the source.
Citations and references should be APA-style. Don’t include the MLA-style opening in the paper (i.e., listing your/my name, course name, and date).
Revise the paper until the writing is clear, coherent, concise, compelling, and correct. Write your paper using complete sentences that are correct grammatically, spelled correctly, and without typos. Paragraphs should be coherently organized with transition sentences. Be detailed but succinct. Use vivid and interesting prose. Most importantly, be clear. Use resources you have already paid for at the writing center.
Creatively title the paper and place it at the top center-aligned and bolded.
Save the paper as a PDF file and submit it to Blackboard before the deadline.
Any advice on writing the paper?
Start early! The earlier, the better. Procrastination has not only been empirically shown to produce lower quality work, it has also been well documented that it causes much more stress and anxiety than starting earlier. Importantly, procrastination causes students to learn less than they would have otherwise.
Write in the paper in manageable chunks with even pacing. Try out this process:
Start with brainstorming ideas and make clear notes to reflect on later. It is easy to forget about our earlier thoughts.
Once you have committed to a topic, draft an outline with each of the main points listed out in brief phrases; update points and rearrange order.
Write the rough draft. With this draft, do not worry about making it look pretty: just write! Getting the initial words on the document goes a long way.
Lastly, edit, edit, edit. The majority of your writing time needs to be spent on revising and rewriting. Writing is rewriting! Don’t submit an unrevised draft.
Have fun with it! There is no reason the assignment should be boring. Use this as an opportunity to deepen your self-awareness and make the stuff you are learning about personally relevant. Don’t think about this as just another hoop to jump through. Rather, try to find meaning in the exercise and think about how it can help you grow as a student and as a person!
