Guide to Writing an Effective Psychology Extended Essay, Lecture notes of Psychology

Download Guide to Writing an Effective Psychology Extended Essay and more Lecture notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! 372 Extended essay An extended essay (EE) in psychology gives you the chance to broaden your interest in this diverse field. However, there are many pitfalls with an EE in psychology. Therefore, the following advice should be considered. Only consider an EE in psychology if: * — youare studying psychology at HL or you want to study psychology at university * you have a clear personal interest in the subject outside of school * you have access to academic psychology journals. On the other hand: * donot do an EE in psychology if you are not a psychology student + donotconsider collecting data of any kind + donotsee an EE in psychology as an ‘easy’ or fallback subject + donot choose an EE in psychology because you could not think ofa suitable question in your other subjects. You need to remember that a psychology EE is not an extension of the internal assessment (IA). You cannot confuse the two in any way, shape, or form, nor can you use the research you collect for one to help with the other. Psychology is an academic subject with a body of work supporting it. ‘Pop psychology’ is an idea aimed at selling products to the mass market. Your essay needs to stay away from any topic that resembles ‘pop psychology’ and only work with sources that are considered within the realm of academic psychology. Pop psychology can be defined as: * aproduct or idea that is intended to have mass-market appeal * a product or idea that is not supported by academic sources. Academic psychology is supported by peer-reviewed research that is published in academic journals. The material has an academic tone and is aimed at fellow academics who are researching the same area. Developing a researc CSilela} You must frame your research question as a question. A hypothesis or statement of intent is not acceptable. The reason for this is that a question helps you to retain focus throughout the essay. A research question is a clear and focused question centred on a research topic. A strong research question helps you to focus the research, providing a path through the writing process. A clear and well-focused research question, which has a specific aim, will allow you to work towards developing a reasoned argument within the scope of the task, rather than the kind of ‘all about’ essay that an unfocused research question can lead to. Sometimes you will need to revise your research question; therefore, a research question should always be considered provisional until you have enough research data to make a reasoned argument. Analysis and evaluation You need to engage seriously with analysis and evaluation to earn marks ina psychology EE. The following are relevant questions to keep in mind when discussing theories. You do not have to answer all of them, but they do represent effective critical thinking. What are the essential claims made by the theories? How do they relate to one another? How do they relate to the essential claims of other theories? What are the underlying assumptions of the theories? How do they relate to one another? How do they relate to the assumptions of other theories? What have other researchers published about the strengths and weaknesses of the theories? What kind of evidence supports the theories? Is there evidence of data or methodological triangulation to support the theories? Which theories are emerging as stronger or more valid in my particular research field? Why are they emerging as stronger or more valid? Why are weaker theories dismissed or considered weaker? The following are relevant questions to keep in mind when discussing studies. What are the underlying assumptions of the studies? What are the underlying assumptions of the methodologies the studies used? Do other researchers have different assumptions about how the phenomena can be studied? What have other researchers published about the strengths and weaknesses of the studies? What kind of evidence supports the studies —is it quantitative or qualitative? Have other researchers used different methodologies and arrived at different conclusions? If so, research and state the differences and conclusions and state why they are different. Is there evidence of data or methodological triangulation to support the studies? Which studies are emerging as stronger or more valid in my particular research field? Why are they emerging as stronger or more valid? 373 376 Citations and referencing Citations Citations allow ideas to be connected to their authors. They should appear in the text of an essay, either as an in-text citation or footnote/endnote. These must then be linked to the full references at the end of the essay. If you do not cite ideas then you are implicitly stating that those ideas belong to you. Therefore, all ideas need to be cited appropriately. How sources are cited varies with the particular referencing system you have chosen. Page numbers should almost certainly be given in the case of direct quotations. Whichever citation and referencing system you use, you need to be consistent. Referencing A reference provides all the information needed to find the source material. References enable the reader to consult the work and verify the data that has been presented. References can come from many different sources, including books, magazines, journals and websites. When you choose your citation and referencing style, you need to have a full understanding of how it is to be used before embarking on the research task. You should record and keep your references as you move through your research process. The IB’s minimum requirements for references include: * name of author * — date of publication * title of source * page numbers (print sources only) * — date of access (electronic sources only). URLs It will be assumed by EE examiners that many of the sources will be electronic in nature so make sure the URL and date of access are included. Referencing online materials References to online materials should include the the website address, the date it was accessed and, wherever possible, the author's name. If a source does not openly publish the author's name then you should be asking if it is a suitable source to use as most academics want to be associated with their work. All electronic sources must be date stamped so the examiner can see when you accessed them. Appendix prefrontal cortex parietal lobe frontal lobe occipital lobe temporal lobe anterior cingulate cortex hippocampus anterior hippocampi mid posterior-hippocampi parahippocampal cortex medial temporal lobe hypothalamus: 7 medial temporal stem amygdala prefrontal cortex. anterior cingulate cortex parietal lobes left hemisphere right hemisphere back 377