OverviewThe goal of this assignment is for you to examine the accuracy of media reports on relationship research published within the last year. As you may have noticed, stories on relationship research have become more common in popular media in the last several years. Still, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that the research has been portrayed accurately. In this assignment, you will determine for yourself whether a news story that you select has accurately portrayed the original research.
DirectionsFind one story from a media outlet (such as CNN,\u00a0Time, Psychology Today, or a major newspaper). A Google News search with the keywords\u00a0relationship research\u00a0might be one place to start (along with any additional keywords of interest).When you look at a news story, don\u2019t get too attached to it yet. You\u2019ll first need to check a few things to ensure it\u2019s appropriate.
It must report research findings from a journal article that has been\u00a0published within the past 2 years.
Avoid news stories that spend most of the story giving advice or the journalist\u2019s opinions. Instead, use news stories that focus mostly on reporting what the researchers did and what they found\u00a0from the journal article that you are using. <\/p>\n
Find the journal article that originally reported the research. The journal article will either be cited (or mentioned, or linked to) in the media outlet’s news story. If the news story cites more than one journal article, pick only one to focus on.This journal article\u00a0must be\u00a0listed in PsycInfo. This will ensure that it is a genuine journal article, and that you will be able to access the full article.
Download the full journal article to read. <\/p>\n
Your paper should include the following things:An introductory paragraph that introduces your topic (5 points)
A summary of the media story, including a link to the source (5 points)
A summary of the journal article (10 points)Describe the logic behind the research, how the study was conducted, the research results, and the authors\u2019 interpretation of the results.
It\u2019s\u00a0not\u00a0necessary to give minor details like the specific sample size, or the university where the research was done. Focus mostly on the issues listed in the previous bullet point. <\/p>\n
A comparison of the media story’s interpretation of the research versus the original article’s findings (20 points)Did the news story present the study fully and fairly? Did they overgeneralize from the demographics of the sample in the original article? Did they draw unwarranted conclusions from the research? (For example, did they draw cause-and-effect conclusions when reporting on a correlational study?)
In general, you should describe whether you think the news story reported the research\u2019s findings and conclusions accurately,\u00a0and\u00a0explain why (or why not). Give specific examples to support your case. <\/p>\n
A concluding paragraph with your thoughts about the accuracy of media reports on research, in general (10 points)For example,\u00a0when\u00a0do you think media reports about research are more accurate or trustworthy, and when are they not? <\/p>\n
Tip: Before you get too far into this assignment, make sure you take a look at the journal article and have a basic understanding of what the researchers did, what the research found, and any conclusions the authors of the journal article drew. To do well on this assignment, it\u2019s important that you understand the original article, so avoid journal articles that are particularly long or complicated, or that you have a hard time understanding. If the\u00a0journal\u00a0article is difficult to follow like this, look for a different news story and journal article.
Your paper should be double-spaced, written in 12-point Times New Roman font, and follow APA style guidelines (including a title page and a references page). For information about these guidelines, see the instructions from Paper #1, and the guidelines I posted for it. You do not need to cite the news report at the end, as long as you provide the link in your paragraphs.
Finally, please do NOT quote directly from the news story, journal article, or from any other source\u2014put everything in your own words.\u00a0Using the authors\u2019 terminology is okay, but do not quote more than 3 consecutive words from any source. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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