Impact Project

Update March 31, 2016: Grading rubric for final papers is available here: Impact Project Final Submissions PEER AND SELF EVALUATION to post.

Update January 26, 2016: Changed the date for the one-page report and mini-presentation to February 11 (was Feb 4). Looking for a research methods primer? All groups may benefit from these Noba chapters: http://nobaproject.com/modules/research-designs and http://nobaproject.com/modules/conducting-psychology-research-in-the-real-world. If you want to go a step beyond, this website looks like it could be useful for statistics: http://wise.cgu.edu/. Note: you don’t need to do fancy statistics for Options B or C. Keep your design clear and simple, and come see us for consultations.

Update January 18, 2016: Our TAs and I met today and discussed Option A in more detail. I have made some updates to the description below, based on our discussion. — CR

Update January 15, 2016: We have received ethical clearance from the UBC Behavioural Research Ethics Board for Options B and C! I have updated the descriptions below with a few requirements to ensure we are conducting our research projects ethically — don’t let those discourage you! If you’re interested, here’s a copy of the BREB application I completed and that is approved. — CR

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Earn 40% of your grade by completing an Impact Project, including a peer-assessments and self-assessments throughout the term. This major individual project will be supported by a Working Group. In all cases, the Impact Projects result in a potentially publishable paper.

Option A. Collaboratively write (part of) an Open-Access textbook. Write a chapter for a Psychology of Self in Social Media textbook that includes the following criteria: Learning Objectives, 3-5 content subtopics, a Summary, at least 5 key terms, and Discussion Questions that will help people learn and dig deeper into the material. The topic for your chapter will be determined collaboratively in your working group, such that 12 people will be working toward a common textbook. The chapters will need to fit together, so that all chapters will fit together for a potentially publishable piece. You will need to develop a plan to survey the research literature and select (and later describe) specific studies and theories for inclusion to best represent the state of the field on your topic. Consult the NOBA project for example types of chapters. PUBLISHING OPTION: Collect all appropriate chapters, edit for synergy, choose a Creative Commons license, and publish it online as a resource or portion of a resource to be built upon by future cohorts. Evaluates Learning Goals #2 and #3.

Option B. Design and conduct an original research project using archival data. Identify a psychological phenomenon related to social media, and identify a gap in prior knowledge. Develop a hypothesis and a study that uses archival methods to test it. Archives can include publicly-available posts to Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms. Write up the study in an APA-style paper. (Concerned about stats? Don’t be! The Teaching Team & your Working Group are here to help! Key: keeping initial design simple. 1 IV (2-3 levels), clear DV(s). Come by for a consultation.)

Notes to ensure we comply with our ethical approval:

  • The topic must fall under the minimal risk category.
  • Only past, pre-existing, publicly available information is to be used; no direct interactions with participants are permitted.
  • No identifying information about the participants may be collected.
  • You must be able to access the content if and only if you are fully logged out of the platform.
  • Also, you’ll need to complete the TCPS tutorial if you haven’t yet, and submit the completion certificate when you hand in your 1-page proposal.

PUBLISHING OPTION: Consider publishing findings in a poster or talk format at Kwantlen’s Connecting Minds Conference in Richmond in May,  or submitting your APA style paper to an undergraduate journal such as Yale or SFU. Evaluates Learning Goals #2 and #3.

Option C. Design and conduct an original intervention research project. Identify an issue or a cause for which you want to raise awareness or money. Use past research to design an intervention and a strategy to promote it using social media. Enact your plan and measure its impact. For example, you might design a webpage that calls attention to an issue, register it with Google Analytics, promote it using different social media, and analyze the results (e.g., which posts resulted in the most hits). The key data will be aggregate indices such as hits, retweets, favourites, shares. Write up the study in an APA-style paper. (Concerned about stats? Don’t be! The Teaching Team & your Working Group are here to help! Key: keeping initial design simple. 1 IV (2-3 levels), clear DV(s). Come by for a consultation.)

Notes to ensure we comply with our ethical approval:

  • The cause you are promoting must fall under the minimal risk category.
  • No identifying information about the participants may be collected.
  • You’ll need to complete the TCPS tutorial if you haven’t yet, and submit the completion certificate when you hand in your 1-page proposal.
  • The intervention must include a brief disclaimer to readers: “The author of this material is a student at the University of British Columbia. Readers’ engagement with the site may be used for research purposes. No identifying information will be collected.”
  • Last, if you’re posting on your own social media accounts, link to material to an external site (rather than putting material directly in your status update).

PUBLISHING OPTION: Consider publishing findings in a poster or talk format at Kwantlen’s Connecting Minds Conference in Richmond in May,  or submitting your APA style paper to an undergraduate journal such as Yale or SFU. Evaluates Learning Goals #2, #3, and 4.

Notes for all Impact Projects

  • In all cases, the product is a potentially publishable paper, including at least 10 primary source references, that is equivalent to the following paper-based specifications: 10-15 pages in length (not including References, title page, and figures, if relevant), double-spaced, 1 inch margins, 8.5 x 11 inch paper.
  • All papers must include a discussion of the ethical considerations related to the topic and/or the study itself (as recommended by Kosinski, Matz, Gosling, Popov, & Stillwell, 2015, available here).
  • Individuals decide which of the three projects they are interested in, whether they are interested in creating a publishable product, and what course theme they’re most interested in. Working groups will be assigned based on a common interest in a project type and (lack of) desire to create a publishable product.
    • Products are individual, but the Working Group is there to help with the brainstorming and review process. Our TA evaluates the quality of written feedback Working Group members give to each other.
    • Some aspects of this project will occur in full or in part during class time.
  • Timeline
    • Brainstorm to identify theme of interest, specific topic, nature of the task, research designs, start a shared literature search. Thursdays January 21 and 28 (course weeks 3 and 4)
    • Present a mini oral proposal of your project to your working group. Self- and Peer Review: Give written and oral feedback. TA grade on quality of written feedback and self-assessment. Submt aone-page proposal of your project plan for Instructor assessment (including your TCPS certificate if Options B or C). Here is the template to use. For Options B and C, no data collection may begin until you have Instructor approval. Thursday February 11 (course week 6)
    • Self- and Peer Review: Bring 3 5 copies of your draft paper. Start reviewing (finish over the weekend to bring back on Tuesday). TA grade on quality of written feedback for peers and self-assessment. Thursday March 17 (course week 10)
    • Self- and Peer Review: Bring 5 copies of your final paper. Start reviewing (finish over the weekend to bring back on Tuesday). TA grade on quality of written feedback. Final paper is scored based on the average of your peers’ grades (and adjusted by TAs if needed). The rubric is available here: Impact Project Final Submissions PEER AND SELF EVALUATION to post. Thursday March 31 (course week 12)

Update 12 March 2016 after class discussion and vote. Your grade is based on the quality of your final paper (25%, as rated by your self and peers, combined with TA’s adjustment if needed), and the quality of your self- and peer-assessments throughout the term (worth 5% for proposals, 10% on two paper drafts). (Note the departmental grading policy here.)

Your grade is based on the quality of your final paper (15%, as rated by your self and peers), and the quality of your self-assessments throughout the term (worth 2%, 3,%, and 5%), and your peer-assessments throughout the term (worth 2%, 5%, and 8%). (Note the departmental grading policy here.)