Langston, Research Methods Laboratory, Exercise 3 -- Writing Introduction Sections
 
For this exercise to work, you will need a copy of Weiss, J., Gilbert, K., Giordano, P., & Davis, S.F.  (1993).  Academic dishonesty, Type A behavior, and classroom orientation.  Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 31, 101-102.

My research question:
 
“What is the relationship between Type A personality, classroom orientation, and academic dishonesty?”
 
Definitions that may be of use to you:
Type A personality:  Symptoms:  chronically on edge, tend to talk rapidly, feel intense time urgency, preoccupied with responsibilities.  Also competitive, hostile, angry (Huffman, Vernoy, & Vernoy, 1997).
Type B personality:  Laid-back, calm, relaxed attitude towards life (Huffman, Vernoy, & Vernoy, 1997).
Classroom orientation:  Can be either learning (focus on education) or grade (focus on high marks) (Eison, 1981).
 
Step 1:
Write an opening paragraph for your experiment.  Here are the things you want to address.
 
Question
Why the question is interesting (theoretical or practical)
What we can expect
 
Step 2:
Collecting literature and designing an experiment will go hand-in-hand.  But, in this case we'll go ahead and plan the experiment before we talk literature.  Work out the third part of your introduction section with the following parts.
 
Hypothesis
Variables you manipulate
Variables you measure
Definitions of things (probably interleaved with variables)
Predictions about what will happen with this hypothesis and these variables
 
Step 3:
Pretend that these are the articles that you've collected in the library.  Arrange these into some sort of logical order and outline your introduction literature section.  Remember to follow the inverted triangle structure.  The literature part should build a bridge between the opening paragraph and the description of your experiment.
 
1.  Friedman & Rosenman (1971):  Definitions of Type A and Type B, plus some research on the personalities.
 
2.  Eison (1981):  Investigates classroom orientation and develops the two types.
 
3.  Singhal (1982):  68% of participants think people cheat to get a better grade (grade pressures lead to cheating).
 
4.  Heatherington & Feldman (1964):  Find a cheating rate of 82%.
 
5.  Davis, Grover, Becker, & McGregor (1992):  40-60% rate of cheating at large institutions.
 
6.  Keller (1976):  69% of participants think people cheat to get a better grade (grade pressures lead to cheating).
 
7.  Drake (1941):  Finds a cheating rate of 23%.  Stress and pressure for good grades lead to cheating.
 
Step 4:
Compare your work to Weiss, Gilbert, Giordano, & Davis (1993).
 

Research Methods Lab Exercise 3
Will Langston

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