PSY 213 PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH 1.

General Instructions:

Write the preliminary parts of your concept/research paper.

Write in word file and convert it to PDF -- Font: Arial 12; Line Spacing: 2, Margin: 1 inch top, 1
inch bottom, 1 inch left, 0.5 right; Alignment: Left.

REMINDER: Group Leader should email output to [email protected] on or

before __________.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
The Problem and Its Setting

A research problem is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to be improved, a

difficulty to be eliminated, or a troubling question that exists in scholarly literature, in theory, or in
practice that points to the need for meaningful understanding and deliberate investigation. In
some social science disciplines, the research problem is typically posed in the form of a
question. A research problem does not state how to do something, offer a vague or broad
proposition, or present a value question.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of a problem statement is to

• Introduce the reader to the importance of the topic being studied. The reader is oriented
to the significance of the study and the research questions or hypotheses to follow.
• Places the problem into a particular context that defines the parameters of what is to be
investigated.
• Provides the framework for reporting the results and indicates what is probably
necessary to conduct the study and explain how the findings will present this
information.

Research Hypothesis

A research hypothesis is a statement of expectation or prediction that will be tested by research.

Before formulating your research hypothesis, read about the topic of interest to you.

From your reading, which may include articles, books and/or cases, you should gain sufficient
information about your topic that will enable you to narrow or limit it and express it as a research
question. The research question flows from the topic that you are considering. The research
question, when stated as one sentence, is your Research Hypothesis.

In your hypothesis, you are predicting the relationship between variables. Through the
disciplinary insights gained in the research process throughout the year, you “prove” your
hypothesis. This is a process of discovery to create greater understandings or conclusions. It is
not a strict proof as in logic or mathematics.

Following are some hints for the formulation of your hypothesis:

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 1. Be sure to read on the topic to familiarize yourself with it before making a final
decision. You need to make certain that the topic is researchable in an interdisciplinary
sense, meaning that there is sufficient published material on the topic in the legal
literature and in the literature of a second or possibly a third discipline to write a 35-page
paper.

2. As noted, a research hypothesis is more than just a topic. It has two elements
(variables) that are in relation to each other. Remember that, within the word
"hypothesis" is the word "thesis." Your hypothesis is what you propose to “prove” by
your research. As a result of your research, you will arrive at a conclusion, a theory, or
understanding that will be useful or applicable beyond the research itself.

3. Avoid judgmental words in your hypothesis. Value judgments are subjective and are
not appropriate for a hypothesis. You should strive to be objective. Therefore, the use of
personal opinion is to be avoided.

4. Your hypothesis must involve an issue or question that cannot be answered exclusively
by the discipline of law. You should try to limit your inquiry to the literatures of 2 or 3
disciplines. It is best to choose a hypothesis where you already have some level of
familiarity with the disciplines that are most relevant to the topic.

5. Be sure that each term in your hypothesis is clearly understood and defined; do not
deal in generalities or assume that the reader knows the meaning of a technical term.

6. Specify, if appropriate, whether you will be dealing with state or federal law or both on
a comparative basis if appropriate.

7. Know that your hypothesis may change over time as your research progresses.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The scope and delimitations of a thesis, dissertation or research paper define the topic and
boundaries of the research problem to be investigated.

The scope details how in-depth your study is to explore the research question and the
parameters in which it will operate in relation to the population and timeframe.

The delimitations of a study are the factors and variables not to be included in the investigation.
In other words, they are the boundaries the researcher sets in terms of study duration,
population size and type of participants, etc.

A good scope statement will answer the following six questions:

• Why – the general aims and objectives (purpose) of the research.

• What – the subject to be investigated, and the included variables.
• Where – the location or setting of the study, i.e. where the data will be gathered and to
which entity the data will belong.
• When – the timeframe within which the data is to be collected.

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 • Who – the subject matter of the study and the population from which they will be
selected. This population needs to be large enough to be able to make generalisations.
• How – how the research is to be conducted, including a description of the research
design (e.g. whether it is experimental research, qualitative research or a case study),
methodology, research tools and analysis techniques.

Use the below prompts as an effective way to start writing your scope:
• This study is to focus on…
• This study covers the…
• This study aims to…

Theoretical Framework

A theoretical framework consists of concepts and, together with their definitions and reference
to relevant scholarly literature, existing theory that is used for your particular study. The
theoretical framework must demonstrate an understanding of theories and concepts that are
relevant to the topic of your research paper and that relate to the broader areas of knowledge
being considered.

The theoretical framework is most often not something readily found within the literature. You
must review course readings and pertinent research studies for theories and analytic models
that are relevant to the research problem you are investigating. The selection of a theory should
depend on its appropriateness, ease of application, and explanatory power.

The theoretical framework strengthens the study in the following ways:

1. An explicit statement of theoretical assumptions permits the reader to evaluate them

critically.
2. The theoretical framework connects the researcher to existing knowledge. Guided by a
relevant theory, you are given a basis for your hypotheses and choice of research
methods.
3. Articulating the theoretical assumptions of a research study forces you to address
questions of why and how. It permits you to intellectually transition from simply
describing a phenomenon you have observed to generalizing about various aspects of
that phenomenon.
4. Having a theory helps you identify the limits to those generalizations. A theoretical
framework specifies which key variables influence a phenomenon of interest and
highlights the need to examine how those key variables might differ and under what
circumstances.

Conceptual Framework

A conceptual framework illustrates the expected relationship between your variables. It defines
the relevant objectives for your research process and maps out how they come together to draw
coherent conclusions.

A conceptual framework is a representation of the relationship you expect to see between your
variables, or the characteristics or properties that you want to study.

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Conceptual frameworks can be written or visual and are generally developed based on a
literature review of existing studies about your topic.

Step 1: Choose your research question

Your research question guides your work by determining exactly what you want to find out,
giving your research process a clear focus.

Step 2: Select your independent and dependent variables

In order to move forward with your research question and test a cause-and-effect relationship,
you must first identify at least two key variables: your independent and dependent variables.

Step 3: Visualize your cause-and-effect relationship

Now that you’ve figured out your research question and variables, the first step in designing
your conceptual framework is visualizing your expected cause-and-effect relationship.

We demonstrate this using basic design components of boxes and arrows. Here, each variable
appears in a box. To indicate a causal relationship, each arrow should start from the
independent variable (the cause) and point to the dependent variable (the effect).

Step 4: Identify other influencing variables

It’s crucial to identify other variables that can influence the relationship between your
independent and dependent variables early in your research process.

Some common variables to include are moderating, mediating, and control variables.

Moderating variables

Moderating variable (or moderators) alter the effect that an independent variable has on a
dependent variable. In other words, moderators change the “effect” component of the cause-
and-effect relationship.

Mediating variables

Now we’ll expand the framework by adding a mediating variable. Mediating variables link the
independent and dependent variables, allowing the relationship between them to be better
explained.

Control variables

Lastly, control variables must also be taken into account. These are variables that are held
constant so that they don’t interfere with the results. Even though you aren’t interested in
measuring them for your study, it’s crucial to be aware of as many of them as you can be.

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RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

1. Find a at least 10 related literature and 10 related studies on each variable of your
current study.

2. Find at least 3 related researches/studies of the combined variables of your study.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
RRLs and RRSs must be recent as possible (at least dated 2018 onwards).

3. After obtaining RRLs and RRSs, paraphrase them (see below for an example), and cite
the author following APA format.

Literature Paraphrased

People around the world are making do According to Manila Standard Lifestyle (2019),
with lesser sleep each night, with some people in the world lack sleep every night which
getting as little as 6.3 hours of shuteye on is less than the recommended eight hours of
the weekdays and 6.6 on the weekends, sleep.
significantly lower than the daily
recommended eight hours (Manila
Standard Lifestyle, 2019). Reference (APA format):

https://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/2 Manila Standard Lifestyle (2019). Survey reveals

90386 adults in Asia-Pacific want better sleep.
Retrieved October 8, 2022, from
https://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/
290386

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