PSYC 200: Research Methods & Statistics + Lab (HC) Spring 2024

Here's the true story of how I approached your assignment:

1. I googled 'undergraduate experiments in psychology'.
   • Or google something more specific that you already have in mind!
   • You could have also looked through your textbook, or used a recent news story or your own experiences for ideas.
      
2. I found something that piqued my interest and modified it to make it my own
3. My (tentative) research question: Can different types of music lead to different emotional responses?
    

Note: Your research question at this point doesn't have to be set in stone! After some searching and reading, you will likely identify gaps or weaknesses in the current research that you want to explore.

Example

Can different types of music lead to different emotional responses? Find studies that have been done.

Step 1: Break up this research question into two or three main concepts. Ignore extraneous words.

• Concept #1: music
• Concept #2: emotional response
• Concept #3: study

Step 2: Conduct an initial search with these words, and quickly scan the results. 

Step 3: Using information from your initial search, add synonyms, acronyms, and variant spellings.

• Concept #1: music  [or possibly focus on certain types of music]
• Concept #2: emotional response [or just "emotions"], feelings, mood
• Concept #3: study OR experiment

• Even if the search engine you are using doesn't require you to enter boolean operators, it is still using them behind the scenes. It will help you to know the logic behind your search
  .
• AND gives you results that include ALL of your concepts.
   
• OR gives you results that include ANY of your concepts.
  ​
• Essentially, you are searching:​

(music) AND ("emotional response" OR feelings OR mood) AND (study OR experiment)