Recency of Research Sources

Sources for Research Interestingness

Number of Sources in a Literature Review

Researchers conduct a literature review to strategically select sources that fulfill several primary objectives: refining the research question, identifying suitable research methods, and contextualizing the current study within previous findings. What is the fourth primary objective of this process?

One goal of conducting a literature search is to identify research methods that have already been used to study similar questions, which can then inform how a researcher designs their own study.

A researcher is conducting a study on the relationship between social media use and self-esteem. Match each of the following literature search activities to the primary goal it helps the researcher achieve.

A psychology student is moving from a general interest in 'prosocial behavior' to a finalized research proposal. Arrange the following goals of a literature search in the most effective logical sequence for this transition.

When conducting a literature review, which primary objective involves determining how a new study builds upon and relates to the existing body of research findings?

A literature search serves several distinct purposes during the research process. Match each primary goal of a literature search with the description that best explains how it contributes to a researcher's progress.

A researcher conducting a literature search on social influence discovers that while there is extensive research on peer pressure in adolescents, there is very little data regarding peer pressure among elderly populations in assisted living facilities. By using this discovery to shift the focus of their study to this specific, under-researched group, the researcher is primarily fulfilling the goal of _____.

A researcher who reviews the formatting and section organization of published journal articles to decide how to structure their own manuscript is applying the literature search goal of identifying suitable research methods.

A researcher reads the results sections of several key papers to understand how their own newly collected data will build upon and relate to what has already been discovered in the field. This helps the researcher satisfy the literature review objective of contextualizing the current study within previous _____.

Order the following literature search activities to reflect the most logical sequence of goals a researcher should prioritize throughout a research project, from the initial conceptualization to the final submission of the manuscript.

What are the four primary objectives a researcher should focus on when strategically selecting sources for a literature review? State each objective clearly.

Explain how the student should categorize Source A and Source B under the primary objectives of a literature search, justifying your categorization based on the purpose each source serves.

Imagine you are writing a research paper on peer influence and decision-making. How would you apply the literature search objective of 'providing guidance for writing an effective research report' when selecting and reviewing published articles?

Sources for Research Interestingness

According to the criteria for evaluating research, which of the following combinations makes a research question scientifically interesting?

If a research question has already been definitively answered by multiple previous studies, it would generally not be considered scientifically interesting, even if the topic appeals to people in general.

Match each research scenario with the specific criterion that primarily makes the research question 'scientifically interesting.'

Based on the criteria that a research question is 'interesting' only if its answer is in doubt, it fills a gap in the literature, and it has practical implications, rank these research proposals from least interesting (1) to most interesting (3).

According to the criteria for evaluating research, the 'interestingness' of a research question is determined by its appeal and significance to which two groups?

Match each criterion of a 'scientifically interesting' research question with the statement that best describes its meaning and significance within the scientific community.

A researcher evaluates a potential study and determines it is not scientifically interesting because, although the answer is currently unknown and the study would fill a gap in the research literature, the findings would not be useful for solving real-world problems or informing policy. This researcher has judged that the question fails to satisfy the criterion of _____.

A clinical psychologist proposes a study to determine if getting zero hours of sleep per night causes fatigue. Because this study has clear practical implications for health, it is considered scientifically interesting even though the answer is not in doubt.

An investigator wants to study a new online learning tool. Although they realize there is no literature on it (filling a gap) and it will help students (practical implications), they are already certain of the outcome. In analyzing the scientific interestingness of this question, the investigator has failed to satisfy the criterion that the answer is currently in _____.

Based on the three criteria for determining if a research question is scientifically interesting, evaluate and order the following research proposals from most scientifically interesting (order 1) to least scientifically interesting (order 3).

Explain the concept of the 'interestingness' of a research question in psychological research. Specifically, identify the two groups of people to whom a question must appeal, and list the three criteria that make a research question scientifically interesting.

Based on the case context, explain which of the three criteria for scientific interestingness are met by this proposed research question, and which are not met. Justify your evaluation for each criterion.

A researcher wants to study if adults prefer watching television on a large screen versus a smartphone. This preference is already well-known, heavily researched in existing literature, and holds no practical implications. How could the researcher apply the three criteria of scientific interestingness to modify this research idea into a scientifically interesting question?