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300 This week, we are learning about developing a research study

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300

This week, we are learning about developing a research study. It is important to operationally define your variables so that you can accurately observe and measure them. Describe a specific research idea and how you would go about studying that idea. Remember to include the variables involved, a potential hypothesis, possible methods, and the statistical tests needed to analyze your data. Find a published article in a research journal to support your idea.

Do you need to find a articles discussed in recent issues of professional peer-reviewed journals? 

To identify the journal or journals you browse, you can use "library services" or journal websites to see what recent topics have been discussed in journals.  

Some journals you may look at include:  American Journal of Psychology, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, British Journal of Psychology, Evolution and Human Behavior, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Behavior Research and Therapy, Psychopharmacology, Behavioral Pharmacology, European Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Learning and Memory, Neuropharmacology

 

 

 

 

 

CLASSMATE POST 1

Research Idea: What makes Fast Food so Addictive?

 

How: I would study this topic by looking at the ingredients listed in different foods, at specific fast-food chains and Restaurants. This could help me to figure out what’s causing the addiction.

 

Independent Variable(Cause): Fast Food

 

Dependent Variable(Effect): Addiction

 

Hypothesis: If you eat fast food often, then there is a strong possibility that you will be addicted.

 

Possible methods: To prove my hypothesis I would use articles to support my point

 

Test Needed: Charts, graphs, and Surveys

 

 

Article: Fast Food Addiction: The Junk enslavement

 

Cite:

 

Balaji Arumugam, Suganya A, Saranya Nagalingam, Suveka V. (2015).  Fast food addiction The Junk enslavement. International Archives of Integrated Medicine, 2(1), 62-70

 

 

I do realize that this can be very controversial because one could argue that Fast food is not addicting to them or others around them. I chose to take this stance because the proof is in the data. The ingredients put in fast food are what keep people coming back over and over again. That’s why some of us continue to say “I need to stop eating out so much”.

 

 

 

CLASSMATE POST 2

As someone who works everyday with university students, I am well aware of the increases in students registering with disability services with diagnosed mental health concerns. This topic comes up regularly in advising sessions, particularly within the last few years. I would be interested in creating an experiment to see if yoga has a positive impact for students who have been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD.) I am particularly interested in seeing if a semester GPA increases for students with an existing treatment plan who include yoga as part of the regimen. 

To begin this experiment I would research existing literature. By searching ‘yoga’ and ‘ADHD’ in psychINFO, I was able to find significant research has been conducted on this topic. The first five included the following: 

Ahuja, N. N. (2021). Yoga as a complementary therapy for ADHD. In R. T. Gopalan (Ed.),  New developments in diagnosing, assessing, and treating ADHD. (pp. 305–317). Medical Information Science Reference/IGI Global. 

Chimiklis, A. L., Dahl, V., Spears, A. P., Goss, K., Fogarty, K., & Chacko, A. (2018). Yoga, mindfulness, and meditation interventions for youth with ADHD: Systematic review and meta-analysis.  Journal of Child and Family Studies,  27(10), 3155–3168Jensen, P. (2021). Yoga as an intervention for students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In S. Telles & R. K. Gupta (Eds.),  Handbook of research on evidence-based perspectives on the psychophysiology of yoga and its applications. (pp. 347–360). Medical Information Science Reference/IGI Global. 

 

Manuel, J. J. (2021). Special yoga for children and young people with special needs. In S. Telles & R. K. Gupta (Eds.),  Handbook of research on evidence-based perspectives on the psychophysiology of yoga and its applications. (pp. 330–346). Medical Information Science Reference/IGI Global. 

Phan, T. N., Alam, S., & Wagner, K. D. (2021). Yoga for treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents.  Psychiatric Annals,  51(9), 437–442.  While this list can help with a thorough background on research done involving the impact of yoga on ADHD, my research would specifically involve GPA increases on students at Towson University with ADHD. Therefore the target  population would be current Towson students with existing ADHD diagnoses and registration with the Accessibility and Disability Services office. The  sample would be twenty students. The  independent variable would be yoga; specifically two yoga classes a week during the semester. The  dependent variable would be any increases in GPA. 10 students in the sample would add yoga throughout the fall 2023 semester to their existing treatment plans, 10 students would continue treatment as usual. 

This experiment will aim to find a  statistical relationship in the addition of yoga to existing treatment plans with positive gains in GPA for students with ADHD. The  hypothesis, building on the literature, is that the addition of yoga to an existing treatment plan will increase the GPA of students in the study in comparison to students who are only doing treatment as usual. A  scatterplot could be used to analyze the data; a  positive relationship between yoga and GPA would indicate the effectiveness of including yoga as academic support for Towson students with an ADHD diagnosis and existing treatment plan. 

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