1. Generate an empirical research question about each of the following behaviors or psychological characteristics: 

• long-distance running

• getting tattooed

• social anxiety

• bullying

• memory for early childhood events.

2. Evaluate each of the research questions you generated in #1 in terms of its interestingness based on the criteria discussed in this chapter (p. 38). There are three factors that affect the interestingness of a research question: the answer is in doubt, the answer fills a gap in the research literature, and the answer has important practical implications.

• long-distance running

• getting tattooed

• social anxiety

• bullying

• memory for early childhood events.

Design a Research Study

Directions: Taking one of the ideas from #1 above address the following issues:

1. What is your research problem or question? 

2. Are you seeking to establish cause and effect (an experimental design) or looking for a relationship between variables (a correlational design)? 

3. What are your variables? Is there a need to identify one as the independent variable and one as the dependent variable? If so, what are they? How are the variables operationally defined? 

4. What is your hypothesis?

5. Who are the members of your population? How did you draw your sample? Will you have an experimental and control group? If so, how are participants assigned to each group? 

6. What data gathering strategies will you use? What will your research procedure be?

7. How will you minimize bias in your study?