dis 2

attached

As you saw from the lab PowerPoint slides last week, you will be doing a research study looking at “Social Loafing”, or Affect for your first paper. For this week’s discussion, I want you to discuss with your group what you think this study is about. There are five components to this discussion:

1). What is the hypothesis? You can either give me the “gist” of the study here or copy them from the researcher instructions for Study One.

2). Do you agree with the predictions? That is, do you expect something different than the hypothesis in the researcher instructions? If yes, what and why? If no, justify why you think the predictions are inaccurate)?

3). Do you think this is a good, testable hypothesis (If no, what would be a better, more “testable” phrasing for the hypotheses)?

4). Do you see any ethical problems with this study? If so, how should you deal with those problems? 

5). Finally, with your discussion group, assess your project, noting one thing different you would do if you had the chance to design a similar study on your own (Hint: You’ll get the chance to build a follow-up study to this Social Loafing study in a few weeks, so think about what you would do different right now and you may get the chance to follow through with that new study later in the semester!).

Stimulus Materials and Researcher Instructions –– Fall, 2022 – Social Loafing Study

Instructions: This Fall, we will run a series of studies looking at Social Loafing, or “The tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts toward a common goal than when they are individually accountable”. Specifically, we want to see if participants are more likely to engage in social loafing when they think that their effort at a math problem solving task is being individually assessed compared to grouped with other participants.

In all conditions, we will tell participants that we want them to solve math problems, and that one of our goals is to see who can solve the most math problems (with the student researcher who recruited the participant who solved the most problems winning class bonus points. Sorry, though – this is not exactly true, as their will be no “winning” score and thus no bonus points. We just want participants to believe that bonus points are on the table to motivate them in their problem-solving task).

While all participants will complete the same math problems, we will tell them one of three things: 1) that their score alone will determine the “winner”, 2) that their score will be pooled with three other participants for a final summed score that will determine the “winner”, or 3) that their score will be pooled with three other participants but then averaged across those three participants for a final score that will determine the “winner”. According to social loafing principles, participants in the pooled score conditions should complete fewer problems than participants in the individual alone condition. However, all participants should report that they worked hard at the task (that they did not loaf).

1). For your first experimental study, you will play the role of researcher, and you will collect data from three different participants. There are two phases to this study. In the first phase, you will orally ask participants if they are willing to participate in a research study. In the second phase, participants will complete a four-part survey. In Part One, participants will read instructions about the math solving task. We will tell some participants that their individual score will be assessed while we will tell others that their grouped score will be assessed (and either totaled or averaged). In Part Two, participants will complete math problems. In Part Three, participants will reflect on their performance in the math solving task. In Part Four, participants will complete demographic questions and a manipulation check question. As you collect data from participants, use the following steps:

A). Your first task is to approach three different participants (not all at the same time!). Preferably, they will be people that you do not know and did not take a psychology research methods class during the Spring or Summer semesters of 2022, or the Fall 2022 semester. Please DO NOT complete this study yourself. If possible, use only FIU students as participants (no family / friends – You will use them in a later replication study at the end of the semester, and they cannot participate twice). There are 48 students in our class, so with each student collecting data from 3 people, our final sample will be around 140 participants total.

1). Note that there is a “Covid alternative” to data collection if you are unable to collect data yourself. Ask your instructor about that option, but there is a good chance that you will already see some pre-completed “Covid Alternative” documents in Canvas.

2). Even if you use the “Covid Alternative”, read the information below, as it will help you write your future papers. You do not need to mention that you used the Covid Alternative, but you will pretend like you collected participant survey responses yourself.

B). Phase I: Informed Consent

1). Informed Consent:

·

Ask the potential participant if he or she is willing to participate in a study for your research methods class. You will get their informed consent verbally. Tell them:

“Hello, I am conducting a study for my research methods class. I was wondering if you would be willing to participate. The study takes about five to ten minutes. There are no risks to participating, and the main benefit is that I can complete my class assignment. Will you participate?”

· An oral Yes or No response is fine. If they say no, thank them and find a different participant. If they say yes, move to the next step (Phase II – Questionnaire).

C). Phase II: “Questionnaire”

1). General Instructions

· After getting participant’s oral informed consent, randomly give them
ONE
of the three “Research Study – Florida International University – Fall 2022” documents. These three documents contain our independent variable for the study (An “independent variable” is the variable that researchers control. We have one independent variable with three levels in our study, with each survey representing one of the three levels/conditions for that one independent variable). One third of our research participants will be in the “Individual Total” condition, one third will be in the “Group Total” condition, and one third will be in the “Group Average” condition (You will see more on these conditions below!).

· Ask participants to follow the instructions at the top of the questionnaire. Tell them that they can go at their own pace and glance at all information on the first page. Make sure they complete all questionnaire parts (though note that they can leave some demographic questions blank if they do not want to provide those details). They can also complete as many (or as few!) math problems as they like. There is no minimum or maximum number of math problems that they must solve.

2). Questionnaire

· Part One: Study Instructions

· In this section, all participants read similar instructions about the purpose of the study and the math solving task they will complete. They will read:

Thank you for participating in this study. The purpose of the study is simple: we want to see how many math problems you can complete correctly! But this is also a competition among the student researchers. We will compare participants to see who completed the most math problems. The student researcher associated with the best performance* will receive course bonus points unavailable to other students (we will use a random drawing if there is a tie). So, complete as many math problems as you can to help the student who recruited you win!

· Note the asterisk symbol (*) in the instructions. This * will direct participants to read one of the following:

·

In the Individual Total Condition, participants will read: *We will determine the “best performance” by looking at the total number of math problems that you and other participants complete. We will award bonus points to the student researcher who recruited the participant with the highest individual completion score.

· In the Group Total Condition, participants will read the following: *We will determine the “best performance” by looking at the total number of math problems that you and two other participants complete. That is, the researcher who recruited you is recruiting two other participants. We will combine your score with the scores provided by the other two participants to find the total group score for all three of you. We will award bonus points to the student researcher who recruited the three participants with the highest total completion score.

· In the Group Average Condition, participants will read the following: *We will determine the “best performance” by looking at the average number of math problems that you and two other participants complete. That is, the researcher who recruited you is recruiting two other participants. We will combine your score with the scores provided by the other two participants to find the average group score for all three of you. We will award bonus points to the student researcher who recruited the three participants with the highest average completion score.

·

All participants will then read the same final set of instructions: There is no minimum or maximum number of math problems that we expect you to complete. Please use your best judgment and stop when you feel you have completed as many problems as you want. While you are free to use a calculator, that is optional. If you need additional room beyond the space provided below, ask the student researcher for spare scratch paper.

·
Part Two: Math Problems

·

The Part Two instructions are identical across all conditions, telling participants the following: The math problems are relatively simple. We want you to square as many numbers as you can in numerical sequence. That is, multiply each number by itself. For example, 1 X 1 = 1 and 2 X 2 = 4, and 3 X 3 = 9, etc. Although you can stop at any time, please do not skip any cells in the numerical sequence.

· Participants will see a grid-like table where they can complete the math problems. There are 42 cells total. Participants can thus complete from 0 to 42 problems in this table. If they need help getting started, show them where they can write the answers “1” for 1 X 1 in the cell or “4” for 2 X 2.

· Although the instructions tell participants they can complete additional math problems using spare scratch paper, we will not have participants complete problems beyond this page, even if they seem willing. Thus, the maximum number we will have them complete is 42, but I doubt participants will complete more than 21 problems (or half of them).

· Data Analysis Note:

· In this study, our most important dependent variable (or variable that we will measure) is how many math problems participants attempt. They can complete up to 42 problems, giving us a ratio scale ranging from 0 to 42.

· After participants complete all sections and you debrief them, return to Part Two and determine how many math problems the participant completed. Write that number in the survey footer at the bottom of the first page (You will see the note “For research use only. T = ______”. Add the number in that space). This “Total Math Score” number is based on completion rate, not attempts, so only include math problems that the participant completed.

· IMPORTANT: You do not need to total or average the participant score in the Group Total and Group Average conditions. To better compare scores among the three study conditions, write the total individual score for each individual participant regardless of their condition. Thus, each participant will have an individual score ranging from 0 to 42

· We will analyze this variable using a One-Way ANOVA since there are three levels / groups in the single independent variable and most of our dependent variables are ratio or interval. We will discuss this more for Paper Two later this semester!

· After completing Part Two, all participants move to Part Three

· Part Three: Thoughts About Your Performance

· In this section, participants rate six statements regarding their performance, all rated on an interval scale of 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree). These statements are identical across all study conditions.

· Statement 1 focuses on how they feel they performed compared to others

· Statement 2 focuses on whether they believe they could have attempted more math problems than they actually did

· Statement 3 focuses on individual accountability

· Statement 4 focuses on how they feel about the goal of the study

· Statement 5 focuses on how enjoyable they found the math problems

· Statement 6 focuses on their feelings about social loafing (though not using that actual “social loafing” phrase!)

· Data Analysis Note:

· For Paper Two, you will likely only analyze one of these statements with an ANOVA. The choice of which one to look at is up to you, but make sure your choice is based on the hypotheses you are testing. My advice is to concentrate on Statement 1 or 2 in your future analyses (in addition to the “Number of problems attempted” from Part Two)

· Statements 1, 2 and 6 are interesting in that I actually do not expect any differences based on condition. That is, while most people know about social loafing, they rarely think that they themselves engage in social loafing! Thus, regardless of condition, I expect all participants to think that they performed above average and that could not have completed more problems than they did. Participants in all conditions should also strongly agree that social loafing occurs (for Statement 6).

· Ironically, a “null” finding for each of these three statements (that the conditions do not differ) would be the ideal result.

· Statements 3 and 4 focus on different elements of social loafing. My hope is that those in the “individual condition” will think their score is more identifiable for Statement 3 than those in the “group total” and “group average” conditions. This might serve as a good interval scale manipulation check for the study (though I prefer to use statement 7 in Part Four as a manipulation check). Social loafing tends to diminish when participants find the goals of the task important, so we can use Statement 4 as a “moderating variable” (a variable that affects the relationship between other study variables, like our manipulation and how many math problems the participant completed in Part Two). Moderating variables are a bit beyond the material we cover in class, so we will probably skip data analysis for this variable.

· Statement 5 less important as a dependent variable. I do not expect differences for it and there are no real hypotheses for it, but research shows that those who find a task challenging, appealing, or involving are less likely to engage in social loafing.

· Part Three: Demographic Information

· In this section, participants provide their demographic information in questions 1 through 6. Most of these items are easy to complete without violating participant’s privacy, but let them know they are free to leave blank any questions they do not wish to answer in this section.

· In question 7, we ask participants to recall what we told them about the “Best performance” definition in the general instructions. This is a really important question, as it provides our study manipulation check (to see if participants paid attention to our manipulation).

· Data Analysis Note:

· We report the mean and standard deviation (or SD) for age in Question 2 and descriptive statistics for gender and race/ethnicity (for Questions 1 / 3)

· For Question 7, we will use a chi square to see if participants recall what we told them the “Best performance” entails. We want participants in the Individual Condition to select the “Highest individual score” option; for participants in the Group Total Condition to select the “Highest total group score” option; and those in the Group Average Condition to select the “Highest average group score” option.

A quick note for you (the researcher): If you look at the bottom of the questionnaire on the first page, you will see the letters I, GT, and GA. Those relate to the condition for that specific survey. The IT stands for Individual Total, the GT stands for Group Total, and the GA stands for Group Average. These initials will help YOU quickly know which survey is which, though the initials should be meaningless for participants. No need to mention this in your future papers, but it is a good way to keep track of your surveys

D). Once participants complete the questionnaire, debrief them regarding the social loafing study. That is, tell them about the study conditions and hypothesis. Read the following:

“This study investigates the psychological concept of “social loafing”, or the tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts toward a common goal than when they are individually accountable. In our study, we asked all participants to complete the same set of math problems (squaring all numbers in sequence), and we told them we would compare scores across participants to see who had the best performance. But we altered the definition of “best performance” across three different study conditions. In our first condition, we told participants we would look at their individual performance score. In our second condition, we told participants we would pool their performance score with the scores of two other participants collected by the same student researcher and use this total score as the basis for the “best performance”. In our final condition, we also told participants we would pool their performance score with the scores of two other participants collected by the same student researcher but that we would use this average score as the basis for the “best performance”. Thus, in one condition participant performance is individually examined while in the other two conditions performance is based on a group score (either the total or the average).

We have two predictions. First, if participants are told that their individual total score will be the basis of the “best performance”, then they will attempt to solve more problems than those who are told their score will be pooled with the scores of two other participants (resulting in either a group total score or a group average score), with no differences expected between these two group-based conditions. Second, since prior research suggests that people tend to think that they themselves do not engage in social loafing, we predict that all participants—regardless of their study condition—will agree that they completed more math problems than the average participant.”

In other words, participants who think their individual contributions are more identifiable will work harder on the task than those who think their contribution is pooled with others, but all participants will think they worked equally hard.

Once again, thank you for participating in this study!

**Methods Students: Note that the underlined paragraphs above will be helpful when you write Paper I! In fact, you can use the underlined paragraphs in your first paper if you like (just copy and paste them into your literature review). However, the predictions ARE NOT INCLUDED in your minimum page count. That is, you can copy/paste the predictions, but they do not count in the page minimum!

Also note that we have seven different dependent measures in this study (excluding variables in the demographic section), which means that we could have seven different hypotheses, one for each DV. Of course, the most important dependent variable is in Part Two (Math Problems). You will need to determine how many problems each individual participant attempted and write that number (ranging from 0 to 42) in the page one footer. Look for the note “For research use only: T = ______” and write the number of math problems completed in that space. The other six dependent variables are in Part Three: Thoughts About Your Performance. Technically, each of these six dependent variables has its own prediction, but the two DVs underlined above are the ones we will look at (Total Math Problem number and Part Two, Statement #1). If you want to analyze statements #2 through #6 you will need to write a prediction for that statement and include it in your literature review for Paper One.

2). Hold onto the completed questionnaires, as you will use them in an upcoming lab. You will enter data into SPSS and analyze it during your lab. Important note: Each student researcher is responsible for collecting data from three participants (one participant for each study condition – Individual Total, Group Total and Group Average). However, we will combine survey data from each student in your lab section, so your final sample will include at least 100 to 140 or so participants. In your papers (especially Paper II), you will use this total set of research participants (at least 100), NOT just the three that you collected yourself. Don’t even discuss “Three participants”, as that is not correct. Discuss ALL participants in your papers

3). One last note: Pay close attention to these instructions! You can use them as the basis for Paper II later this semester when you discuss your methods section. That being said, these instructions are too long for a methods section, and includes information you will need to omit for Paper II. When writing that paper, make sure to only report the important aspects (what you actually did in the study). Write about what you actually did in the study!

Lab Presentation

Week 1 Lab

Introduction to the Lab

Welcome to Your Research Lab 1

Welcome to your lab presentation! These lab presentations will give you a hands-on approach to setting up, running, collecting, and analyzing data (via SPSS) for your class research project. We will take a step-by-step approach in these lab slides and learn how to do research along the way!

A quick note: If you are taking methods live / hybrid on campus, your lab instructor MAY NOT go over these materials. But they are here for you anyway and useful! If you are an online student, pay close attention!

Welcome to Your Research Lab 2
Let me repeat that for In-Person or Hybrid Methods II Students …
Your lab instructor will go over a lot of this material when you get to your labs, but they may not go over the lab presentations in their entirety. I am including these lab slides for you in Canvas for you to look over on your own
The lab presentations will walk you through your study design, including the predictions, the analysis, and SPSS
My recommendation is to read these on your own before lab (and maybe even after) to help reinforce some of the concepts that you are learning about in the lab session. It makes a good lab content reminder, too (I know the lab sessions go quickly!)

Welcome to Your Research Lab 3
For Fully Online Methods II Students …
These lab presentations will walk you through your study design, including the predictions, the analysis, and SPSS
My recommendation is to read very early in the week as they will help you with papers, assignments, and activities that may be due at the end of the week

Test Your Understanding 1
Like the lecture powerpoint presentations (which include several “Pop Quiz” questions), I am going to sprinkle several “Test Your Understanding” slides within these lab presentations.
Unlike the “Pop Quiz” questions, these “Test Your Understanding” questions are purely practice for you. I’ll give you a multiple-choice question slide with question-and-answer options. On the very next slide, I’ll give you the correct answer. If you are incorrect, make sure to go back and review the information so you know why it was incorrect. If you are correct, great!

5

Welcome to Your Research Lab 4
In this first lab presentation, we will look at the following …
Part One: Your First Task In This Course
Part Two: Your First Experimental Papers
Part Three: An Eye Toward The Future

Part One
Your First Task In This Course
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Your First Task in This Course 1
In this course, you will carry out two studies. In the first study, you are going to see if participants alter their responses to a series of questions based on a manipulation that we will present to them
I want you to be a part of that first study right now. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes.
Are you ready to begin?
Let me first give you the study instructions (which are the same instructions that YOU will give to participants when YOU collect data for study one)

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Your First Task in This Course 2
“Hello, I am conducting a study for my research methods class. I was wondering if you would be willing to participate. The study takes about five to ten minutes. There are no risks to participating, and the main benefit is that I can complete my class assignment. Will you participate?”
Yes No
If yes, move on to the survey and look over four sections …
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Your First Task in This Course 3
Part One: Study Instructions
Part Two: Math Problems
Part Three: Thoughts About Your Performance
Part Four: Demographic Information

Let’s look over these four parts, which are presented on the next few slides (though you can also find a hard copy of the survey and researcher instruction materials in Canvas)…

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Your First Task in This Course 4
Thank you for participating in this study. The purpose of the study is simple: we want to see how many math problems you can complete correctly! But this is also a competition among the student researchers. We will compare participants to see who completed the most math problems. The student researcher associated with the best performance* will receive class bonus points unavailable to other students (we will use a random drawing if there is a tie). So, complete as many math problems as you can to help the student who recruited you win!

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Your First Task in This Course 5
*We will determine the “best performance” by looking at the total number of math problems that you and two other participants complete. That is, the researcher who recruited you is recruiting two other participants. We will combine your score with the scores provided by the other two participants to find the total group score for all three of you. We will award bonus points to the student researcher who recruited the three participants with the highest total completion score.

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Your First Task in This Course 6
There is no minimum or maximum number of math problems that we expect you to complete. Please use your best judgment and stop when you feel you have completed as many problems as you want. While you are free to use a calculator, that is optional. If you need additional room beyond the space provided below, ask the student researcher for spare scratch paper.

13

Your First Task in This Course 7
Part Two – Math Problems
The math problems are relatively simple. We want you to square as many numbers as you can in numerical sequence. That is, multiply each number by itself.
For example, 1 X 1 = 1 and 2 X 2 = 4 and 3 X 3 = 9, etc. Although you can stop at any time, please do not skip any math problems in the numerical sequence.

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Your First Task in This Course 8
15

Your First Task in This Course 9
Part Three: Thoughts About Your Performance
1). I believe that I completed more math problems than the average participant.

2). I believe that I could have completed more math problems than I did.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

Your First Task in This Course 10
Part Three: Thoughts About Your Performance
3). I feel like my performance will be individually examined by the researchers (i.e., not anonymous).

4). I feel like the goal of the study (to help get bonus points for the student who recruited me) is important.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

Your First Task in This Course 11
Part Three: Thoughts About Your Performance
5). I found solving math problems in this experiment enjoyable.

6). I believe that participants may “slack off” or “take a free ride” if they know that other participants are contributing to the total score.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

Your First Task in This Course 12
Part Four: Demographic Information
1). What is your gender?
2). What is your age?
3). What is your race / ethnicity?
4). Is English your first language?
5). Are you an FIU student?
6). What is your relationship status?

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Your First Task in This Course 13
Part Four: Demographic Information
7). Without looking back, recall the instructions we gave you about how we assess the “Best Performance” in Part One. What did we tell you was the basis for the “Best Performance”?
___ Highest individual score
___ Highest total group score
___ Highest average group score

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Your First Task in This Course 14
Finished! Ok, there are a few things I want to focus on
First, think about Part One. Did you pay close attention to the instructions? If yes, do you think the wording in the instructions altered your performance on the math problems?
Second, how well did you do on the math problems? How many did you try to complete?
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Your First Task in This Course 15
Finished! Ok, there are a few things I want to focus on
Finally, in Part Three, how did you rate the statements about your performance?
Do you think you completed more math problems than the average participant?
Do you think you could have completed more math problems then you did?
Do you think people might slack off if they know that other participants are contributing to the total score?
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Your First Task in This Course 16
This Fall 2022, we are going to run a series of studies looking at “Social Loafing”
As a shorthand, I may call this our “Loafing” study
Social loafing is tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts toward a common goal than when they are individually accountable”.
In this study, we will manipulate how many people participants think are contributing to the total score to see if this information impacts how many math problems they complete. How will we do this? Let’s start with the first page of the study survey
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This is the first page of the survey. You can find this document in Canvas under Short Lab Assignment #3. It is named the “Main Questionnaire”
The first paragraph introduces the study, noting that the participant will complete math problems. But the important part is in the second paragraph
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Survey

This second paragraph is the most important paragraph on this survey page, as it differs across conditions.

Let’s look closer at what paragraph two says
Note that the asterisk, or the * symbol, is purposeful here
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Survey 2

Your First Task in This Course 17
Below are the * instructions for Part One (reproduced below):
*We will determine the “best performance” by looking at the total number of math problems that you and two other participants complete. That is, the researcher who recruited you is recruiting two other participants. We will combine your score with the scores provided by the other two participants to find the total group score for all three of you. We will award bonus points to the student researcher who recruited the three participants with the highest total completion score.
The important phrase here is: “total group score”

But what if you saw these posts instead …
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Your First Task in This Course 18
But what if you saw the following * instructions instead:
*We will determine the “best performance” by looking at the average number of math problems that you and two other participants complete. That is, the researcher who recruited you is recruiting two other participants. We will combine your score with the scores provided by the other two participants to find the average group score for all three of you. We will award bonus points to the student researcher who recruited the three participants with the highest average completion score.
The important phrase here is: “average group score”. Finally …
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Your First Task in This Course 19
Finally, what it you saw the following instructions:
*We will determine the “best performance” by looking at the total number of math problems that you and other participants complete. We will award bonus points to the student researcher who recruited the participant with the highest individual completion score.
The important phrase here is: “individual completion score”

But what if you saw these posts instead …
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Your First Task in This Course 20
In our study, we are altering how many participants “contribute” to the “Best Performance” score. Think about these three different conditions …
Single individuals contribute to the “Individual Total Condition”
Three participants contribute to the “Group Total Condition”
Three participants contribute to the “Average Total Condition”
We highlight the number of participants contributing to the “Best performance” score in the instructions using the * symbol

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Your First Task in This Course 21
Now think about your Math Problem Performance
At the start of this presentation, I had you read the condition in which I told you that your math performance score would be combined with other participants to determine the total math performance score.
But what if I told you that I would focus on your score alone? Would that make you work harder / longer at the math task?

Your First Task in This Course 22
Now think about your Math Problem Performance
I think you would work harder / longer on the math problems if you thought I was examining your individual total score on its own.
However, if I combined your math performance score with the scores of other participants (with the final score based on either the total score for the group or an averaged score for the group), then I suspect you might “slack off” or take a “free ride” and let others do more work. In other words, you might engage in “social loafing”

Your First Task in This Course 23
Now think about your Math Problem Performance
Okay, reread the last slide again. I know this lab presentation is long, but the information on the prior slide is really important for your understanding of the social loafing element of this study.
You reread it? Great! Now let’s discuss Part Two of the survey

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Your First Task in This Course 24
Now think about Part Two
In Part Two, all participants solve the same math problems, essentially squaring all numbers in sequence

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Your First Task in This Course 25
Now think about Part Two
We will make it clear to participants that they can complete as many (or as few) of the math problems as they like. I think few will complete more than 20 out of the 42 problems.
Again, I think that participants who are told that we will look at their individual math performance will complete more math problems than participants who think their score will be pooled with other participants (group total or group average!
Now, let’s consider Part Three …

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Your First Task in This Course 26
Now think about the questions in Part Three
In Part Three, participants rate their thoughts about their own performance using a scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree)
These performance ratings ask participants to assess their performance in comparison to others, to think about whether their score seems anonymous, to think about the goals of the study, and to think about whether people may take a “free ride” when their score is combined with others’ scores.
That’s our study in a nutshell! But let’s delve into it further …

Your First Task in This Course 27
First, consider your surveys again. There is something important that I want you to note about the content of those three surveys.
IMPORTANT: All questions and materials in the three surveys are identical. The ONLY difference across the three surveys is the instructions with the asterisk *. ALL other information in the surveys is identical
Why is this important? In research, we want a lot of control over our materials. The ONLY thing that differs is what we manipulated. Thus, in our study, everything is identical across the three surveys EXCEPT what we told participants about the total (Individual Total, Group Total, or Group Average)

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Let’s Discuss Your Study
Throughout the rest of this section, I want to focus on YOUR role as a researcher as well as your performance to the questions in the survey you just completed. Here, we will cover:
A. You Are The Researcher
B. Think About Your Performance
Independent Variable
Dependent Variables
Hypotheses

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You Are The Researcher 1
A. You Are The Researcher: Finding Your Surveys
First, find your surveys in your “Short Lab Assignments” folder under Assignment #3: Study One Materials
They might also be with your “Papers” folder under Paper II: Study One Methods, Results and Discussion (I like to double-up on the locations, but they are the same documents). Look for them under the name “Study One Materials”
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You Are The Researcher 2
A. You Are The Researcher: Finding Your Surveys
When you open the Study One Materials folder, you will see five documents. Three are “Main Questionnaires”, a fourth is “Researcher Instructions”, and the fifth is for Assignment #3
My suggestion is that you read the “Researcher Instructions” document RIGHT NOW. It will make the slides to come easier to understand. I also suggest that you look over the three main questionnaires after reading the instructions. The fifth document tells you what is due for Assignment #3
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You Are The Researcher 3
A. You Are The Researcher: Finding Your Surveys
I want you to collect data from three different participants. That is, print out all three versions of the main questionnaire and then find one person to complete each
These must be three DIFFERENT people. Each participant only reads and completes one version of the survey
If possible, do not use family or friends of yours (you will use family and friends for a follow-up study later in the semester, so you don’t want to use them up for this first study!)
However, if you are concerned about Covid 19 …
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You Are The Researcher 4
A. You Are The Researcher: Finding Your Surveys
I want you to collect data from three different participants. That is, print out all three versions of the main questionnaire and then find one person to complete each
Covid 19 Data Collection Alternative
With the Coronavirus pandemic still going, you might be uncomfortable collecting data from participants in-person. Although this study works best with participants completing the survey materials in-person, there is a set of “Covid Alternative” surveys in Canvas with pre-filled in data. Print those and pretend you collected data
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You Are The Researcher 5
A. You Are The Researcher: Finding Your Surveys
I want you to collect data from three different participants. That is, print out all three versions of the main questionnaire and then find one person to complete each
In a future week (around week four) you will upload an SPSS file for Assignment #3 that contains the data for your three participants.
We will discuss this later, but you can see the instructions for what is due for Assignment #3 in that same folder in the “What is due” Assignment #3 document.
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You Are The Researcher 6
A. You Are The Researcher: Finding Your Surveys
You’ve read the researcher instructions, right? Right? Good.
As you now know, our study is looking at Social Loafing. There is a lot of research on Social Loafing, but you might also see terms like “free ride”, the “Collective Effort Model”, the “Ringelmann Effect”, and “Evaluation Potential” when researching this topic
Our study also looks at math performance, and there are a lot of studies that focus math phobias. You’ll get a chance to add to this interesting literature!
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Think About Your Performance 1
B. Think About Your Performance – Independent Variable (IV)
So, let’s talk about our “Social Loafing Study” from a more methodological perspective
Again, the three versions of the questionnaire represent our one independent variable (i.e. the IV, or the variable that the researcher controls). This single IV has three levels …
1: Individual Total Condition (I’ll often write this in red)
2: Group Total Condition (I’ll write this in blue)
3: Group Average Condition (look for green!)

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Think About Your Performance 2
B. Think About Your Performance – Independent Variable (IV)
So, let’s talk about our “Social Loafing Study” from a more methodological perspective
Again, the three versions of the questionnaire represent our one independent variable (i.e. the IV, or the variable that the researcher controls). This single IV has three levels …
I did want to mention that I do not expect any differences between the Group Total and Group Average conditions, as both look at group effort. But I must admit that this is a guess only. We are including both conditions in our study so we can see if the two groups really are the same!

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Test Your Understanding 2
Imagine you conduct a study where people are randomly assigned to solve math problems that appear in one of four colors (red, blue, green, or black). The researchers predict that those who get the red color will solve fewer math problems than those who get blue, green, or black ink. How many independent variables do you have in this study?
A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Four

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Test Your Understanding 3
Imagine you conduct a study where people are randomly assigned to solve math problems that appear in one of four colors (red, blue, green, or black). The researchers predict that those who get the red color will solve fewer math problems than those who get blue, green, or black ink. How many independent variables do you have in this study?
A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Four

Keep in mind that a single IV can have multiple levels. Here, we have one independent variable (condition) that happens to have four levels to it (red, blue, green, and black). Still, it is only ONE independent variable. Your study has ONE IV as well. It just happens to have three levels. That is …
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Test Your Understanding 4
Imagine you conduct a study where people are randomly assigned to solve math problems that appear in one of four colors (red, blue, green, or black). The researchers predict that those who get the red color will solve fewer math problems than those who get blue, green, or black ink. How many independent variables do you have in this study?
A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Four

Your Social Loafing Study has one independent variable with three levels (Individual Total, Group Total, or Group Average). Again, we have ONE independent variable with three levels
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Think About Your Performance 3
B. Think About Your Performance – Dependent Variable (DV)
A dependent variable “depends” on the study manipulation. That is, DVs are the participant response(s), which depend on the IV. In our study, we have a lot of dependent variables!
There is one dependent variable in Part Two (Total Math Score), six in Part Three (the six statements), and seven in Part Four (six demographic DVs and our attention check DV), or 14 items total!
Yup, 14 is a lot of DVs! The good news is we won’t analyze all of these DVs, but there are some really important ones I want you to pay attention to (while we will ignore others) …

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Think About Your Performance 4
B. Think About Your Performance – Dependent Variable (DV)
Part Two: One of the most important DVs in our study is the Total Math Score DV (total number completed) in Part Two
For the Total Math Score, simply add up the number of math problems that the participant completed! Since there are 42 math problems, this total will range from 0 to 42.
Make sure to get a total score for each individual participant regardless of their condition (even in the “group conditions”, get the total score for each individual participant) for this DV

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Think About Your Performance 5
B. Think About Your Performance – Dependent Variable (DV)
The first two Part Three statements are also very important
And here are statements 1 and 2 from Part Three …

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Think About Your Performance 6
B. Think About Your Performance – Dependent Variable (DV)
The first two Part Three statements are also very important
The ironic thing about Social Loafing is that it isn’t always an actual “decision”. Research shows that people may not even realize they are engaging in social loafing. It is possible that all participants (regardless of their condition) will agree that they performed better than average and disagree that they could have completed more math problems than they did.
Since actual loafing might be unconscious, I do not expect participants to differ in their ratings of statements 1 and 2!
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Think About Your Performance 7
B. Think About Your Performance – Dependent Variable (DV)
Other Part Three statements are interesting but less important
Research on social loafing also suggests that loafing is less likely if the goal is seen as worthwhile by the participant or if they think their performance will be individually evaluated. Statements 3 and 4 can help us see if this is true.
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Think About Your Performance 8
B. Think About Your Performance – Dependent Variable (DV)
Other Part Three statements are interesting but less important
Finally, consider Statements 5 and 6. I think that most of our participants will agree with Statement 6, though few of them will admit that they themselves engage in social loafing.
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Think About Your Performance 9
B. Think About Your Performance – Dependent Variable (DV)
Part Four: Demographic Variables
In Part Four, we will analyze demographic information, like participant gender, age, and race/ethnicity.
We will run “descriptive statistics” on these demographic questions, finding the mean age and the frequencies for gender and race/ethnicity
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Think About Your Performance 19
B. Think About Your Performance – Dependent Variable (DV)
Part Four: Manipulation Check
The most important question in Part Four is Question 7, which asks participants how we determined the “Best Performance”. They must choose one of three options:
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Think About Your Performance 20
B. Think About Your Performance – Dependent Variable (DV)
Part Four: Manipulation Check
Our analysis for question 7 will involve a chi square, where we will see if participants recall what condition they were in.
We want to make sure that those in the Individual Total condition recall us saying that we used the Highest individual score to assess the “Best Performance”
We similarly hope that those in the Group Total condition recall the “Highest total group score” phrasing, and that those in the Group Average condition recall the “Highest average group score” phrasing.
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Think About Your Performance 21
B. Think About Your Performance – Dependent Variable (DV)
Part Four: Manipulation Check
Our analysis for question 7 will involve a chi square, where we will see if participants recall what condition they were in.
Question 7 is our manipulation check (or our attention check). If participants do not recall what we told them about the best performance definition, then they may not have paid attention to our manipulation.
Given their lack of attention, we may not want to include them as participants in our study.
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Test Your Understanding 6
What can we do if participants “fail” our manipulation (or attention) check question?
A. Nothing. Once they finish the survey, it is unethical to do anything that alters the data
B. We can alter their data so it shows they paid better attention
C. We can drop the participant from our study (ignore them)
D. We can ask the participant to redo the study

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Test Your Understanding 7
What can we do if participants “fail” our manipulation (or attention) check question?
A. Nothing. Once they finish the survey, it is unethical to do anything that alters the data
B. We can alter their data so it shows they paid better attention
C. We can drop the participant from our study (ignore them)
D. We can ask the participant to redo the study
Answer C is the best option here. Results from an inattentive participant can create error (noise) in our design. We don’t want them to redo it (they might know the hypothesis), but altering or doing nothing with their data can increase error noise, too

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Think About Your Performance 22
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
Another big part of this study is the prediction (or predictions, since there are several). Predictions are very important: You have a separate hypothesis for each dependent variable (some hypotheses will overlap if the question asks something similar).
You know those 7 DVs we just looked at in Parts Two and Three? There are 7 different hypotheses across these sections, one hypothesis for each DV in each part!
As I noted a few slides ago, though, we will concentrate on a few of them. Consider the Total Math Score in Part Two …
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Think About Your Performance 23
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
Part Two, Total Math Score Hypothesis:
Recall the Total Math Score dependent variable is based on the number of math problems each participant completed
Participants can complete between 0 and 42 problems.
Since they cannot solve fewer than 0, this is a ratio scale
Our hypotheses will focus on comparing condition scores for this DV. In your papers, YOU will provide a literature review that justifies your hypothesis. But for now, think about the hypothesis for this DV as an “IF A THEN B” statement …
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Think About Your Performance 24
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
Part Two, Total Math Score Hypothesis:
“IF participants are told that their individual total score will be used to determine the “best performance”, THEN they will attempt to solve more math problems than participants who are told that their score will be combined with the scores of other participants (as either a group total score or a group average score), with no differences expected between the group total and group average conditions.”
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Think About Your Performance 25
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
Part Two, Total Math Score Hypothesis:
Feel free to disagree with my hypothesis. I might be wrong! Just make sure that you can cite research articles that support your prediction rather than mine.
Of course, sometimes we may predict a “null result” (we predict no differences between conditions). This applies to a few Part Three statements …
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Think About Your Performance 26
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
Part Three: Statement 1 Hypothesis:
I predict a “null result” for Statement 1 in Part Three. Recall what that statement says …

Since I think all participants will agree with this statement, I came up with this hypothesis for this dependent variable …

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Think About Your Performance 27
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
Part Three: Statement 1 Hypothesis:
I predict a “null result” for Statement 1 in Part Three. Recall what that statement says …
“Since prior research suggests that people tend to think that they themselves do not engage in social loafing, we predict that all participants—regardless of their study condition—will agree that they completed more math problems than the average participant.”
I also expect a “null result” for Statement 2 in Part Three …
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Think About Your Performance 28
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
Part Three: Statement 2 Hypothesis:
2. I believe that I could have completed more math problems than I did.
“Since prior research suggests that people tend to think that they themselves do not engage in social loafing, we predict that all participants—regardless of their study condition—will disagree that they could have solved more math problems than they did.”
Of course, I expect all p’s will “disagree” with the statement here
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Think About Your Performance 29
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
Part Three, Statements 3 through 6
Try to figure out the possible predictions for Statements 3 through 6 on your own! Personally, I think there will also be null findings (no differences) for Statements 4, 5 and 6.
However, I think that there will be differences for Statement 3, with participants in the Individual Total Condition more strongly agreeing with Statement 3
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Think About Your Performance 30
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
Part Three, Statements 1 and 6
We will discuss predictions more in the main lecture, but for now note that you can adapt / alter / keep the predictions in this presentation for your own study. I wrote out these predictions for you in your Researcher Instructions for Study One. Feel free to see them there. You can even copy and paste them into your Paper One in a few weeks!
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Think About Your Performance 31
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
In Part IV, we collected demographic information
There are no real predictions for demographics, but we do want to make sure that we have a representative sample. We’ll run some statistics on our demographic data to find the mean age (and standard deviation) as well as the number of men and women and the number for each ethnicity

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Think About Your Performance 32
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
Want the good news?
For this first study, I gave you your predictions. Again, you can copy them from these powerpoint presentations or copy them from your researcher instructions. We will cover hypotheses more in the lecture material, but I want you to be familiar with them, as you will write your first (and second) papers with these predictions in mind. That is, Paper I ends with these predictions, and Paper II tests them
Want them again in an easy-to-copy format? Okay …
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Think About Your Performance 33
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
General Predictions (Taken from your researcher instructions):
We have two predictions. First, if participants are told that their individual total score will be the basis of the “best performance”, then they will attempt to solve more problems than those who are told their score will be pooled with the scores of two other participants (resulting in either a group total score or a group average score), with no differences expected between these two group-based conditions. Second, since prior research suggests that people tend to think that they themselves do not engage in social loafing, we predict that all participants—regardless of their study condition—will agree that they worked harder than the average participant.”
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Think About Your Performance 34
B. Think About Your Performance – Hypotheses
Well, that’s our study for this semester in a nutshell!
Keep in mind our hypotheses for this study over the next few weeks, as it will become an important part of your future papers (Hint: Look at the student instructions for the study as well as prior slides in this presentation!)
For now, I want to talk about some of the upcoming papers. But first …

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Test Your Understanding 8
Why is the following hypothesis bad: “Participants will be more impacted if they think their individual score is being measured than if they think their score is being grouped with other scores.”
A. It’s not a bad hypothesis.
B. Participants should not have their emotions manipulated
C. The word “impacted” is too vague. HOW does it impact them? In a positive or negative way? This needs specificity

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Test Your Understanding 9
Why is the following hypothesis bad: “Participants will be more impacted if they think their individual score is being measured than if they think their score is being grouped with other scores.”
A. It’s not a bad hypothesis.
B. Participants should not have their emotions manipulated
C. The word “impacted” is too vague. HOW does it impact them? In a positive or negative way? This needs specificity
We will discuss hypotheses a lot in this class, but keep in mind that they need to be specific. Saying participants were “impacted” by the IV is not enough. HOW were they impacted?

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Part Two
Your First Experimental Papers
Paper I: Study One Literature Review
Paper II: Study One Methods / Results / Discussion
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Your First Experimental Papers 1
Paper I: Study One Literature Review
For your first paper in this class (Paper I), you will write a short literature review based on the Social Loafing Study idea
When you go into Canvas, find a folder of articles related to the Loafing Study. Using this set of articles, your first task is to read three or four of them (plus one more article that you will find on your own) and then combine the information from them into a literature review that ends with the hypotheses for your study (the ones we just discussed)
Instructions and examples are available on Canvas

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Your First Experimental Papers 2
Paper II: Study One Methods, Results and Discussion
A few weeks after your study one literature review, you will turn in Paper II, which focuses on the methods, results, and a very brief discussion of the data you collected for study one.
Paper II thus focuses on the methods (specific details about what you did and how you did it), data analysis (all of those fun statistics you hopefully remember from your stats class, like chi-squares, t-Tests, and ANOVAs. Don’t worry about these right now – we will help you out with these along the way!), and a very brief (paragraph or two) discussion section

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Your First Experimental Papers 3
Just breathe – it will be okay!
I know you are probably wide-eyed at this point knowing how much work lies ahead, but keep in mind that this is a required course in psychology and ALL students taking the course go through the same steps you are. I have taught this class many times before, and most students survive (!). So will you!
Over the next few weeks, I will go into a bit more detail about the paper instructions and the expectations I have for your papers.

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Your First Experimental Papers 4
Papers III, IV, and V: (Study Two)
I do want to mention another project coming up mid-semester, just to give you some advance warning. You will conduct a follow-up Social Loafing Study during the second half of this semester that you have more control over. You will help create hypotheses and stimulus materials, and you will once again collect data and analyze it (albeit more independently).
We will talk about Papers III, IV, and V more as the semester progresses, but trust me when I tell you that Papers I and II will help you better understand Papers III, IV, and V. Look at the example Paper V this week, just to see what lies ahead

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Test Your Understanding 11
Generally, what is your first study about?
A. The impact of friend feedback on academic performance
B. The impact of social loafing on participant ratings
C. The impact of advertisements on social media ratings
D. The impact of the primacy effect on wrongfulness ratings

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Test Your Understanding 12
Generally, what is your first study about?
A. The impact of friend feedback on academic performance
B. The impact of social loafing on participant ratings
C. The impact of advertisements on social media ratings
D. The impact of the primacy effect on wrongfulness ratings
This semester, you are focusing on Social Loafing. Get very familiar with the topic (read some research on it). But note that the topic changes every semester. Ask prior students what they did. It’ll differ, but you can learn from their experiences!

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Part Three
An Eye Toward The Future
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An Eye Toward The Future 1
Remember to collect data for your three surveys. It won’t be due for while, but you’ll want them on hand in future labs.
Speaking of which, it is REALLY important that you attend to the lab materials, as you’ll do some hands-on activities using your computer. You can always return to these lab powerpoints if you need some additional guidance, so keep them close!

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