The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to reading primary empirical

The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to reading primary empirical research in the
field of forensic psychology, while also serving to develop and exercise both your critical
thinking and writing skills.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Four empirical articles spanning several areas of forensic psychology have been posted on
Brightspace. Select and read ONE of these articles. You are required to write an article
summary that reviews the key components of your selected study, compare the findings to one
study described in your textbook (it needs to be on the same subject but not necessarily the
exact same variables e.g., this may add to the understanding or add new information from what
is in the study in the book but there must be some commonality between the two), and then
develop your own study. General requirements and specific directions are below.
• This is an individual assignment
• Do not share your assignment with other students. Students submitting similar
assignments may be reported to the dean’s office for plagiarism.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:
• 8-12 pages in length, 12-point Times New Roman font, double spaced (marks removed if
you go over this limit).
• The title page and reference pages are no included in the above limits.
• Use clear and concise writing in essay/narrative form (i.e., proper/complete sentence
and paragraph structure, well organized, no point form).
• Use headings to facilitate your paper’s organization.
• Formal formatting style (e.g., American Psychological Association style) is not required –
however, ensure your paper is well organized, and that you use a consistent method to
cite/quote where necessary. TA’s will not be searching for any information in your paper
so it must be organized well.
• Do not plagiarize. Do not copy sections from the article into your summary. You will
need to paraphrase. Never copy more than 3 – 4 words in a row from a source without
using quotation marks and providing citation (author, year, page number). There is a
document about Plagiarism on Brightspace. Please read it.
• Minimize the use of direct quotes from the article or textbook. You need to paraphrase
instead of quoting from the article or textbook.
• Avoid superficial, surface-level description when summarizing your article. Instead,
ensure that your paper is of substance by providing detailed, in-depth explanation – this
will better demonstrate your understanding.
LATE PENALTY:
• Brightspace will classify any assignments submitted after 11:59 pm on Tuesday April
11th as “late”. Late assignments will receive a penalty of 25% deduction per day. No
assignments will be accepted after Friday, April 14th (11:59 pm).
SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS:
• In order to provide a clear and comprehensive summary, be sure that your paper
addresses the following points (where applicable). Corresponding mark distribution is
also provided. The written assignment will be marked out of 60. This assignment is
worth 20% of your final mark.
A. Introduction (8 MARKS)
• Identify the purpose of the study.
• What is/are the hypothesis/hypotheses?
• Why is the study important? Comment briefly on the context of past research reviewed
by the author(s).
B. Method (8 MARKS)
• Describe the sample that was used in the study (e.g., who were the participants? How
were they sampled/selected/assigned to groups? Number of participants; Describe the
demographics of the sample).
• How did the researchers collect the data?
• Describe ONE questionnaire, measure, or task used in the study.
C. Analyses & Results (6 MARKS)
• Identify/describe ONE type of statistical analyses used (DO NOT describe a procedure
or measure; DO NOT describe descriptive statistics such as means and standard
deviations. Describe the specific statistical analysis e.g., correlation, AUC, etc…).
• Identify and briefly describe ONE table or figure included in the article.
• Describe ONE of the major findings.
D. Discussion (10 MARKS)
• Did the results support the study’s hypothesis/hypotheses? Explain.
• What is ONE real-world or applied implication of this study? Explain (For example, how
would a police officer, social worker, lawyer, judge, or clinical psychologist use the study
findings in their work?).
• Describe TWO limitations of the study.
• Describe TWO strengths of the study.
E. Compare & Contrast (6 MARKS)
• Choose one study described in the textbook (make sure you provide a citation to this
study) and compare the findings from the article you summarized to this study (if findings
differed explain why).
• Describe TWO suggestions for future research that should be done in this area.
F. Future Research: Design your own study (12 MARKS)
• Develop a hypothesis you would want to test in your proposed study (must be related to
the content area of the article you are reviewing).
• Describe the sample you will be using and why you have selected this sample
(offenders, youth, forensic psychiatric patients, community).
• Describe the measures or tasks you will be giving to your participants
• Describe the procedure (how will the study be done – longitudinal, cross-sectional,
online etc.).
• If your hypothesis is supported, what would be ONE real-world or applied implication
from your study?
G. General Writing (10 MARKS)
• Adherence to the general and submission requirements (e.g., page limits, submission
guidelines etc.).
• Well-organized and clearly written (clear and concise, paper of substance).
• Proof-read your paper (ensure proper grammar/spelling and sentence/paragraph
structure, avoid typos, etc.).
• Ensure you have provided citations, avoided the use of direct quotes (a couple are fine),
paraphrased the information from the article.
HOW TO SUBMIT:
You must submit your article summary online using Brightspace. This is done using the
“Assignments” course tool. Follow these steps to submit your assignment:
• Only submit doc, docx, or pdf files.
• In your file title indicate your name AND the first author of article (e.g.,
Mailloux_Donna_PARENT.docx).
• Open “Article Summary Tab” once logged into the course brightspace.
• Under the “Submission” text box, click “Add Attachments”.
• Click “My Computer” to submit a file saved on your computer.
• Click “Upload” to locate and select your file (doc, docx, or pdf only). Click “Add”.
• Click “Submit”.
• Are you sure you want to submit this assignment? Click “Done”.
• Brightspace will confirm that your assignment has been successfully submitted.
For more details on submitting assignments: https://carleton.ca/brightspace/students/submitting-
assignments/
Grades and any associated comments/feedback will be posted on Brightspace once they are
available (under “Grades” and/or “Assignments” course tools).