These lively and stimulating ideas for use in and out of class reinforce active learning. The activities apply to individual or group projects.

1. By this time in the course, if you are doing a research project, you will have decided on a research design and your measures. You should be able to fill out the following.

Project Update Form with the appropriate information:

Project Update Form

1. Research design (check one):

    Correlational (questions of the sample) ____

    Quasi-experimental (questions about pre-existing groups) ____

    Experimental (manipulation of variables and random assignment) ____

     Other (including combinations of the above; please specify): ___________

2. Number of participants you want: ______

3. Source(s) of participants (where you will get them): _______________

4.  f correlational (scales correlated for sample):

     Hypothesis(ses): ______________________________________

     Names of scales: _____________________________________

5. If quasi-experimental (looking at pre-existing group differences [e.g., gender, class year] without random assignment to condition):

     Hypothesis(ses): __________________________

     Quasi-experimental variable(s)? _______________________

     Dependent variable scales/measures?: ____________________

6. If experimental:

   Hypothesis(ses):___________________________

   True independent variable(s): ______________________

    How many levels (of each IV) do you have? ___________

    Any quasi-experimental variables? ________

   Dependent variable(s): ______________

   Dependent variable scale/measures:_________________________

7. Other (if you have selected another research design, explain it here and present your hypotheses, variables, and measures, as appropriate).

2. The study by Goldberg (1968) earlier in this chapter investigated gender bias by changing the names of the authors on identical articles to see whether the name (Joan vs. John) affected judgments about the quality of the articles. It did. Using the format of a résumé, select an independent variable (but not gender) you think could be changed in a résumé to assess other aspects of bias and have at least two levels of the variable (i.e., at least two résumés). Among the possibilities are race, ethnicity, age, national origin, marital status, religion, weight, and income. You may think of others. You can use your own résumé as a starting point or find a résumé online (many websites offer examples). Communicate the essence of the variable without stating it explicitly; otherwise, it would create a demand characteristic. Think of three possible DVs to use to evaluate the impact of the résumé (e.g., perceived competence or likelihood to hire). Are these variables likely to be conceptually related?