A Student Guide to Writing an Undergraduate Psychology Honors Thesis

94 Pages·2022·2.299 MB·English

by  Ross Seligman, Lindsay Mitchell

A Student Guide to Writing
an Undergraduate Psychology
Honors Thesis
A Student Guide to Writing an Undergraduate Psychology Honors Thesis takes
students through the entire process of creating a full-scale research project,
from selecting a topic, to choosing an experimental or correlational design, to
writing and presenting their paper.
The book offers valuable guidance on developing broader skills like
communicating with your supervisor, time management, and critical writing
skills. Chapters cover topics such as mentor selection, collecting journal articles,
gathering and analyzing data, and writing a full APA or BPS experimental paper
and will orientate and guide psychology students as they navigate the expected
components of an honors thesis.
Designed for any student that is currently working on an independent
research project, A Student Guide to Writing an Undergraduate Psychology Honors
Thesis is the perfect companion for those working on their senior honors thesis
in psychology.
R oss Seligman is currently an assistant adjunct professor at Pasadena City
College. He has been teaching at various colleges for the past 30 years. His
speciality is teaching Research Methods in Psychology and mentoring students
on their independent research projects. During his academic career he has also
been a tenured professor, worked as a department chair for eight years, and
served as a dean for one year.

L indsay Mitchell is currently a master’s student attending Parker University.
She is studying neuroscience and hopes to contribute to research in neural
prosthesis and related topics. During her young adult life, Lindsay worked as
a direct support professional for an individual with autism who inspired her
future research interests. She aims to extend the use of neural prosthetics to
similar individuals in the effort to enhance their day-to-day lives.

A Student Guide to Writing
an Undergraduate Psychology
Honors Thesis
Ross Seligman and Lindsay Mitchell
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Ross Seligman and Lindsay Mitchell
The right of Ross Seligman and Lindsay Mitchell to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-56809-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-56252-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-09940-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003099406
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
PART I
Getting Started 1
1 Getting Started 3
2 Choosing and Working With Your Mentor 7
3 Difficult Concepts Made Easier 10
PART II
Designing Your Experiment and Writing Your Proposal 21
4 Picking a Topic and Designing Your Experiment 23
5 Submitting a Proposal for IRB Approval 29
6 Understanding Journal Articles 33
7 Writing a Literature Review 38
8 Writing a Methods Section 43
PART III
Conducting Your Study, Analyzing Your Data,
and Finishing Your Paper 49
9 Conducting Your Experiment 51
10 Analyzing Your Data and Writing a Results Section 54
11 Writing a Discussion Section 66
vi Contents
12 Final Touches: Title Page, Abstract, and Checklists 70
13 Presenting Your Findings 76
14 Conclusion: What Might Be in Your Future? 82
Index 85
Part I
Getting Started

1 Getting Started
Greetings! Your ambition has led you to pursue an undergraduate honors thesis
in psychology. This puts you at the top of your game. The project that you will
be completing in the next year will be a large project during which you will
learn several new skills and be able to work alongside other talented researchers
at your school. With that in mind, let’s get started!
Introductions
I would like to start off with a couple of introductions. My name is Ross Selig-
man and I have been teaching psychology at various colleges for the past 30 years.
I specialize in teaching research methods and mentoring students as they carry
out their research projects. I also completed a senior honors thesis when I was an
DOI: 10.4324/9781003099406-2