SOP 4702, Psychology of Gender Project Guidelines

Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D.

The project for Psychology of Gender gives students the opportunity to explore some
aspect of gender through empirical study. This means that you, as a student, will assume
the role of researcher by identifying some theme that interests you, developing a specific
question you wish to answer, developing a means for collecting data, collecting data,
analyzing the data, and interpreting the findings. Obviously given the time and resources,
our efforts will be rather modest, but can be considered an initial step in a larger research
effort should you wish to pursue your theme beyond the class. This project can be the
work of an individual, pairs, or groups of three. You must remember that when you
choose to work in pairs or groups of three, the grade for the paper will be assigned to
each member of that group.

1. Selecting a topic or theme: Think about your own experiences, the experiences of
others around you, and the work we have completed in our course. As you think
of these ideas, what interests you about the topic of gender? Have you had an
experience that you think is related to gender? In your life out of the university,
has there been some event or experience that has been influenced by your gender
or has how you perceived you own gender been impacted by some event or
experience? Answers to these questions frequently lead to a topic or theme for
further study.
2. Exploring the topic or theme in academic literature: Once you arrive at a topic or
theme (often individuals start with 2 or more ideas), use the resources of our
library to see how others have understood the topic or theme. How have others
defined the topic or theme? What have others discovered about it? What methods
have others used to study the topic or theme? Others research will guide you and
help you avoid problems experienced in the research on the topic or theme.
3. Asking a specific research question: Once you have arrived at a topic or theme
and educated yourself on that topic or theme, you are ready to ask a research
question. This question will guide your work. Questions that lead to fruitful
research efforts typically are specific (e.g. What differences might be observed in
responses when a female asks for directions to a building than when a male asks
for the same directions from passersby?)
4. Developing a way to collect data: Once your question is determined, you will
develop ways for answering that question. These decisions include determining
what strategies to use (interview, survey, observations, etc.,) and what instruments
or materials to use (tests, surveys, checklists, etc.). You also will decide on the
procedure you will use to approach and interact with participants. We will be
careful to make sure that the participants are protected from risk, embarrassment,
and other negative impacts of our study by reviewing our data collection
procedures against the American Psychological Associations guidelines for
protecting human participants.
5. Analyzing and tabulating your data: This is the part of the research process in
which the researcher actually begins to see the answers to the research question.
For some, the analysis will include the use of basic statistics. Should this be
 required, Kristen and I will help with these analyses if required. For others, the
data may be in the form of more open-ended narratives. Again, we are available
for assistance.
6. Writing the final report: Your final report will include:
a. A statement of the research topic and question;
b. A brief summary of the research methods you used including:
i. Descriptions of the individuals from whom you gathered your data;
ii. Descriptions of the way in which you collected your data
(including instruments, surveys, observation checklists, etc.,);
iii. Descriptions of the ways you analyzed the data;
c. A statement of your findings related to your question and other potential
important outcomes;
d. Your interpretation and conclusions based on your findings and the
literature in the field.
e. References you cited in your paper.