Assignment 1

Please answer each of the following questions based on your reading of Kurdek & Krile (1982) and the Santrock’s citation of it in the textbook.  Please specify which question you are answering in your write up.  Feel free to go to the WebCT (http://vista.weber.edu, and click on WSU Online and then the class) discussion to share opinions with students in the class.   Of course we will discuss it in class too.  Your answer should be NO LONGER than 4 double-spaced pages, and may well be shorter.
1. Why was the study done? What were the researchers’ goals or purposes in doing the research.
2. Specify the Independent Variable, Dependent Variable, and the hypothesis of the study. Remember, a hypothesis is an operationalized statement of a predicted relation between IV and DV.
3. Briefly describe who the participants were (participants section), how the study was done (procedure section) and what was found (results section). Did the results confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis?
4. Comment briefly on the Internal Validity (are the conclusion valid given the nature of the data and how they were collected?) and the External validity (will the results generalize to other people in other places, who are tested with other instruments by different experimenter?) of the study.
5. In the textbook, Santrock writes,

Perspective taking can increase adolescents’ self understanding and it also can improve their group peer status and quality of their friendships. For example, in one investigation the most popular children in the 3rd and 8th grades had competent perspective taking skills (Kurdek & Krile, 1982).  Adolescents who are competent at perspective taking are better at understanding the needs of their companions so that they likely can communicate more effectively with them." (pg. 157-158). 

Now that you have critically evaluated the original source, comment on the adequacy with which the study was cited in the textbook. Does this make you feel more assured, less assured, or no different about how Santrock cites primary sources.