What was the overall method (experiment, survey, content analysis) and how did this method enable the researcher to test the hypotheses and/or answer the research questions?

This exercise is designed to give you practice at reading and then synthesizing the important information from published empirical studies. Read “Social Comparison as the Thief of Joy: Emotional Consequences of Viewing Strangers’ Instagram Posts” by Dian A. de Vries, and answer each of the questions below.

Read “INTRODUCTION TO SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL ARTICLES”

handout as well, so that you thoroughly understand how studies are reported in journal articles.
CITATION: Give the APA style citation for the article (i.e., the authors’ names, year published, title of study, journal name, volume #, page #’s, etc., in the correct order and format), as if you were using this article in a reference list.

FROM THE INTRO/LIT REVIEW SECTION:

Synthesize the researchers’ lit review in only two or three sentences. What is the topic/problem under investigation and the key theories or concepts being use? How does the previous research/theory lead to the authors’ study?

FROM THE METHOD SECTION(S):

Describe in only one or two sentences what the researchers did in the study. What was the overall method (experiment, survey, content analysis) and how did this method enable the researcher to test the hypotheses and/or answer the research questions?

FROM THE RESULTS SECTION(S):

Ignore the statistical procedures described (unless you enjoy that sort of thing) and look for sentences in this section that tell you what the authors found. Briefly identify the main findings of the study.

FROM THE DISCUSSION SECTION(S):

In one or two sentences, describe what the authors argue is the importance of the study. Then come up with how you think this study might lead to other studies (either to improve upon this study’s methods or to investigate the findings further, etc.).

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