Research Methods Assignment Social Psychology (PSYC 2012) Article Analysis and Critique Worth 17 Points The following is a shortened and adapted version of: Litt, D M, & Stock, M L...

Research Methods Assignment

Social Psychology (PSYC 2012)

Article Analysis and Critique

Worth 17 Points

The following is a shortened and adapted version of:

Litt, D M, &
Stock, M L XXXXXXXXXXAdolescent alcohol-related risk cognitions: The roles of
social norms and social networking sites Psychology of Addictive Behaviors,
25(4), XXXXXXXXXX

Research Objective

The present study examined how descriptive norms about
alcohol use, conveyed via Facebook, impacts adolescents’ alcohol-related risk
cognitions, including their perceived vulnerability to the negative
consequences of drinking, descriptive norms of use, and willingness to drink
To examine the casual effects of descriptive norms (defined as perceptions of
how people behave in given situations), participants were assigned to one of
two conditions: they either viewed Facebook profiles that portrayed alcohol use
as normative (ie, profiles that contained more alcohol content), or viewed
Facebook profiles that did not portray alcohol use as normative (ie, profiles
that contained less alcohol content)

Background Information

Research has shown that younger adolescents often consider
the normative behavior of older peers when making risk decisions (Kinsman,
Romer, Furstenberg, & Schwarz, 1998) Descriptive normative perceptions are
defined as people’s perceptions of how most people behave in given situations
(Borsari & Carey, 2001; Lapinski & Rimal, 2005) Previous research has
indicated that media exposure has an impact on the normative perceptions of
substance use among adolescents (Wills, Sargent, Gibbons, Gerrard, &
Stoolmiller, 2009) One popular form of media are social networking sites, such
as Facebook Research has indicated that 25–37% of older adolescents post
information related to alcohol use on their profile (Moreno, Parks, Zimmerman,
Brito, & Christakis, 2009) Based on the content of these photos and
comments, adolescents may develop a perception of how normative or common
alcohol use is among peers of varying ages, including older peers Given that
having older friends is associated with substance use among adolescents (eg,
Leatherdale, Cameron, Brown, Jolin, & Kroeker, 2006), it is important to
determine how viewing profiles of older peers who use alcohol influences
adolescents’ normative perceptions and other alcohol-related risk cognitions
(ie, willingness to drink)

Hypotheses

It was hypothesized that after viewing the Facebook profiles
participants in the “alcohol user condition” (those who viewed profiles
displaying more alcohol content) would report: greater descriptive norms
(perceptions of peer use) and willingness to use alcohol, and lower perceived
vulnerability (perceptions of risks for negative outcomes associated with the
behavior) compared to participants in the “control condition” (those who viewed
profiles displaying less alcohol content)

Method

Participants One hundred eighty-nine adolescents, ages
13–15 (average age=145 years; majority were White) completed the study (49%
males) Participants were from five private high schools, a swim team, and a
church youth group The majority of participants (73%) reported drinking
alcohol at some point in their life and 88% reported having a Facebook account
The modal response (ie, the response that appeared most often) for time spent
on Facebook was at least one hour/week

Materials and procedure Participants were randomly assigned
(on an individual basis) to one of two Facebook conditions: (1) alcohol user
condition or (2) control condition The experimenter and participant were
unaware to which condition they were being assigned They were told that they
would have 40 minutes to view Facebook profiles of high school students and
that they would rate them on a series of personality traits Participants
assigned to the alcohol user condition viewed Facebook profiles (fabricated by
the researcher) of three high school students who were shown drinking alcohol
and one profile of a high school student who was not shown drinking alcohol
(depicting alcohol use as normative) The adolescents assigned to the control
condition viewed the profiles of three high school students who were not shown
drinking alcohol and one alcohol user (depicting alcohol use as non-normative)
The same four students were used in each condition, but whether or not they
were drinking was manipulated Prior to the study, all profiles were viewed by
adolescents familiar with Facebook to determine if the content was realistic
and appropriate Participants only viewed same-sex profile pages, profiles of
White students (chosen based on the racial background of participating
schools), and each profile page had the student’s birthday listed and
participants were informed that the profiles were of students who were 2 years
older than themselves Each profile page included three photos of the student
and a series of comments left on their Facebook page by “friends” (also
fabricated) Comments on the alcohol user pages alluded to a past drinking
incident or future desire to drink alcohol (eg, “You were so drunk last
night”) The comments on the profile pages that did not include drinking were
focused around social activities (eg, “Do you want to go to the movies
tonight?”) After viewing the Facebook profiles, alcohol-related cognitions
were measured Finally, all adolescents were debriefed and given information on
the dangers of alcohol use

Measures After the manipulation of viewing the Facebook
profiles, participants filled out a survey to assess the three alcohol-related
risk cognitions: willingness to use alcohol, perceived vulnerability to the
negative consequences of use, and descriptive norms (normative perceptions of
alcohol use among older peers) All analyses controlled for: one item assessing
whether they had ever used alcohol and one item reporting how much time per
week they spent on Facebook

Results

Results revealed a significant main effect of Condition (p

levels of all alcohol-related cognitions The adolescents who viewed Facebook
profiles that portrayed alcohol use as normative (eg, alcohol user condition)
reported: greater willingness to drink alcohol (p
vulnerability to the consequences of alcohol use (p
levels of perceived norms for alcohol use among older peers (p

Discussion

As hypothesized, adolescents who viewed Facebook profiles
that portrayed alcohol use as normative among older peers reported greater
willingness to use alcohol, lower perceived vulnerability to the consequences
of drinking alcohol, and greater perceived descriptive norms of alcohol use
compared to adolescents who viewed profiles that did not portray alcohol use as
normative The present study provides evidence that alcohol use descriptive
norms, via the social networking site Facebook, influence risk cognitions
related to alcohol use

Refer to the article excerpt above to answer the following
questions:

1) What are the results of the study (in your own words)?
(Hint: state the findings based on what was found when comparing the two
groups)– 1 point

2) What is the IV? How was the IV operationalized (ie,
manipulated)? – 2 points

3) What are the DVs? (Note: There is more than 1 DV) – 1
point

4) Which method was used: Experimental, Quasi-experimental,
or Correlational? – 1 point

5) What is the sample? Are there any issues you see with the
sample that may decrease external validity? What are they and why (you should
be able to discuss 2) – 3 points

6) Does the study include a between or within subjects
design? Why/how do you know? – 2 points

7) Does this study include a single-blind or double-blind
design? – 1 point

8) Identify two strengths and one weakness of the study (not
using the same examples in Question 5) Explain why they are a strength or
weakness to internal or external validity – 3 points

9) How could the findings be applied to a real-world
situation/scenario or intervention? Give a specific example – 1 point

10) The authors might argue that their results support their
theory (ie, that descriptive norms have an impact on other risky cognitions) However, a single study cannot prove a theory
to be true What do you think the
authors could do strengthen the support for their theory? What is one potential
future direction for this line of research? For example, if you were to design
a follow-up study, what is an important question that still needs to be
answered? Is there anything you would change about the current design (other
than the sample used) to address any limitations or additional questions you
might have? – 2 points

This homework assignment should be typed, approximately 2-3
pages in length, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins and 12-point Times New
Roman or Arial font Include the question number before each answer and answer
in concise, but complete sentences You must put your name on the paper The
paper should be e-mailed as a Word or PDF document to the class TA
(gwuedu) Each question is graded on clarity and your ability
to correctly interpret the study and apply the relevant research methods
discussed in class and in the textbook It will also be graded based on your
ability to think critically when analyzing the research Domains within
thinking critically include clarity of ideas, accuracy, relevance,
significance, and depth in covering topic

(APA reference
format) Please talk to the instructor or TA if you have questions about
plagiarism, paraphrasing, or using quotations

Although not required, you may find the following article
(available at the website below) helpful to review before you read articles
assigned for classes in Psychology:

How to Read a Journal Article in Social Psychology by
Christian H Jordan and Mark P Zanna

http://wwwuvmedu/~dguber/POLS234/articles/readhtm