Psy 290 Research Papers Examples

A study by Tella (2007) examined the effect of motivation on student’s academic achievement as well as Learning Outcomes in Mathematics. The study utilized a type of non-experimental research design known as ex post facto design since the predictor variable (motivation) had already occurred. For the study, a sample of 450 senior secondary school students were randomly selected from a total of ten secondary schools in Ibadan. To collect the data on motivational level of the participants, the researcher employed an instrument named Motivation for Academic Performance Questionnaire (MAPQ) which consisted of thirty Likert scale items. Based on pilot testing, the instrument was found to have a reliability index of 0.82, hence was highly reliable.
On the other hand, data on academic performance were obtained from achievement test in mathematics developed by the investigator. Motivational data and data on academic achievement were used to test two hypotheses- no significant difference of motivation on academic performance of both gender and no significant difference of both highly motivated students and those with low motivation in mathematics academic performance.
Upon statistical analysis, it was found that the performance of secondary school students were highly dependent upon the level of motivation. Therefore, students who were highly motivated performed better than those who were lowly motivated. This led to the rejection of the second null hypothesis. Moreover, statistical analysis revealed that performance in mathematics subject differed based on gender. Specifically, the male students outperformed the female students hence the first null hypothesis was rejected.
For the study, quantitative non-experimental research design was used. In non-experimental research, the investigator identifies variables of interest and study the relationships in them without subjecting the variables to manipulation (Keith, 2009). More specifically, a type of non-experimental research known as ex-post facto design was used. The design was used to describe the extent to which two existing variables relate to each other and indicate the presence of correlation between the variables. The use of the design is based on the fact that the predictor variable (motivation) cannot be manipulated and also the investigator did not have direct control over motivation (independent variable) since their manifestations had already occurred (Heppner and Kivlighan, 1992).
The research strategy was highly appropriate for this study since the predictor variable could not be manipulated, altered, or controlled by the investigator. Though appropriate for the study, the approach has a number of limitations. Firstly, the research design is weak in explaining cause and effect since it cannot fully control for most of the extraneous variables. Secondly, the approach lacks randomization hence the participants cannot be equal in extraneous variables. Thirdly, its internal validity is lower as compared to experimental research because of the presence of confounding variables (Malhotra, Hall, Shaw, and Oppenheim, 2004). However, this design has a very high external validity and thus the results of the sample can be generalized to the entire population.
Other strategies, such as experimental research design, could not be used in the study since the independent variable could not be varied. It thus means that the researcher could not place the participants in experimental and control groups as demanded by the experimental research approach. Even though quasi-experimental research design lacks randomization just like non-experimental design, it was impossible to use in the study since it was impractical to divide the participants into two groups (control and experimental groups).

References

Heppner, P., & Kivlighan, D. (1992). Research design in counselling. Pacific Grove, Calif.: Brooks/Cole Publishers.
Malhotra, N., Hall, J., Shaw, M. & Oppenheim, P. (2004). Essentials of marketing research: An applied orientation. Kula Lumpur: Pearson Education.
Punch, K. (2009). Introduction to research methods in education. Los Angeles: Sage Publishers
Tella, A. (2007). The impact of motivation on student’s academic achievement and learning outcomes in mathematics among secondary school students in Nigeria. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 3(2), 149-156.