Practical implications help us answer questions such as “what does this research mean in the real-world?” or “how would I apply this to an every day situation?”

Hi Class,
The data is in! We had 35 students participate in our text message study out of a total of 74 students. Out of the 34 messages sent, we received 3 back that fit our operational definition of norm of reciprocity. This is 8.5%, which is less than what Kunz found with his letters (20%). Typically, we would run a statistical test to determine if 8.5% is statistically significantly different than 20% but for the purposes of this example, let’s assume that it is statistically different, but not in the direction we had hoped!
This means we did not find support for the alternative hypothesis that people will be more likely to reciprocate positive messages when they are sent through text compared to when they are sent by mail.
Your Assignment
A typical scientific paper has 4 parts.
Intro
Method
Results
Discussion
The intro discusses the theory and builds an argument for a specific alternative hypothesis. The method describes the variables, operational definitions, and procedures used in the study. The results talk about the statistics. The discussion interprets the results in words and discusses some interpretations of the findings.
For this assignment, I want you to write a two page (double spaced) discussion section of a paper. A discussion section typically has the parts listed below, and I expect to see these parts in your two page paper. Use these headings in your paper.
Summary of hypothesis and results. State hypothesis and whether it was supported or not
Summary of the theoretical implications. How does this advance the theory of norm of reciprocity?
Theoretical implications help us answer questions such as “how does this extend our understanding of the theory” or “does this suggest that the theory can be expanded or changed based on the research findings?” The theoretical implications often go a step further than simply stating that the research supports/doesn’t support the theory (because that’s why the research was being conducted in the first place) and instead, might also suggest new pieces of the theory revealed by the evidence, confounding variables, or contexts in which the theory does not hold up.
Summary of practical implications. What kind of practical advice would you be able to give someone based off of the study results?
Practical implications help us answer questions such as “what does this research mean in the real-world?” or “how would I apply this to an every day situation?”
Limitations. What are some things in the study that you would do differently if you could do the study again?
Future Directions. Suggest a study or a direction that future researchers could pursue to build on your work
As always, let me know if you have any questions.
Here are the messages that students’ counted as reciprocated positive messages:
Great how about you!
This is so kind! I hope your day is going well as well.
Lol! Thank you! You have a great one too stranger! Haha
Dr. Jones

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