The topics.  You can choose any topic that is relevant to this class. That is, you may choose a topic from the Sociology of Sport (e.g., see chapter titles in the Sage book), from Sport Psychology (e.g., arousal/anxiety and performance, mental imagery, relaxation techniques, biofeedback, anxiety/stress management, motivation, team cohesion, goal setting), or from Exercise Psychology (e.g. exercise and: sleep, cognition, anxiety, mood, quality of life, adherence)

    The due dates.  October 12.  Students must commit to a topic and turn in an outline by this date. The outline is worth 5 points.   This assignment should be typed and should consist of a title for the paper, a reference list of the articles you intend to use, and a sentence outline.  The sentence outline should basically represent a topic sentence for each paragraph of your paper (See Sample Provided).   Therefore, by reading the outline, the instructor should be able to tell that you have started reading the 5 articles and that you have a logical flow in mind for your paper. Each day that the outline is late will result in a 10% drop of the outline grade.

    November 2.  If you would like the instructor to briefly look over a rough draft of your paper, it must be turned in by this date.  The instructor will skim the paper and point out organizational concerns, article content concerns, serious grammatical or spelling concerns, and APA format concerns.  While the instructor's comments are meant to help you to improve your paper, addressing all of the concerns does not guarantee a high grade on the paper.

    November 14.  The final paper is due on this date and is worth 20 percentage points. Each day that the paper is late will result in a drop of 10% of the paper grade (i.e., 2% points from the 20% possible).  Papers turned in more than one week late will receive a score of 0% points for the class project. On this date, you are also required to hand in a copy of each of the five articles you used in the paper. Failure to turn in the articles with your paper will result in a 5% drop in the paper grade per day.

    The paper.  You are to read at least five articles that pertain to a single topic.  Three of these articles must be research articles (not REVIEW articles, not OPINION articles, not POPULAR articles**), however, you may also use a maximum of 2 popular articles (such as Sports Illustrated).  Each article must be in published form -- none of the articles should be obtained over the internet.  You are to summarize and integrate the material from these articles into a cohesive, readable product that logically and structurally "hangs together."
** If you are unsure what RESEARCH articles are, please please talk to the instructor.

The paper should begin with an introduction.  The introduction informs the reader of the specific topic to be studied, the significance of the topic, or the reason why the topic/research problem is of interest or importance.  This section provides the reader with a sense of the content of the paper.  It should continue with a discussion of the three-five research articles (i.e., you should clearly describe the subjects, methods, results, conclusions of each study).  Then, you should draw your own conclusions and tie together the research articles that you have read.  The paper should be 6-8 pages in length.   Please see the sample paper provided to get an idea of the style of the paper.

Examples of Research Journals (from which you must have a minimum of 3 articles)

Sport Sociology - Sociology of Sport Journal; Journal of Sport & Social Issues.

Sport Psychology - Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology; Journal of Applied Sport Psychology; The SportPsychologist;       Research Quarterly for Sport & Exercise.

Exercise Psychology - Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology; Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise; Research Quarterly for Sport & Exercise.

     The style.  You must use APA style in your paper and in your references.  This style is clearly explained in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.  This manual is available at Hayden Reference, Hayden Reserve, and Noble Reference and the call number is: BF76.7.P83.  Failure to use APA style will result in a lower grade on both the outline and the paper itself.  Please see handout entitled "Using the APA" for samples.

    The format.

    DO's
     The paper should be double-spaced with one inch margins at top, bottom, left, and right.
     Use 12-point font.
     Put the title at the top of the first page (in upper and lowercase letters) and put the last 4 digits of your student ID # (or SS#) in the top right corner.
     On every page except the first, please put a page number in the upper right corner.
     Staple the paper in the upper left corner.
     The last page of the paper should be a reference page which includes all references for your paper in APA format.
     The photocopies of your articles should be bound in some way (giant black document clip, folder, rubber band) and should have ONLY your last 4 digits of your SS# on them.
     Seek help from a classmate or, preferably, the instructor if you are having any difficulty with any part of this assignment.

    DO NOT'S
     Do not use a title page.
     Do not put the paper in a folder. Do not bind the paper with a paperclip.
     Do not put your name on either the paper or the articles.
     Do not assume that the APA format directions are 'not a big deal'!

I. Introduction.  The introduction informs the reader of the specific topic to be studied, the significance of the topic, or the reason why the topic/research problem is of interest or importance.  This section provides the reader with a sense of the content of the paper.

    A. Set the scene.  This should include a sentence about what is known about the relationship that you are reviewing.  There should be a reference to support the scientific validity of this sentence.

    B. Transition. This should consist of a sentence that directly introduces the reader to the specific topic of your paper.  In other words, this sentence should serve as a transition from the general topic to the specific variables you will focus on in the body of your paper.

II. Body of Paper.  This should consist of paragraphs that convey the research findings from the articles you will use to make your case about the important moderating variables that influence the relationship you are reviewing. You should include a one-two paragraph discussion of each of the three-five research articles you are using to support your paper (i.e., you should clearly describe the subjects, methods, results, conclusions of each study).

III.  Conclusion.  This should consist of a sentence that summarizes the findings reported in the Body of the Paper section.  No references are needed here since the references supporting your concluding statement have been reported earlier in this sentence outline.

References

AAuthor, I. I., Author, I. I., & Author, I. I. (year).  Title of journal article with only the first word of the title and the first word following a colon capitalized.  Journal Title with all Major Words Capitalized, vol, pp-pp.

BAuthor, I. I. (year).  Title of journal article with only the first word of the title and the first word following a colon capitalized.  Journal Title with all Major Words Capitalized, vol, pp-pp.

CAuthor, I. I. (year).  Title of journal article with only the first word of the title and the first word following a colon capitalized.  Journal Title with all Major Words Capitalized, vol, pp-pp.

I. Introduction

    A. A great deal of research has been conducted to look at the impact that an acute bout of exercise has on mood (Treasure & Newbery, 1998).

    B. There has recently been considerable research attention directed toward an examination of the moderating influence that one's initial mood state and self-efficacy have in affecting one's mood state following exercise (Bozoian, Rejeski, & McAuley, 1994; Steptoe, Edwards, Moses, & Mathews, 1989).

Body of the Paper

    C. Bozoian, Rejeski, and McAuley (1994) looked at how pre-exercise perceptions of efficacy influence feeling states experienced as a function of an acute bout of exercise in 36 women.

    D. Mihalko, McAuley, and Bane (1996 ) examined the effects of an acute bout of exercise on self-efficacy and affect.

    E. Rejeski, Guavin, Hobson, and Norris (1995) used a dose-response approach to examine the influence of exercising at 70% of age-predicted HR reserve at 3 different durations on mood.  They also looked at initial baseline psychological status and at perception of feelings during exercise to see how these influence subsequent mood.

Conclusion:  The research suggests that an acute bout of exercise does have a beneficial effect on mood; however, this effect may be moderated by initial mood and by self-efficacy.

References

        Bozoian, S., Rejeski, W. J., & McAuley, E.  (1994).  Self-efficacy influences feeling states associated with acute exercise. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 16, 326-333.

        Mihalko, S. L., McAuley, E., & Bane, S. M.  (1996).  Self-efficacy and affective responses to acute exercise in middle-aged adults.  Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 11(2), 375-385.

        Pumping up low spirits.  (1999, July/August).  Health, 14.

        Rejeski, W. J., Guavin, L, Hobson, M. L., & Norris, J. L.  (1995).  Effects of baseline responses, in-task feelings, and duration of activity on exercise-induced feeling states in women.  Health Psychology, 14(4), 350-359.

        Steptoe, A., Edwards, S., Moses, J., & Mathews, A.  (1989).  The effects of exercise training on mood and perceived coping ability in anxious adults from the general population.  Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 33(5), 537-547.

You are required to use APA style in both the paper and the reference section for the assignment.  This is of utmost importance in how you reference articles in the text and for how you write the reference section for the paper.  The manual that tells you how to do all of this is entitled:

American Psychological Association (1994). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (4th Edition). American Psychological Association: Washington DC.

This manual is located in several places on campus.  The call # is:  BF76.7 .P83 1994
and it is housed in Hayden Reference, Hayden Reserve, Science (Noble) Reference, and Science (Noble) Reserve.

EXAMPLES
Here are some examples of how things in your paper should look. However, if your articles don’t exactly fit these examples, you will need to refer to the manual itself for details.

Journal articles with 4 or more authors:
In the reference section:
    Drinkwater, B.L., Nilson, K., Ott, S., & Chesnut, C.H. (1986). Bone mineral density after resumption of menses in amenorrheic athletes. Journal of the American Medical Association, 256 (3), 380-382.

In the text, the journal article would be referred to as  (note: list all authors in the text)
In a study by Drinkwater, Nilson, Ott, and Chesnut (1986), subjects were randomly assigned . . .
OR
Past research has suggested that amenorrheic athletes may recover bone density after resumption of menses (Drinkwater, Nilson, Ott, & Chesnut, 1986).
 
In the reference section:
    Bouchard, C., Tremblay, A., Despres, J-P., Nadeau, A., Lupien, P. J., Theriault, G., Dussault, J., Moorjani, S., Pinault, S., & Fournier, G.  (1990).  The response to long-term overfeeding in identical twins.  The New England Journal of Medicine, 322 (21), 1477-1482.

In the text, the journal article would be referred to as (note: 'et al.' is only used because there are >6 authors; you cannot use et al. with <=6 authors).
Bouchard et al. (1990) recruited monozygotic twins to participate in the study.
OR
Past research has shown that there is a genetic component to obesity (Bouchard et al., 1990).
 
Chapter in a book:
    Slavin, J.L., Lutter, J.M., Cushman, S., & Lee, V. (1988). Pregnancy and exercise. In J. Puhl, C.H. Brown, & R. Voy (Eds.), Sport science perspectives for women (pp. 151-160). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

In the text the book chapter would be referred to as
Slavin, Lutter, Cushman, and Lee (1988) reported on the impact of exercise during pregnancy.
OR
Several authors have looked at the impact of exercise during pregnancy (Slavin, Lutter, Cushman, & Lee, 1988).