General Overview
In this project you will develop a brief semi-structured interview to assess an older adult’s experience of ageing.You will then interview ONE older adult about his / her experience (participant to be aged 65+).
Your semi-structured interview should contain 5 open-ended questions about ONE specific aspect of ageing (e.g., stereotypes, benefits of ageing, memory changes, social changes, retirement etc.). You will need to consult relevant literature to develop the questions. For example, if interested in memory you would research memory changes typical of normal ageing and then develop questions that will identify your interviewee’sexperiences.You will need to use the principles of good question design, and interviewing as covered in previous units. As this is a semi-structured interview, you will have opportunity to ask follow-up questions of your participant after they have answered a formal question if you so choose.
Your report should follow APA (6th edition) formatting, in-text referencing, and end-text referencing guidelines.
Your report should include the following sections (see APA for formatting information): Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Method Section, Findings, Discussion and Reference List. Appendices will include a copy of the Participant Information Sheet, Consent Form (unsigned – keep the signed one yourself to maintain the anonymity of your participant) you used, your Semi-structured Interview (including any follow-up questions you might have asked), and your transcript from the recorded interview.
The body of your report should not exceed 8pages (excluding the title page, abstract, references, and appendices). Your report should be double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, left justified with 2.5cm margins.
Topic Ideas
You can choose any area of ageing on which to develop your questions. However, remember to be sensitive to the feelings of your participant. Consult your textbook for topic ideas. You must choose a specific topic rather than a general one. For example the topic of memory is very broad so you might focus on changes (real or perceived) in short term memory.
Your topic doesn’t have to be negative (e.g., memory changes with age) but can be positive (e.g., development of wisdom, volunteering).
You should source at least 10 references (2005+) on your topic, older references are acceptable but do not count toward the required 10. Report writing, questionnaire design and interviewing skill references do not count toward your 10 required topic readings. However, using any additional references (including older references) is highly recommended.
Project Process
1. Conduct literature review (and write introduction section)
2. Develop interview questions
3. Produce Participant Information Sheet & Consent Form (using the templates provided on Bb)
4. Conduct Interview
a. Have participant read participant information sheet
b. Have participant sign consent form
c. Ask questions
d. Debrief
5. Transcribe recorded interview
6. Data Analysis
7. Write Report
Interview
You need to develop five open-ended questions which examine the experiences yourparticipant has with the particular aspect of ageing you have chosen to investigate. These questions should be constructed using the principles of good question design that you have covered in previous units. See references at the end of this document.
Questions should be:
a. sensitive to your participant’s feelings
b. open-ended to allow your participant to reflect on their own experience of the topic you have chosen (i.e., avoid yes/no questions)
c. logically sequenced so that they ask about the topic in a meaningful way (for example, if asking about retirement you would ask about the actual event of retirement before asking about new activities the person has taken up or the loss of contact with peers)
d. amenable to follow-up questions (that is, have follow-up questions in mind incase your participant gives a one word answer. For example; Will you tell me how that made you feel? Tell me a little more about that?Are you able to give me an example of that?)
Following the transcription of your interview you will be required to conduct a thematic analysis. You should use the following reference to guide your analysis
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative
Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101. doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
A copy of this article will also be found in the assessment tab on blackboard.
Marks
This assignment is worth 40% of the total marks for the unit, and is marked out of 40.
Section Guidelines
Introduction Should review recent and relevant literature on the topic chosen. This section should outline the topic chosen in and current thinking with regards to changes (growth, stability, or decline) that are typically thought to occur with age. This section should end with a statement of the aim of the project. You do not need to include specific hypotheses as this is not a research report and hypotheses are not appropriate for qualitative projects.
Suggested page count – 2 pages.
Method This section should include the appropriate subsections as indicated in the APA manual. Your description of your participant should include relevant demographicdetails (these questions do not count towards your 5 interview questions). You should provide a brief description of how the interview questions were developed and of your interview protocol. You should provide an account of exactly how you conducted your interview. You should provide enough detail to allow replication. This should only be relevant information (methodological approach, review of literature for interview development, give example questions, sampling method, an explanation of the analytical technique used). Do not include irrelevant information (e.g., materials – pen, paper, recording device)
Suggested page count – 1 pages
Findings This section should include a description of your key findings organised around themes. Should include clear participant quotes to illustrate key themes.
Suggested page count – 2 pages
Discussion In this section you should reflect on whether the experiences of your participant are consistent with what the literature/theory suggests will happen as one ages. What characteristics of your participant may have contributed to your findings?
Suggested page count – 3 pages.
Page counts are suggestions only. You should determine the length of each section yourself.
Assignment Hints & Tips
1. Get started now!
2. Refer back to previous unit materials (i.e., Advanced Psychological Science Qualitative Methods)
3. Practice writing clearly and concisely
4. Make sure you follow instructions regarding formatting
5. This is an individual project. If you do not have access to someone aged 65+ then post a message on the relevant discussion board. If you have access to a participant who is willing to be interviewed by more than one person then please let everyone know via the discussion boards (however, if two people are interviewing the same person, the topics/questions MUST be different). If this doesn’t work then let me know!
Marking notes for students:
Check marking sheet available on blackboard – the breakdown of marks is listed for each section
Marks are awarded for each section found within the assessment (Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Method, Findings, Discussion, Reference List and Appendices).
If you talk about ageing in general (i.e., memory), rather than a specific aspect of ageing (i.e., perceived changes in short term memory) then you will not be eligible to receive more than 50% of the available marks in the introduction, findings, and discussion sections of the marking criteria.
Assignment 2 Submission Requirements
All students are required to submit Assignment 1 to ‘Turnitin’. There will be a link on Blackboard under the Assessments tab. Students are encouraged to submit draft copies in order to receive feedback from Turnitin regarding the similarity of their work to other sources. However, the assignment that is in the system at 4:30pm on September 24, 2015 will be considered final and cannot be resubmitted or altered. You DO NOT submit a hard copy of this assignment. Please review the notes on Plagiarism and Plagiarism Monitoring in the unit outline. Please note that you cannot submit to Turnitin more than once every 24hrs.
Plagiarism
Curtin University, and The School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, regard plagiarism as an extremely serious offence. As future professionals, you cannot present the work (either words or ideas) of others as though it is your own. You also cannot engage in self-plagiarism., which is where you submit material that you have submitted for previous assignments (either from this unit or from others) and present it as your current work.
Please ensure that you know what constitutes plagiarism and how it can be avoided (i.e., through proper referencing). More information about academic integrity and plagiarism can be found here: http://academicintegrity.curtin.edu.au/
Assessment Late Penalty
Students should be aware that the ‘per calendar day’ refers to a 24hr calendar day from the time of the original assignment submission. For example, if an assessment is due Monday at 4:30pm and is submitted after this time (e.g., is submitted at Monday 4:31pm the same day) it is considered one day late (10% penalty). If the same assignment is submitted before Tuesday 4:30pm it is still considered one day late. If the assignment is then submitted after Tuesday 4:30pm it will be considered 2 days late (20% penalty).
writer just have to make 5 open ended question (has to be perfect and must follow all the rules of open ended question) in given topic
