{"id":41,"date":"2024-05-15T20:56:18","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T20:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openpub.libraries.rutgers.edu\/irphabcd\/chapter\/chapter-11-student-workbook-assignments\/"},"modified":"2025-03-17T12:30:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T12:30:55","slug":"chapter-11-student-workbook-assignments","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/openpub.libraries.rutgers.edu\/irphabcd\/chapter\/chapter-11-student-workbook-assignments\/","title":{"raw":"Chapter 11: Student Workbook & Assignments","rendered":"Chapter 11: Student Workbook & Assignments"},"content":{"raw":"
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The student workbook includes six sequential assignments that are designed to guide students through the process of developing a comprehensive and methodologically sound research proposal, culminating in an open science study preregistration. The assignments leverage the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a rich longitudinal dataset that enables students to explore various aspects of population health research. The overarching learning objectives include identifying research variables, formulating research questions and hypotheses, conducting literature reviews, understanding data collection and instrumentation, addressing ethical considerations, and executing data analysis. Each assignment is followed by an example. By completing these assignments, students will have developed a detailed and methodologically sound research proposal that is ready for preregistration. This process not only enhances their understanding of population health research but also prepares them for conducting rigorous and ethical studies in the future.<\/p>\r\n

Overview of the Assignments<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Assignment 1: ABCD Research Questions & Hypothesis<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This assignment introduces students to the process of identifying independent and dependent variables within the ABCD data. Students are tasked with crafting a specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) research question, recognizing potential confounding variables, and developing strategies to control for them. The ultimate goal is to generate a clear and testable hypothesis, ensuring alignment with the ABCD study design.<\/p>\r\n

Assignment 2: Writing a Thematic Literature Review<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Building on the research question formulated in Assignment 1, students develop a thematic literature review. This review systematically explores relevant literature, identifies methodological approaches, uncovers gaps, and justifies the chosen research question. The objective is to provide a solid theoretical foundation that supports the variables and hypotheses.<\/p>\r\n

Assignment 3: Instrumentation & Measurement<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this assignment, students deepen their understanding of how variables are operationalized using ABCD data. They distinguish between simple and complex variables, outline their operational definitions, and explore the reliability and validity of the measures. This step ensures that students can accurately describe how their variables are measured and the instruments used for these measurements.<\/p>\r\n

Assignment 4: Data Collection & Sample<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Students gain a comprehensive understanding of the data collection methods used in the ABCD study. They align their research sample with demographic and clinical characteristics, accurately estimate sample sizes using existing literature, and outline the procedures for data collection. This assignment emphasizes the importance of ensuring consistency, reliability, and generalizability of the research outcomes.<\/p>\r\n

Assignment 5: Data Ethics & Data Analysis<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This assignment focuses on ethical considerations and data analysis. Students learn to adhere to ethical standards outlined in the ABCD Data Use Certificate, plan for handling missing data or potential outliers, choose appropriate statistical tests for data analysis, and discuss potential biases and limitations in their study design. The goal is to prepare students to conduct ethical and rigorous data analysis.<\/p>\r\n

Assignment 6: Preregistration<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The final assignment synthesizes information from the previous assignments to develop a comprehensive study preregistration. Students create a document that includes the research questions, variables and measures, sampling methods, data collection procedures, ethical considerations, data analysis plan, limitations, and expected outcomes. This preregistration ensures that students are prepared for reproducible research execution and aligns their study with open science principles.<\/p>\r\n

Assignment 1: ABCD Research Questions & Hypothesis<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Learning Objectives:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n