Important Issue related to sport psychology

Your paper should be 5 pages in length, plus a Title Page and Reference Page………Please do not submit a 7+ page paper…..

In the Issue Analysis Paper, you have select a topic, issue or subject relating to sports psychology and now you are asked to analyze the topic in the first half of the paper.

First, identify an important Issue related to sport psychology and describes that issue in detail during the first half of the paper. Then, in the paper’s second half,  analyze the issue and suggests solutions. Analysis requires breaking a subject, issue, or event into its constituent elements so that the assumptions or components are made clear and the relationships between them are made explicit.

Thus, through the analysis paper, the student demonstrates comprehension of the material being analyzed. In that Sport Psychology is interdisciplinary, you can borrow topics and subjects from other areas in which you have an interest, but we must be sure the topic relates to sports psychology.

Issues can include mental or physical conditions, performance, goal- setting and imagery, aggression and violence, group processes, competition, etc. The paper is not a personal opinion or reflection style paper. As such, it should NOT include personal story or observation sharing, but must analyze the issue; the personal, you or I, must be left out of your thinking and writing. You should write as though your readers are intelligent but not fully informed about the topic.

Your paper must be developed using research material from at least five sources. You may not use your textbook as a source. You may also use the Internet for some of your material as long as you access scholarly resources and not popular media such as Sports Illustrated, Psychology Today, opinion .com sites or blogs, About.com sites or others that do summarizing for readers, abstracts without reading the full article, etc. NO WIKIPEDIA articles may be used for these papers or any other writing assignment in this course.

All sources must be listed on “References” pages (not “Works Cited or “Bibliography” – those aren’t APA format terms, and without the quotation marks) attached to the end of the papers. 

You must also cite the material within the body of your paper, using the American Psychological Association (APA) format (this is the citation format used within the narrative of your textbook). 

Your paper should contain a cover page with your name and the title. Papers are to be typed and double-spaced using a font size of 10 to 12, no larger, throughout, including the cover page. The pages should be full and margins should be no larger than 1″ on all sides. The cover page and “References” page are in addition to the five-page length requirement.

Below are suggested APA resources in addition to the 6th edition of the APA manual:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reFXrhdvnmw 
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/664/01/ 
http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm 

ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN A WORD DOCUMENT, WITH APA CITATIONS AN REFERENCES

Research Analysis Paper Rubrics:
UP TO                          30pts                                 26pts                              22pts                           below 21
Criteria Exemplary Good Acceptable Unacceptable Purpose The writer’s central purpose or argument is readily apparent to the reader. The writing has a clear purpose or argument, but may sometimes digress from it. The central purpose or argument is not consistently clear throughout the paper. The purpose or argument is generally unclear. Content Balanced presentation of relevant and legitimate information that clearly supports a central purpose or argument and shows a thoughtful, in-depth analysis of a significant topic. Reader gains important insights. Information provides reasonable support for a central purpose or argument and displays evidence of a basic analysis of a significant topic. Reader gains some insights. Information supports a central purpose or argument at times. Analysis is basic or general. Reader gains few insights. Central purpose or argument is not clearly identified. Analysis is vague or not evident. Reader is confused or may be misinformed. Organization The ideas are arranged logically to support the purpose or argument. They flow smoothly from one to another and are clearly linked to each other. The reader can follow the line of reasoning. The ideas are arranged logically to support the central purpose or argument. They are usually clearly linked to each other. For the most part, the reader can follow the line of reasoning. In general, the writing is arranged logically, although occasionally ideas fail to make sense together. The reader is fairly clear about what writer intends. The writing is not logically organized. Frequently, ideas fail to make sense together. The reader cannot identify a line of reasoning and loses interest. Feel The writing is compelling. It hooks the read and sustains interest throughout. The writing is generally engaging, but has some dry spots. In general, it is focused and keeps the reader’s attention. The writing is dull and unengaging. Though the paper has some interesting parts, the reader finds it difficult to maintain interest. The writing has little personality. The reader quickly loses interest and stops reading. Tone The tone is consistently professional and appropriate for an academic research paper. The tone is generally professional. For the most part, it is appropriate for an academic research paper. The tone is not consistently professional or appropriate for an academic research paper. The tone is unprofessional. It is not appropriate for an academic research paper. Sentence Structure Sentences are well-phrased and varied in length and structure. They flow smoothly from one to another. Sentences are well-phrased and there is some variety in length and structure. The flow from sentence to sentence is generally smooth. Some sentences are awkwardly constructed so that the reader is occasionally distracted. Errors in sentence structure are frequent enough to be a major distraction to the reader. Word Choice Word choice is consistently precise and accurate. Word choice is generally good. The writer often goes beyond the generic word to find one more precise and effective. Word choice is merely adequate, and the range of words is limited. Some words are used inappropriately. Many words are used inappropriately, confusing the reader. Grammar, Spelling, Writing Mechanics (punctuation, italics, capitalization, etc.) The writing is free or almost free of errors. There are occasional errors, but they don’t represent a major distraction or obscure meaning. The writing has many errors, and the reader is distracted by them. There are so many errors that meaning is obscured. The reader is confused and stops reading. Length Paper is between 5 – 7 pages in length. Paper is between 4-5 pages in length. Paper is 4 or less or 8 pages in length. Paper has significantly more or fewer pages than specified in the assignment. Use of References Compelling evidence from professionally legitimate sources is given to support claims. Documentations are clear, fairly represented and consist of at least five references. Professionally legitimate sources that support claims are generally present.  Documentations are clear, fairly represented and consist of 4 – 5 references. Although attributions are occasionally given, many statements seem unsubstantiated. The reader is confused about the source of information and ideas. Four or less references are used. References are seldom cited to support statements, and those used are not scholarly and in APA format. Quality of References References are primarily peer-reviewed professional journals or other approved sources (e.g., government documents, etc.). The reader is confident that the information and ideas can be trusted. Although most of the references are professionally legitimate, a few are questionable (e.g., trade books, internet sources, popular magazines, …). The reader is uncertain of the reliability of some of the sources. Most of the references are from sources that are not peer-reviewed and have uncertain reliability. The reader doubts the accuracy of much of the material presented. There are virtually no sources that are professionally reliable. The reader seriously doubts the value of the material and stops reading. Use of Most Recent Edition of the APA Style Manual APA format is used accurately and consistently in the paper and on the “Works Cited” page. APA format is used with minor errors. There are frequent errors in APA format. Format of the document is not recognizable as APA