PSY4122 Psychology Foundations: The Social Self Research Proposal Research Proposal Template Your

PSY4122 Psychology Foundations: The Social Self Research Proposal

Research Proposal

Template

Your Name:

Sam

Instructor:

Aliyeh

Word Count:

1505

1. Background and rationale

Background and rationale

Living in overcrowded conditions, characterised by inadequate space for the usual number of residents, is a prevalent issue with detrimental consequences for individuals and families. In Australia, overcrowding is defined as households requiring three additional bedrooms (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2021). The negative impact of overcrowding extends beyond physical health risks, such as infectious diseases and respiratory illnesses (Brackertz et al., 2020), to mental health disorders including anxiety, depression, and stress (Saegert & Evans, 2003). Overcrowding affects a significant portion of the Australian population, with over 51,000 individuals, including 18,900 children living in overcrowded dwellings (AIHW, 2021).

For young people, living in overcrowded conditions poses additional challenges. Limited space restricts their opportunities for play, learning, and undisturbed sleep, all of which are crucial for their overall health and development (Dockery et al., 2022). Furthermore, overcrowding often impedes young people’s ability to engage in typical social relations, depriving them of simple pleasures, like hosting friends, and generating feelings of shame about their living situation (MacKenzie et al., 2016). This circumstance raises concerns about the impact of overcrowding on the social development of young people aged 14-16 years, who are considered to be in middle adolescence (Berk, 2010).

Research has linked overcrowding to negative physical and mental health outcomes (Clair, 2018), but little is known about the specific impact overcrowding has on young people’s social behaviours. According to Berk (2010) social skills are still developing in middle adolescence. It is possible that limited socialisation opportunities outside of school during this time period may impact young people’s social development. Therefore, investigations into the effects of overcrowding on prosocial and negative social behaviours in individuals aged 14-16 are needed. Shedding light on this topic is crucial for identifying interventions and support for young individuals in overcrowded conditions, enabling the development of effective strategies to mitigate negative social outcomes in this vulnerable population.

Aim and hypothesis

The broad aim of this study is to investigate the impact of overcrowding on social behaviours in young people in middle adolescence. Specifically, it seeks to determine whether exposure to simulated overcrowding conditions decreases prosocial behaviours and increases negative social behaviours of people aged 14-16 years. I hypothesise participants in the experimental group (i.e., those exposed to simulated overcrowding conditions) will have lower prosocial scores on Matson et al’s (1983) Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) scale at follow-up compared to baseline, and compared to the follow-up scores of those in the control group (i.e., standard, non-overcrowded environment) at follow-up. Further, I hypothesise that the experimental group will have higher negative social skills MESSY scores at follow-up compared to baseline and compared to those in the control group. I do not expect to see any change in the MESSY score of the control group at follow-up compared to baseline.

2. Research plan including justification for design decisions

Variables, measurement, sampling, participants, and procedure

In the current study, in line with Easthope and Cheshire (2017), overcrowding is defined as inadequate space per number of occupants, characterised by a lack of personal space, higher levels of noise due to the greater number of people, and scarcity of resources. In this study, I’m exploring overcrowding by employing two IVs: random assignment into treatment (overcrowded condition) or control (non-crowded condition) group and time (baseline and follow-up, or time one and time two). To simulate overcrowded conditions for the experimental group, they will spend three hours in a room arranged so space for each participant is reduced, with increased noise levels (recorded background noise of multiple conversations, traffic sounds, and white noise will be played through speakers in the room), and limited resources (i.e., fewer chairs and tables than the number of participants will be provided).

My second variable of interest, social behaviours, is defined as observable behaviours and interactions in various social situations. In this study, I am exploring both prosocial behaviours, that is actions that benefit others or contribute positively to social interactions (e.g., sharing, cooperating, empathy) and negative social behaviours, encompassing actions that are disruptive, aggressive, or deviate from expected social norms (e.g., aggression, impulsivity, oppositional behaviours, inappropriate social responses, and difficulties in social interactions). I am operationalising social behaviour using the self-report MESSY scale so I have two DVs; the prosocial subscale scores and the negative social skills subscale scores. The MESSY (Matson, 1983) was developed to assess the social behaviours of children aged 4 to 18. The original normative sample was based on 1166 typically developing American children. Tests of reliability and validity indicate strong psychometric properties of the MESSY (Matson et al., 2012). An example prosocial item is “I help someone who is hurt”; a negative item is “I purposely hurt other people’s feelings”. Response to this 62-item Likert scale range from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). Subscale totals are obtained by adding item scores to create a total summed score. Respondents receive total prosocial and negative behaviour scores, both ranging from 31 – 155. High prosocial totals indicate good social skills; a low negative behaviour total indicates poor social skills.

I plan to recruit a total of 50 participants, evenly distributed between females and males aged 14-16 years. Recruitment will involve snowball sampling, self-or-other referrals through local media, social media, and flyers placed in various community settings such as not-for-profit organisations, government agencies, community groups, and schools. At baseline, demographic variables including biological sex, age, socioeconomic status, family size, and housing conditions will be collected to ensure matching on confounding variables. The specific age cohort chosen for recruitment is based on previous research highlighting developmental differences in social skills during middle adolescence.

The study will proceed as follows: Prior to beginning the study, participants and their caregivers will provide informed consent, emphasising the voluntary nature of participation and the option to withdraw at any time without consequences. Baseline measures on the MESSY scale will then be collected from all participants in a computer lab at Monash University Clayton campuses. This will take approximately 15-20 minutes. Following this, participants will be asked to move to nearby classrooms and informed there are unexpected delays. The experimental group will wait in a simulated overcrowded classroom for one hour, designed to replicate key aspects of real-life overcrowding such as limited personal space, increased noise levels, and scarcity of resources, using the methods described earlier. The control group will wait in a standard, non-overcrowded classroom during the same time period. After one hour, participants will be instructed to return to the original lab. At this point, follow-up data on the MESSY scale will be collected from all participants. Subsequently, a debriefing session will be conducted where the study’s purpose will be explained in detail, and participants will have the opportunity to ask questions. The experimental group’s follow-up prosocial and negative social behaviour scores will be compared to their baseline scores, as well as to the control group’s scores.

Research strategy, research design, and power

This study uses an experimental, between/within-subject design in that I am manipulating the IV by randomly assigning participants to the treatment ‘crowded’ or control ‘non-crowded’ conditions and I have two data collection points or baseline and follow-up. It is a between-subject design because I am comparing the MESSY scores across treatment and control and it is ‘within’ because all participants take part in aspects of the study (baseline and follow-up data collection). This study requires a total of 42 participants (Monash University, 2023) so the sample size of this study (n = 50) predicts a high power (0.95) with an α = 0.05, and allows for 16% attrition.

Ethical practices

When involving children in research, ethical considerations must be carefully addressed to ensure their well-being and protection. Obtaining informed consent involves obtaining consent from caregivers and considering the child’s assent, which means obtaining their agreement to participate to the extent of their understanding and maturity. Privacy and confidentiality are crucial, with strict measures to safeguard data, protect identities, and maintain confidentiality. Protecting children from harm is a priority, ensuring their physical, psychological, and emotional well-being throughout the research process. The potential risks should not exceed those associated with regular computer use.

To minimise distress, participants will be informed of their right to skip questions they are uncomfortable answering. The behavioural measure will be conducted in private conditions to ensure the children’s privacy. All collected information will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and accessed solely by the research team. Participants will receive an information pack, including an advice leaflet prepared by the research team. This leaflet will provide details of relevant websites, contact information for staff available for discussion, a unique identification code, and instructions for withdrawing from the study if desired.

3. Limitations and future directions

Overall limitations of the research plan, implications for interpreting the results, and future research directions

Although this study is strengthened by the use of experimental design a matched control-experimental group design, the current study has certain limitations. Simulated overcrowding conditions may not fully capture the complexities of real-life overcrowded environments, potentially reducing the generalisability of the findings. To address this, future research can enhance ecological validity by studying participants living in actual overcrowded conditions, conducting studies in naturalistic settings, or using virtual reality technology to improve the simulation. These approaches would provide a more accurate representation of the impact of overcrowding on social behaviours and increase the applicability of the findings to real-world situations.

4. References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Estimating Homelessness: Census. ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/housing/estimating-homelessness-census/latest-release.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2021). Homelessness and overcrowding. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/homelessness-and-overcrowding

Batterham, D 2017, ‘Defining “At-risk of Homelessness”: Reconnecting Causes, Mechanisms and Risk’, Housing, Theory, and Society, 6096, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14036096.2017.1408678

Berk, L.E., and Monash University (2010). Selected Readings in Developmental Psychology: Book Is Compiled From Development through the Lifespan, 5th Edition, Berk. 3rd ed. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Custom Publishing

Brackertz, N., Borrowman, L., & Roggenbuck, C. (2020). Trajectories: The interplay between housing and mental health pathways: Final research report. https://www.ahuri.edu.au/__data/ assets/pdf_file/0025/58237/Final-Report-Trajectories-theinterplay-between-housing-and-mental-health-pathways.pdf

Clair A. (2018). Housing: an under-explored influence on children’s well-being and becoming. Child Indicators Research 12(2):609–626. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12187-018-9550-7

Dockery, A. M., Moskos, M., Isherwood, L., & Harris, M. N. (2022). How many in a crowd? Assessing overcrowding measures in Australian housing. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4178824

Easthope H, Stone W & Cheshire L 2017. The decline of ‘advantageous disadvantage’ in gateway suburbs in Australia: The challenge of private housing market settlement for newly arrived migrants. Urban Studies 0:0042098017700791.

MacKenzie, D, Flatau, P, Steen, A & Thielking, M 2016, The Cost of Youth Homelessness, Research Report, Swinburne University et al, Melbourne. https://cdn.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/2303204/d_mackenzie_cost_of_youth_homelessness_full_report_2016.pdf

Matson, J.L., Rotatori, A.F., & Helsel, W.J. (1983). Development of a rating scale to measure social skills in children: The Matson evaluation of social skills with youngsters (MESSY). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21(4), 335–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(83)90001-3

Matson, J.L., Neal, D., Worley, J.A., Kozlowski, A.M., & Fodstad, J.C. (2012). Factor structure of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters-II (MESSY-II). Research in Developmental Disabilities, 33(6), 2067–2071. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2010.09.026

Monash University. (2023). Choosing a research strategy. Monash University.

Prime, H., Wade, M., & Browne, D. T. (2020). Risk and resilience in family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Psychologist, 75(5), 631. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000660

Saegert S., & Evans, G.W. (2003) Poverty, Housing Niches and Health in the United States. Journal of Social Issues. 59(3):569–590

Stolz, P. (2019). Crowding, Risk and Homelessness: A Study of Socio-Spatial Relations (Doctoral dissertation, Swinburne University). https://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/file/4e08f2c5-f837-4eac-bcad-978ed0690a1f/1/paul_stolz_thesis.pdf

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