The Discipline of Social Psychology

PSYC 390 Social Psychology
Prompt for Week 2 (Chapter 1, “The Discipline of Social Psychology”)
This prompt comes from pg. 11 in the Sutton and Douglas textbook.
Chapter 1 of the textbook discusses how social psychology has been inspired by events such as the
Holocaust. From what you know about social psychology so far, can you think of two other
examples of societal issues, events or problems that might be investigated by a social
psychologists?
Write a 500-1000 word essay that does the following:
First, describe two societal issues, events, or problems that you think might be investigated
by social psychologists.
Second, describe why you think social psychology can help us to understand each of those
the issues/events/problems (with reference to the definition of social psychology and/or
some of the concepts described in Chapter 1 and/or the Week 2 lecture).
Third, describe what you think might be some of the challenges to investigating the
issues/events/problems from a social psychological perspective (with reference to ethics
and research methods).
The paper will be graded out of 25 points. See the next page for the grading rubric.
GRADING RUBRIC
Meeting expected level
of mastery
(5 pts)
Approaching
expected level of
mastery (3 pts)
Needing
major
improvement
(1 pt)
No evidence
(0 pts)
Content
Describes 2 societal
topics that could be
investigated by social
psychologists.
Describes 1 societal
topics that could be
investigated by
social psychologists.
N/A Does not describe any
societal topics
Analysis
Makes reference to
course concepts to
describe why each of
the two topics could be
explored by social
psychologists AND
what some of the
challenges to studying
the topic might be.
Makes reference to
course concepts to
describe why each
one topic could be
explored by social
psychologists AND
what some of the
challenges to
studying the topic
might be.
Only
superficially
discusses
why social
psychology
could help us
understand
the 2 topics
and the
challenges to
doing so.
The paper has no
analysis and does not
include terms or
theories learned in
class.
Formatting
&
Organization
Paper is equivalent to
at least 2 full pages
(and not more than 4
full pages), doublespaced. The paper’s
structure is organized
and easy to follow.
Paper is too short
(or too long). The
paper’s structure is
mostly organized but
can be difficult to
follow at some
points.
Paper is too
short (or too
long). The
paper’s
structure is
not very
organized
and not easy
to follow.
Paper is too short (or
too long). The paper’s
structure is
disorganized and
difficult to follow.
Writing
Style
The writing style is
professional, clear, and
easy to understand.
The writing style is
mostly professional,
clear, and easy to
understand.
The writing
style is
somewhat
professional,
clear, and
easy to
understand.
The writing style is not
at all professional,
clear, and easy to
understand.
Spelling &
Grammar
There are no spelling or
grammar errors.
There are a couple
(no more than 4)
spelling or grammar
errors.
There are
several (no
more than 8)
spelling or
grammar
errors.
There are a lot (9 or
more) of spelling or
grammar errors.