Texting and Length of Relationship

Modern love and romance seem inextricably linked to communication. But, I wonder is there too much of a good thing. Specifically, does texting predict relationship success?

I'm betting there's an inverse relationship, the more lovers text, the shorter their relationship will last.

A search of PsycINFO for "texting" found 24 hits, none closely related to relationship length. A couple did relate to a sexual topic, the use of texting to convey information about sexuality and risks of sex.

Someone, please test my hypothesis...

Jack Kramer Autograph Midsize Tennis Racquet

Back in the 1980s, I played a lot of tennis. In 1984, I logged nearly 200 matches. Those days are long gone. But a couple of days ago, I went to hit some tennis balls with my 16 year-old-son. As we were leaving the house (naturally) he informed me that he had broken the strings on his and his sister's racquet and that the only one he had left was my old Wilson graphite racquet, the one I used back then.

So, I went into our spare room to look for some more racquets. I knew my wife had one still from back then. What I did not remember was my old, wood, Jack Kramer Autograph midsize. Click HERE for a picture of one (not mine).

I picked it up. It was not warped but the grip tape was probably 20 years old. When we got to the courts, I cut off the old tape and wrapped on a new grip tape. I let him hit a few off the wall, unimpressed he was. No me, I was impressed. That old racquet felt brand new. Long story short, I played well, felt good, and even started getting my serve in once I quit trying to kill it.

What's the research idea? Obviously, it would be to get tennis players to hit their racquets for accuracy and then compare them to the Kramer. All the usual research caveats would apply of course: counterbalancing, a sufficient number of trials, and control for fatigue.

I'll probably play again soon, and when I do it will be with Jack.

Earliest Primate Described

Here's a bit of paleontological news. Researchers have just released news of a new, fossil primate: Darwinius masillae, discovered near Darmstadt, Germany. The fossil is both a new genus and new species, previously unknown to science. Click HERE to see the complete publication describing the new mammal.

Just in case you were wondering, the specimen is about 47 million years old and seems to be near the root of the line that eventually led to us: Homo sapiens. It is being labeled as a "missing link."

Here is what it looks like. Its actual size is about that of a small cat.

On Variability

An important part of research methods is understanding concepts in measurement. Those include central tendency and variability. Of these, variability is more probably difficult to understand.

A couple of recent articles have highlighted the long-running longitudinal study, funded by W.T. Grant. One of those, in The Atlantic details many of the facets of his longitudinal study. Another, in the New York Times summarizes the work.

The study is remarkable because the 268 students were specially selected from the Harvard University classes of 1942, 1943, and 1944 for being among the most well-adjusted members of those classes (in other words, selected for their relative LACK of variability). Yet, over the years the life trajectories diverged incredibly. One member (John F. Kennedy) became president while another died after falling down a set of stairs, drunk.

Psychology is complex and individuals who may seem similar at one point in their lives may diverge from each other later for a wide variety of reasons. Finding those reasons is a goal of research.

APA Publication Manual 6th Edition Out in July

In case you have not yet heard, the new Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association will be released in July.

One of the big changes from the 5th edition is coverage of issues related to computer technology:

• dealing with supplemental data
• referencing electronic sources
• a new APAstyle Web page

Table of Contents

1. Writing for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

2. Manuscript Structure and Content

3. Writing Clearly and Concisely

4. The Mechanics of Style

5. Displaying Results

6. Crediting Sources

7. Reference Examples

8. The Publication Process

Appendices

Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS)

Meta-Analysis Reporting Standards (MARS)

Flow of Participants Through Each Stage of an Experiment or Quasi-Experiment

References

Index

The new Publication Manual includes changes in:

Ethics

Simplified Heading Styles

Updated guidelines for reducing bias in language

New ways to report inferential statistics and revised table of statistical abbreviations

Ways to handle data sets and media

Displaying electronic data

Emphasis on DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

The Publication Process

Pre-order the Publication Manual HERE

Race/Ethnicity: Operational Definitions?

A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education highlights the research of Inkelas, Soldner, and Szelenyi. They tested three approaches other researchers use to classify race or ethnicity.

The three approaches tested were:

• Classify as biracial or multiracial
• Classify multiracial persons as the least common of categories selected
• Classify according to OMB categories

Their findings indicated that how researchers classified race or ethnicity could profoundly affect the results.

To us, this type of classification is an example of the importance of the operational definition. Recall our discussion of operational definitions on pp. 95-97 in chapter 4. On page 97, we write:

• In the Know: Perhaps the most important step you can take if you want to move from confusion to confidence about a scientific topic is to find out how the concepts are measured. Knowing how schizophrenia, intelligence, or subjective well-being is measured gives you a big boost toward understanding the topic.

To that, we add that race and ethnicity are not easy to operationally define. Thus, one should be very cautious when comparing studies on those variables. Be sure YOU know what operational definitions the authors are using for race and gender.

Common APA Style Errors

Every semester I see students make the same APA style errors over and over. Of course, I expect these errors but I also expect students to learn from my corrections; trial-and-success learning works.

In my classes (and as we note in chapter 11), I have students first write the Method section. I also have them include the Title Page. Here are some suggestions inspired by this semester's first drafts:

• It's a plan; it should be written in the future tense.
• The Title Page should follow the example in the APA Style Manual (p. 306)
• Citations in text should follow examples in the APA Style Manual (p. 84)
• All pages should be numbered and a short title included on the upper right header
• The page numbers and short title should be added using the word processor's header function
• Double space entire document
• Use the spell checker
  
• Use No Bold
• Use No underline
• Don't cross subsections
• Participants subsection should only describe participants
• Apparatus subsection should only describe equipment that will be used
• Procedure section should only describe how data will be collected

Finally, will someone who is not familiar (e.g., friend, roommate, parent, etc.) with your proposed research understand what you wish to do?