Social Psychology Research Proposal: Group Influence Study

This research proposal investigates the influence of peer pressure on students' exam performance, framed within Bandura's cognitive theory. The study aims to determine how peer influence varies across different age groups. The methodology involves forming four controlled test groups, dividing them into younger and teenage cohorts, and assessing their exam performance under varying group dynamics. The study design is experimental, utilizing pre- and post-tests to analyze the impact of peer influence on academic outcomes. Ethical considerations include informed consent and adherence to IRB guidelines. The literature review synthesizes existing research on peer influence and academic achievement, drawing on studies conducted in various educational settings. Statistical methods, including means and medians, will be used to analyze the data and test the hypothesis that peer pressure's influence diminishes with age.

Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL DRAFT
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Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL DRAFT
Group Influence: Role of peer pressure in motivating a person to perform well in exams
Introduction
Peer groups during the days of school and colleges can play a major role in the academic
performance of a student. They can positively or negatively influence a student to perform
well. A group can also connect a student with negative or positive activities. In order to
compare this impact and the impact of peer influence, we will take the support of Bandura's
cognitive theory. This theory deals with the topics related to social learning and the impact of
the environment over an individual.
The objective of the research
Under the current research program, we wish to check the intensity of peer influences on
various age groups of the students and try to determine the fact that how the influence of the
peer pressure varies in different age groups.
Hypothesis
Peer pressure plays a significant role in motivating a person to perform well in the exam,
however, this group influence decrease as the subject grows older in age.
Literature review
BIBLIOGRAPHY Kipkamboi, F. (2014). The Impact of School Environment and Peer Influences on
Students’ Academic Performance in Vihiga County, Kenya. Journal of Education and practice,
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c6e5/9636ded17c6bef56dec661bed88482ffd614.pdf.
Summary
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Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL DRAFT
According to the author, peer groups in schools and colleges are primary socialization agents.
During the adolescent days, kids ask certain questions themselves regarding their social
identity. Peer groups give them some role models. Positive and negative impacts are a part
and parcel of peer groups and as the age progresses, the impact of this influence mitigates
drastically.
Relevance with our research program
This research was conducted in a school in Kenya. This piece of literature can help us a lot in
the formation of the test groups for both pre and post-tests. This research is heavily dependent
on the formation of control groups with the right participants; this particular research can help
us a great deal in keeping the variables to their lowest ranks.
Bursztyne, L. (2018). Cool to be Smart or Smart to be Cool?Understanding Peer Pressure in
Education. Chicago Edu.,
http://home.uchicago.edu/bursztyn/Bursztyn_Egorov_Jensen_2018_01_12.pdf.
Summary
The mechanism behind the peer pressure is a very important aspect; if we are aware of this
mechanism then while playing the role of an educationalist we can diagnose certain problems
and come up with some means to correct them. This research report also gives us an idea
about the role of the demography and cultural influences as an integral part of the mechanism
behind the peer pressure.
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Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL DRAFT
Relevance with our research program
The preparation of the questionnaire and development of a mechanism to receive and process
data for the accurate results demands a theoretical framework based on the parametric fields.
The discussion part of this research report can help us in fixing it the right parameters for the
research program. The fixation of right parametric fields can help us in generalizing the
results in the last lap of the research.
Uzezy, J. (2017). The relationship between Peer Group Influence and Students' Academic
Achievement in Chemistry at Secondary School Level. Sci-E pup,
http://pubs.sciepub.com/education/5/4/2/index.html.
Summary
The magnitude of the peer influence can be judged with the help of the impact over the
performance or the productivity of the student while performing this research, the researchers
benchmarked the performance in the chemistry as the goal post to ascertain the magnitude of
the peer influence. This quantification of the result also helped them in defining the age
factors associated with peer influence. The results of this research give us an idea that as the
age increase the magnitude of the peer influence comes down.
Relevance with our research program
Ascertaining a magnitude of the peer influence can become a big challenge in front of any
researcher. If we are clear about this magnitude then we can establish certain relationships on
the merit of cause and effect. A deep study of this paper can always give us an idea about
fixing the magnitude of the influence and convert them into a meaningful and measurable
data field in our research.
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Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL DRAFT
Methodology
Participants
Four Controlled test groups of 25 individuals will be formed, two groups will represent the
younger generation while the rest of the will represent teenagers. Both the groups will be
shuffled in an intelligent group and disoriented group. We will check their performance in the
exams after the participation in each group and award points.
Study design
It will be an experimental study where we will change the domains of the subjects and collect
data from multiple sources to examine the hypothesis.
Ethical considerations
Prior to the implementation of the survey, informed consent will be obtained from the
participants and a non-disclosure pact will be signed. Concerned IRB departments are
contacted for the approval of the research programs (Navabi, 2014).
Procedures and test
Students will be divided into controlled groups. In order to check the peer influence, we will
identify two static groups. One group with high academic record whereas the other one with
low performance. Controlled test groups will study will both the groups and an exam will be
conducted afterward. The results of this exam will decide the magnitude of the influence.
The final outcome
While having a purview of the Bandura’s cognitive theory, we will go for a pre and post
analysis of the performance results of the subjects and ascertain the magnitude of the
influence. With the help of median and means based calculation and parametric analysis over
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Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL DRAFT
the fields of age, performance, and magnitude we will come up with a result to examine the
worth of the hypothesis.
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Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL DRAFT
References
Bursztyne, L. (2018). Cool to be Smart or Smart to be Cool?Understanding Peer Pressure in
Education. Chicago Edu.,
http://home.uchicago.edu/bursztyn/Bursztyn_Egorov_Jensen_2018_01_12.pdf.
Kipkamboi, F. (2014). The Impact of School Environment and Peer Influences on Students’
Academic Performance in Vihiga County, Kenya. Journal of Education and practice,
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c6e5/9636ded17c6bef56dec661bed88482ffd614.pdf.
Navabi, N. (2014). Reporting of Ethical Considerations Associated with Clinical Trials
Published in Iranian Dental Journals between 2001 and 2011. Iranian Journal of
Public Health, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3744256/.
Uzezy, J. (2017). The relationship between Peer Group Influence and Students' Academic
Achievement in Chemistry at Secondary School Level. Sci-E pup,
http://pubs.sciepub.com/education/5/4/2/index.html.
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