ALL CAPS SHORT TITLE 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS 1

A Twelve to Fifteen Word Title Goes Here and Mentions the IV and DVs of Your Study in

the Report

Your Name

Your Student Number

La Trobe University

Campus
ALL CAPS SHORT TITLE 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS 2

Abstract

An Abstract is a single paragraph, without indentation, that summarizes the key points of the

manuscript in 120 words. The purpose of the abstract is to provide the reader with a brief

overview of the paper. You need to include information on each section of the paper. If you are

writing a lab report, be sure to include all sections of the report from the introduction to the

conclusion. You should say something about the aims and hypotheses, method, results, whether

your hypothesis was supported and the conclusion. References are not needed in the abstract.
ALL CAPS SHORT TITLE 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS 3

A Twelve to Fifteen Word Title Goes Here and Mentions the IV and DVs of Your Study in

the Report

(Exactly as it appears on the Title Page)

This is where the body of your paper begins. This is the introduction to your report.

The introductory paragraph should set the scene for the report, provide referenced key

definitions, explain what problem you are addressing and why it is important. Refer to section

3.4 of the APA Manual for specifics on writing the introduction.

The main body paragraphs of the introduction follow directly on from the introductory

paragraph. Body paragraphs each contain information on the background literature you have

read to help develop your study. This includes information to help the reader understand what

you are observing, why and what method will be used to do this. Each body paragraph should

include an introductory sentence to highlight its relevance, detail experimental research to

provide evidence for the point you want to make, and a concluding sentence to make your final

point about that part of your argument leading into the next idea you want to raise.

The last paragraph of the introduction details the aims and hypothesis for the experiment.

These should logically flow on from what has been described above (i.e., the reader shouldn’t be

surprised you have these expectations because you will have already presented information to

justify why you think this might happen). The introduction does not have subheadings, should be

in past tense and use the 3rd person (no ‘I’ or ‘we’ – rather “The current study aimed to…”).

Method

The Method must contain 3 sections as detailed below (there typically isn’t any writing here

between the heading Method and Participants). Refer to section 3.6 of the APA manual for

specifics on writing the Method.

ALL CAPS SHORT TITLE 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS 4

Participants

This section needs to detail the characteristics of the participants/subjects in your study.

Include information that you can accurately describe that is relevant to your study, or define how

you made a judgement about that characteristic if you did not collect data on it (e.g.,

observational studies that measured age).

Materials

This section details the materials used in the study to allow someone to replicate it in the

future. It does not include pens and paper, but does include information about how the data were

collected/recorded. This section could refer the reader to materials in the appendix if needed.

Procedure

This section provides all the details about how the study was conducted in order to collect

data to test the aim and hypothesis. It also needs to include enough detail to let someone set up

the same parameters to replicate the study at a later point. It would also allow a critical reader to

evaluate the efficacy of your design in terms of its ability to accurately test the hypothesis

(applies to all sections of the Method). The last parts of this section may describe how the data

were treated to obtain the results.

Results

The results section must detail the data that will help you and your reader determine the

outcomes of the study. It needs to explain what kind of data it is and typically presents a Figure

or a Table to assist interpretation. The Figure/Table should not contain the same kind of

information, nor should they include information that is repeated in text. The next paragraph
ALL CAPS SHORT TITLE 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS 5

provides an example layout from a previous study. Refer to section 3.7 of the APA manual for

specifics on writing the Results.

Figure 1 below depicts the mean refractive error observed between baseline and stress

conditions in diopters.

Figure 1

Mean Refractive Error in Dioptres (D) and Standard Error, for Baseline and Stress Conditions

0.5

0.25

-0.25
Refractive Error (D)

-0.5

-0.75

-1

-1.25

-1.5

-1.75 Baseline Stress

Condition

Figure 1 demonstrates that mean refractive error was greater in the stress condition in

comparison to the baseline condition.

Discussion (APA Level Heading 1)

The Discussion needs to detail the outcomes of your investigation. Refer to section 3.8 of

the APA manual for specifics on writing the discussion.

ALL CAPS SHORT TITLE 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS 6

The first paragraph of the discussion restates the aim and hypothesis of the study and then

make a statement as to whether the hypothesis was supported or not.

The next few paragraphs compare the outcomes of your study with those of literature

presented in the introduction and possibly new literature to discuss why your results occurred –

this is a discussion of the theoretical implications of the study, i.e., about what your results mean

for the understanding of the phenomena under investigation.

The next paragraph discusses the main flaws (methodological limitations) that may have

impacted the results. It is possible to make suggestions about how to fix these for next time if

you wish.

This paragraph makes suggestions about the potential future directions for the study. This

may include suggestions about using a different paradigm or method of measurement (be

specific about what these may be). It also makes suggestions about what the next question to

investigate may be.

The last paragraph of the discussion is the conclusion, and it ties up all aspects of the

investigation. Think of it as a summary of the main points of your discussion.

ALL CAPS SHORT TITLE 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS 7

References

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Publisher.

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal,

Volume(Issue), pp - pp. https://doi.org/XXXX

To review guidelines for citations of articles that you have read in text and how to list

them in the References section at the end of the essay, refer to the APA manual, Library

Referencing tool, the FSTE First Year Survival Guide, or the other resources discussed in class.

It is ok to google APA format questions but remember to ensure that you are looking at 7th

edition APA as it is the latest edition.

Take note of the "hanging indent" style for references. The easiest way to create hanging

indents is to type your references without worrying about indentation and when you are finished,

select all the references at once, right click, select ‘Paragraph’ and then select ‘Hanging’ from

the dropdown menu under Specia in the Indentaion section. Click Ok.

From our tutorial exercises, you will have noticed that APA format is quite detailed and

has a number or rules to follow. You should ensure that you check your APA format using the

resources discussed in class prior to the final submission of your essay.