Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Writing for 7e
PSYCHOLOGY
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Writing for 7e
PSYCHOLOGY
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To Urte Roeber, Cecilia O’Shea, Emilian O’Shea,
and Irmela O’Shea from Robert O’Shea.
To Greg, Clancy, Ted, and Martha from Wendy McKenzie.
ii
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Robert P. O’Shea
Wendy McKenzie
Writing for 7e
PSYCHOLOGY
iii
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Writing for Psychology © 2021 Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited
7th Edition
Robert P. O'Shea Copyright Notice
Wendy McKenzie This Work is copyright. No part of this Work may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written
permission of the Publisher. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, for
Head of content management: Dorothy Chiu example any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or
Senior content manager: Fiona Hammond review, subject to certain limitations. These limitations include: Restricting the
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Project editor: Raymond Williams providing an appropriate notice and warning with the copies of the Work
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Sixth edition published 2013
For permission to use material from this text or product, please email
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Brief Contents
Chapter 1 Read This First! 1
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Contents
To the Student xii
Acknowledgements xvi
vii
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Writing for Psychology
viii
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Contents
ix
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Writing for Psychology
x
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Contents
References 188
Glossary 193
Index 197
xi
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To the Student
In your psychology course, your instructor has asked you to write an assignment and to use this
book as a style guide. Why has your instructor recommended this book? It provides an introduction
to the style most writers in psychology use: APA style. It is described in the seventh edition of the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association,
2020), which we will call the APA Manual, and in the APA-style blog (https://apastyle.apa.org/
blog). Rather than burden you with all the intricacies of APA style, your instructor has opted for
this introductory version. When you proceed to advanced study of psychology or submit to an APA
journal, you will replace this book with the APA Manual. This book is best regarded as a primer for
APA style.
Some conventions of style govern most scientific writing. APA style is more than a collection
of arbitrary rules about such apparently trivial issues such as where to place commas and when
to use an ampersand (&). It embodies most of the features of excellent writing, such as having a
clear message, respecting the reader and others, acknowledging sources, dealing with information
honestly and economically, communicating persuasively, being clear and simple, and adhering to
various conventions that produce a consistent look and feel.
As well, APA style is a guide to the basic structure of a scientific paper. The structure allows
researchers to distinguish sections they need to read carefully from sections they can skim. This, in
turn, allows them to read the articles swiftly and to compare articles.
We have tried to organise the book to be as useful as possible in the situation each of us remembers
well from our own student days: An assignment is due in a week, and I have not started work. What
should I do first? Read Chapter 1, helpfully entitled “Read This First!”. It outlines the hallmarks of
excellent assignments. If you have time and the assignment is a research report or an essay, proceed
to Chapter 2, “Writing Research reports” or to Chapter 3, “Writing Essays” respectively.
Of course, we hope you are a better organised student than we were. Your best approach is to read
everything once, then return to the relevant chapters when you are preparing your next assignment.
Occasionally, however, we have had to depart from APA style, especially for formatting, mainly
because our purposes, to teach, are different from yours, to write a good assignment. For example,
we use numbered sections to allow you to find more information on a topic (see next sentence for an
example of how we do it). You should use standard headings for your assignment (1.4.2).
xii
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Student Writing
The editors of the seventh edition of the APA Manual gave separate formatting instructions for
student papers and for papers to be submitted to academic journals. Student papers provide unit
information (e.g., unit code and name, instructor name, due date) on the title page and can omit the
running head, the author note, and the abstract. We, however, assumed you prefer your students
to master papers to be submitted to academic journals because that is what we have always done,
because online lodgment of assignments is now common (obviating the necessity of a different title
page), and because it is easier for you to tell your students to omit the running head, the Author Note,
or the Abstract than vice versa.
Bias-Free Language
The editors also:
• Included one whole chapter on bias-free language. We distilled this into one table showing the
eight categories of bias and how to avoid them (Usage Example 1.6), and a few paragraphs on
sex, gender, and sexual orientation.
• Approved using the singular “they” as a way to avoid bias. We adhered to this, but emphasised
the editors’ suggestion to use other means, such as pluralisation, to avoid offending those not
comfortable with committing what some may regard as a grammatical error.
• Continued to allow participants to be called “subjects” or “sample”. We agreed with the editors’s
recommendation by encouraging students to distinguish participants—those who gave
informed consent to participate in research—from subjects—those who could not give informed
consent. We did not mention calling individuals the “sample”.
xiii
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Writing for Psychology
xiv
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To the Instructor
• Changed every instance of “on-line” to “online” and every instance of “e-mail” to “email”.
• Minimised the use of “electronic”, instead referring to “ebooks” and “eLocators”.
• Eliminated the extra space after some punctuation. Hallelujah!
xv
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About the Authors
Dr Robert P. O’Shea
Robert P. O’Shea is Guest Scientist at Leipzig University where he also wrote and taught courses
on scientific writing. He has conducted research and taught at Murdoch University, Southern Cross
University, University of Otago, Dalhousie University, Northwestern University, Queen’s University
(Canada), and the University of Queensland.
He has published extensively in major psychology and neuroscience journals. His research is
mainly in cognitive neuroscience, visual perception, and history of psychology and science. He has
taken study leaves at Leipzig University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and the University
of Rochester. Dr O’Shea has been an editor of Scholarpedia and an associate editor of Perception &
Psychophysics.
Dr Wendy McKenzie
Wendy McKenzie has many years of experience as an educator and researcher in psychology,
teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate courses in psychology at Monash University. Her
main areas of interest are human memory, teaching and learning in higher education (in particular
the use of educational technology), and geropsychology.
Acknowledgements
We thank Fiona Hammond who patiently supported us through the effects the coronavirus
pandemic had on our writing, the reviewers who highlighted the sections that needed upgrading,
and Julie Wicks who copyedited. Please let us know of any improvements we can introduce to this
edition; we will be delighted to thank you if there is a next edition.
Robert O’Shea is particularly grateful to Urte Roeber for her support in making his contributions
to this edition possible, to Erich Schröger for general support, and to the German Federal Ministry of
Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) and the Max Planck
Society (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft) for support.
The authors and Cengage would like to thank Elizabeth Coady for her early editorial support in
implementing APA style.
Cengage and the authors are especially grateful to the following reviewers for their incisive and
helpful feedback:
• Robyn Brunton—Australian Catholic University
• Madeleine Ferrari—Australian Catholic University
• Trevor Hine—Griffith University
• Mervyn Jackson—RMIT
• Michael Platow—Australian National University
xvi
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Writing for Psychology
read further. Because of the clarity and brevity required, each word in the Abstract should
be meaningful. Follow this order:
that paragraph with a sentence that encourages the reader to read further. In it, write in
• number of stimuli per condition; All text in the
SELF-ESTEEM AND ABILITY 1
simple words something1 about your topic that relates to people
ARE EXAMINATIONS UNFAIR? essay is doubleor to animals. One2 useful
• method of presentation;
spaced (1.4.1).
strategy is to pose a question (e.g., “Does viewing violent videos make people aggressive?”).
•on Creative
any control procedures studythat to awere used or in theoretical
the construction of the is materials, such
The Abstract
Another
The Effect of a Boost to Self-Esteem isandtoAnalytic
relate your
Ability
Begin running practical issue that
Abstract topical or vital, is not
indented
such
Andrea Student as randomising the order
head and page
as depression, aggression, racism, intelligence,
numbers (1.4.1). of presentation or construction
Examinations mightsuccess,
be unfair to someor of multiple
consciousness.
students study
either because anxiety interferes lists
(3.5).
for
counterbalancing; and
The research with their performance or because attempts to control this anxiety impair their These
report is Discipline of Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, University of sentences
double spaced concentration. I evaluate the assumption that examinations are fair because demonstrate
(1.4.1). Higher Education the issue is
• how you scored the test. they partly assess the capacity of students to manage their anxiety—an ability complex and
highlight the
Author Note that is vital to work settings. I show, however, that ability to manage anxiety in argument
examinations does not predict ability to manage anxiety in the workplace. Teachers (3.5).
26
I thank my fellow students in PSY101 for providing the data for this study and
APA M.Example 2.10
Y. Tutor for coordinating data collection and for collating the results. I also thank
Materials
and administrators need to reduce anxiety to ensure that examinations are fair.
Experimenter-
M. Y. Mother and M. Y. Flatmate who read earlier drafts of my report.
Participants responded to 20 adjectives that are used to describe people, selected
This
sentence
Please address correspondence about this report to Andrea Student, 2/14 Short Street,
Constructed specifies an
(2.11.1).
BK-CLA-OSHEA_7E-200568-Chp02.indd 26 There were two lists, containing the same 20 adjectives in the same random order This sentence
presents the
4/10/21 11:01 AM
except that in one list the adjective “humorous” appeared first and in the other it conclusion
(3.5).
appeared last. Each list was presented on a single sheet of A4 paper, one word per
line, using double-line spacing, Times Roman, 12-point font. A five-point rating scale
from not at all (1) to very much (5) was printed next to each word.
xvii
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Guide to the Text
A flawed report and flawed essay are included in the appendices. Footnotes in them identify errors and
frequent points of difficulty, helping you to avoid common mistakes.
Appendix A: Flawed Research Report Appendix B: Flawed Essay
Abstract Other work 50 has shown that anxiety can compromise exam performance. Ciarocco,
Summer, and Baumeisters 51, 52 (2001) study showed that suppression of emotions, such as
5
Many individuals erroneously assume that intelligence is fixed and hence they do not
anxiety, compromises performance on a variety of tasks. Martjin, Tenbult, Merckebach,
engage in activities which 6 might refine their mental capacity.
Dreezens, & de Vries (2002) also revealed that SOE 53, 54 compromises performance. 55
7, 8
153 9, 10 participants completed tasks that assess their capacity to propose creative
In a study conducted by Schmeichel, Vohs, and Baumeister (2003), individuals watched
suggestions as well as their ability to apply principles and algorithms to solve problems.
a disturbing 56 distressing movie. The participants who were asked to pretend they were
Before they completed these tasks, to boost their self-esteem, half 11 the participants
unperturbed performed less effectively than other individuals on a later set of activities that
transcribed a series of favourable adjectives and preceded each term with the letter I.12
assessed their mental acuity. These observations suggest that individuals who feel anxious
Participants in the control group completed the same task, but preceded each term with the
before an exam might occasionally strive to conceal their emotions, and this inclination
letter X. The hypotheses were only partly supported. 13 The implications and limitations of
might then impair their subsequent performance.
these findings are discussed. 14
The S.O.E. 57 does not impair performance on all activities, however. It is indisputable
58
that suppression of emotions would disrupt the capacity of individuals to walk. 59
Accordingly, suppression could not compromise performance on all tasks; in other words,60
attempts to conceal emotions do not impair performance. 61
Therefore, 62 the thoughts and concerns that coincide with anxiety, and not merely
the suppression of this emotion, might also use working memory (Baddeley, 1976). 63, 64
Consistent with this suggestion, Beilock and Carr (2005) found the capacity of individuals
to recall a sequence of digits 65 purportedly a reflection of working memory (Baddeley,
Writing for Psychology
1976) 66, 67 tended to deteriorate when their levels of state anxiety were elevated.
The findings of this study imply that working memory, and thus performance, is often
compromised2.5.5 Hypotheses
in individuals who experience considerable anxiety, although this finding does
not necessarily imply thatyou
Finally, examinations are unfair,
should specify because, toorsome
the hypothesis, extent, whether
hypotheses, orand
as clear not unambiguous
examinations statements
are equitablethat predict
depends thecriteria
on the resultsthatofare
your
usedstudy. Hypotheses
to appraise fairness.should
68, 69, 70, 71be presented
2.6 Method
that cite an earlier source.
suggestions to support your learning. • Has the information beenmethod. Omit details that could not possibly affect the results (e.g., whether
peer reviewed? Chapter 3: you recorded
with two meanings: First,
Writing Essays
any researcher should be
• What
able are
to repeat thethe
the responses
authors’ professional
method
with an
affiliations or HB or a 2B pencil). In some reports, further details (such as verbatim
credentials?
of any past study. Second, instructions)
• Has the work been cited by others? can be provided in an appendix (2.10), but this can be done only if there is
Chapter 3
having conducted the new enough information in the Method (in this case, a concise description of the instructions).
• Are
study, thethere
researchsigns
shouldof author bias or conflict of interest?
obtain the same results as
Beware using an appendix to cut down the character count of your report. You will lose
• For internet sources, what
those of the past study.
are the
marks forlast letters of
omitting the URL?
crucial If they arefrom
information com,thethemethod.
source is
published by a commercial organisation; if edu, by an educational institution; if gov, by a
government, and if org, by aAll sentencesorganisation.
not-for-profit within sections must from
Information be complete
edu and gov, andand intelligible. Do not assume
possibly from org sites isthe reader willthan
read the heading as part of the section. For example, follow the heading
Writing Essays
more reliable com sources.
“Participants” with “The participants were 20 students” to ensure the sentence is complete
Note. Adapted from two sources: 1. andDoingintelligible. EachA section
a literature search: of the
comprehensive method
guide should
for the social be (p.
sciences written
26) in normal prose.
by C. Hart, 2001, Sage Publications. Copyright 2001 by Sage Publications. Adapted with permission. 2. Writing research
papers: A complete guide (15th ed. Global ed.) (pp. 63–66) by J. D. Lester and J. D. Lester, Jr., 2015, Pearson Education.
Key terms for Writing for Psychology are bolded in Copyright 2001 by Pearson Education. Adapted with permission.
28
We define essays to include essays (1.1), literature reviews (7.3), book reviews, and Literature review (also
known as a narrative
commentaries. In all of these, you need to write something useful for a reader. In the most
the text with margin definitions in clear, concise 4.2 From Reading
literature review):
common essay assignment, your instructor will have given you a topic, usually a question A form of essay in which
(e.g., “Does viewing violent videos lead to aggression?”), and a list of references. To write an author makes a more
These definitions also appear in the glossary at the question in the form of an argument: a brief, clear statement of what you will show to be
true about a topic (1.2.2).
to acquaint the reader
with the main issues.
3.1 Expectations
1. Read purposefully. Before you begin, write down the precise questions you are
trying to answer or your purpose. For example, are you searching for factual information,
research evidence, or theoretical explanations? While you read, ensure you can see your
listYour
of keyinstructor and tomarker
search terms will
help you have focused
remain some expectations
on your topic.about your essay. These
include structuring your essay to propose and test an argument, and meeting various
marking criteria.
3.1.1 Argument 85
The hardest part of writing an essay is deciding on an argument (1.2.2). Suppose your
topic was “Does viewing violent videos lead to aggression?” Possible arguments include:
• Viewing violent videos leads to aggression.
BK-CLA-OSHEA_7E-200568-Chp04.indd 85 12/04/21 3:54 PM
• Viewing violent videos does not lead to aggression.
• Viewing violent videos leads to aggression in some people.
• Viewing violent videos leads to tolerance towards aggression.
• Whether viewing violent videos leads to aggression is unknown.
You would opt for one argument after extensive reading on the topic convinced you
that it was best supported by the evidence.
INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
The Instructor’s Manual is packed with content that helps you set up and administer
your class: chapter outlines, adjunct teaching tips and warmup activities, questions for
review and further discussion.
POWERPOINT™ PRESENTATIONS
Use the chapter-by-chapter PowerPoint slides to enhance your lecture presentations
and handouts by reinforcing the key principles of writing for psychology.
xix
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Copyright 2021 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-300
Chapter 1
Read This First!
In this chapter, we give essential information for doing any writing for psychology.
usually in a practical class (e.g., “The Effect of Speech Style on Witness Credibility” and “The Essay: A type of assignment
containing a review
Relationship Between Birth Order and Coping Style”). You need to specify why you did the of the literature on a
research, what you did, what you found, what your results mean, and why your results are particular topic, structured
interesting and important. We provide the details for writing research reports in Chapter 2. by an argument.
Hypothesis (plural
In an essay, your instructor usually presents a topic, or choice of topics, often framed hypotheses): A testable
as questions (e.g., “Does viewing violent videos lead to aggression?”). Your task is to review conjecture about a cause
and an effect or about
the literature on this topic and to present your answer in the form of an argument or
a relationship between
thesis statement (3.1.1). We provide the details for writing essays in Chapter 3. at least two variables.
Both sorts of assignments must have a clear structure, marked by headings (1.4.2). Argument: An argument
is a proposition you try to
In most assignments, you need to use formal writing. It is scholarly, respectful, convince readers is true
about a particular topic.
humane, simple, precise, concise, clear, and scrupulously grammatical—qualities that
Thesis statement: An
help make your work credible. Formal writing differs from informal writing found in such
alternative (mainly
works as novels, newspapers, magazines, letters, emails, blogs, tweets, text messages, and American) term for
some websites. We give further advice about writing formally in 1.3 and in the remaining an argument.
If you included the second example in Usage Example 1.1, from a blog by Grohol Reference: 1. The
bibliographic information
(2011), problems include that it is copied, it is written in a casual style, the citation style a reader needs to find
is not APA, and it is too long and chatty. The good example comprehensively paraphrases the same information.
2. A source of written
Grohol’s words while making it quite clear that the ideas are his. It is formal, it gives
information about a topic.
APA-style citations, it is concise, and it provides references.
1
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Writing for Psychology
Usage
Example 1.1
Use Formal Writing
Avoid Best practice
Write in the language of To be, or not to be, that is the According to Lake (2006), Hamlet’s
psychology, rather than in question: famous soliloquy, “To be, or not to
some other language (e.g., Whether 'tis nobler in the mind be…” (Shakespeare, ca. 1600/1970,
of literature, of some other to suffer 3.1.56–64a), shows that Hamlet
discipline, of the press, or of was depressed and suffering from
The slings and arrows of
a blog). migraine headaches.
outrageous fortune,
References
Or to take arms against a sea of Lake, A. E., III. (2006). Medication
troubles, overuse headache: Biobehavioral
And by opposing end them? issues and solutions. Headache:
To die, to sleep, The Journal of Head and Face
No more; and by a sleep to say we Pain, 46 (Suppl. 3), S88–S97.
end https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-
4610.2006.00560.x
The heart-ache, and the thousand Shakespeare, W. (ca. 1600/1970).
natural shocks Hamlet
That flesh is heir to: 'tis a (A. W. Verity, Ed.). Cambridge
consummation University Press. https://archive.
Devoutly to be wished. org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.201634
Thank goodness the Wall Grohol (2011) criticised a study
Street Journal isn’t known for its reported by Silverman (2011)
outstanding health reporting. claiming to show that surfing the web
In a story written by Rachel improves employees’ productivity.
Emma Silverman, she reports Grohol pointed out that the employees
on some preliminary research were really undergraduate students,
recently presented at a management that the task (to highlight certain
conference. Like a lot of research letters in text) did not resemble what
that gives us “surprising” results, it most people do at work, and that there
was done on a single group of 96 was no control condition in which
undergraduate students at a single students took a non-web-surfing break
college campus. from work.
And the task designed for the References
college laboratory setting by the Grohol, J. M. (2011, August
researchers would be difficult to 22). Web surfing at work helps
characterise as analogous to most you be more productive?
people’s work environment or jobs— PsychCentral. https://web.archive.
it was highlighting every single letter org/web/20111021012031/
“e” or, in the second part, “a,” while http://psychcentral.com/blog/
reading. archives/2011/08/22/web-surfing-at-
work-helps-you-be-more-productive/
The question the researchers Silverman, R. E. (2011, August 22).
asked—Can surfing the internet help Web surfing helps at work, study says.
you to become a more productive Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.
employee? com/articles/SB10001424053111904
The answer, according to the 070604576518261775512294
researchers, is an overwhelming,
“Yes!” And it’s no wonder …
a
Give the pages of a quotation (1.2.4) unless it is a religious or classical work (4.3.5), in which case
give the book, chapter, and verses for religious works, and the act, scene, and lines for plays, and the
section numbers for ancient Greek and Roman works.
2
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Chapter 1: Read This First!
insists that you write an assignment with a pink font on yellow paper, follow that advice!
3
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Writing for Psychology
To ensure your arguments are logical, you can apply formal rules (Chalmers, 2013).
Another method is simply to ask yourself whether or not an alternative to your argument
could be correct. To illustrate, after you read the poor example in Usage Example 1.3,
ask yourself whether “The Wiggles” could be a sound recording. The answer could be yes,
because the first sentence does not imply that only violent videos promote aggression.
To show that a particular statement is true empirically, you need to cite a study in which
someone has collected some relevant data (4.3). For example, you might write: “Coogan
et al. (2012) collated data from the U.S. Census and other sources to show that children
from low socioeconomic strata watch more TV than children from high socioeconomic
strata”. You then need to give a reference so that a reader could find that study (4.4).
administrators take a very dim view of it. Text-matching software will almost certainly find
any text in an assignment that matches that of another author. If the suspect text is not in
quotation marks or if no author is cited, then this could be evidence of plagiarism.
To avoid plagiarism of words and ideas, you must cite the author and either place any
original words in quotation marks and give information, such as a page number, to allow
Paraphrase: Authors
a reader to find them in their source, or you must paraphrase—put the author’s words into paraphrase when they
your own (4.3). We show an original source (Exhibit 1.1; James, 1890) and various forms restate another author’s
words in their own.
of plagiarism and how to avoid it (Usage Example 1.4).
Desire, wish, will, are states of mind which everyone knows, and which no definition Exhibit 1.1
can make plainer. We desire to feel, to have, to do, all sorts of things which at the Some Text from
moment are not felt, had, or done. If with the desire there goes a sense that attainment Which to Illustrate
Plagiarism
is not possible, we simply wish; but if we believe that the end is in our power, we will
that the desired feeling, having, or doing shall be real; and real it presently becomes,
either immediately upon the willing or after certain preliminaries have been fulfilled.
(James, 1890, Vol. 2, p. 330)
Usage
Reference Example 1.4
James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology (Vol. 2). Henry Holt. https://archive.org/ Avoid Plagiarism
details/PrinciplesOfPsychologyVol2/page/n3 and Overuse
of Quotation
5
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Writing for Psychology
(Continued)
Avoid Best practice
Cite an author’s ideas There is no need to define James (1890) said there is no
carefully and completely. mental states such as desire, need to define mental states
wishes, and will, because such as desire, wishes, and will,
everyone knows what they are because everyone knows them.
(James, 1890). Desires arise He explained that desires arise
when we want what we do not when we want what we do not
have, desires become wishes have, desires become wishes
when we cannot get what we when we cannot get what we
want, and desires turn into want, and desires turn into will
will when we realise we can get when we realise we can get what
what we want. we want.
A student who handed in the first example in Usage Example 1.4 would have
committed plagiarism of the words in boldface on the left: they are identical with James’s
(1890) words and they are consecutive. Moreover, the ideas belong to James. Although
the student has cited James at the end of the last sentence, it still contains plagiarism; the
other sentences are the graver crime because there is no citation for them.
A student who handed in the second example in Usage Example 1.4 would have
honoured the letter of the law, because all James’s words and the student’s identical words
are enclosed in quotation marks. But in this case, the student has too much quotation.
Your instructor wants you to put the words of other authors into your own, to paraphrase
or to summarise (4.2.2). The corrected example, of paraphrasing, is well cited with James’s
Summarise: Authors
summarise when they name in the first sentence and with the pronoun “he” in the second. It shows James’s
use their own words to important words in quotation marks and gives the page number.
give only the relevant
ideas of another author. A student who handed in the third example in Usage Example 1.4 would have
paraphrased and cited the first sentence correctly, but committed plagiarism of ideas
in the second sentence. This is because the parenthetical citation at the end of the first
sentence does not apply to the second. Moreover, the two sentences together represent
plagiarism of ideas because the structure of (the order of) this information is the same as
that of James’s original. The corrected example is well paraphrased and well cited, with
James’s name in the first sentence and with the pronoun “he” in the second.
It might seem instructors are lying in wait for an unwary student to blunder into the
plagiarism trap, whereupon they pounce and impose a terrible punishment. But this is exactly
the opposite of our intentions and those of other instructors we know. It breaks our hearts when
we discover evidence of plagiarism in a student’s assignment. Instructors are keen to teach
students how to communicate their own words and ideas and the words and ideas of others.
If your instructor allows, we recommend you use text-matching software to review
your assignment before submission. That way, you can see what the instructor would see
if you had submitted that version, and you can do something about it. The best approach
if text-matching software shows that some of your words match those in its database
is to go back to the paragraph containing those words in your assignment and rewrite
it completely in your own words. Then you can put the assignment through the text-
matching software again to see if you were successful.
A much worse approach would be to (use software to) rearrange the words until the
text-matching software no longer yields a match. Originally you might have plagiarised
unintentionally, but taking this approach means you are trying to fool the marker. This is a
dishonest practice—a form of fraud.
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The worst approach would be to see the match and to do nothing about it before
submitting—to hope that the marker will not notice or will not care. Your markers will
notice and they do care.
We should mention that getting a clean report from text-matching software does
not mean your assignment is free from plagiarism. You might have copied words from a
source not in the text-matching software’s database, you might have paraphrased well but
omitted the citation, or you might have rearranged original words sufficiently to avoid the
software’s criteria.
4. Scholarship is Sacred. A pervasive form of deception some students (and admittedly
some researchers) practise is citing studies they have not read in full, to increase the length
of their reference lists and to give their assignments spurious credibility. Such students
may have read only a few sentences another author wrote about a study or have read
only its abstract. The rule is: “You must sight whatever you cite”.
Of course, it is not necessary to read a whole book to cite it, but you must read enough
of it to meet the rule, such as reading all of a chapter or section about a particular topic.
In that case, you cite the chapter or section you did read; in all other cases, use secondary
citation, in which you cite the authors you did read (4.3.2).
Text-matching software will likely fail to detect citations that have not been read in full.
But markers might know by various means, such as seeing a citation from a source the
library does not hold or from a source in a foreign language.
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Writing for Psychology
your psychology course. If you are realistic about your own abilities, you might not
try to exceed them by copying the styles, ideas, or words of the people you read.
• Being humble and realistic also includes realising that if you come up with an
idea in the few days or weeks you might spend on an assignment, it is quite
likely that someone among all the psychologists who have contributed to that
topic during its history has also come up with the idea. For example, your
instructor is not going to be impressed if you concluded your research report’s
introduction with the hypothesis that there is a magic number seven that
affects human memory if you did not credit Miller (1956) with originating this
hypothesis. For another example, your instructor is not going to be impressed
if you argued in your essay that how one identifies with various social groups
affects attitudes to people in and out of those groups if you did not credit Tajfel
and Turner (1979) with originating this argument. That is, you should make a
reasonable search for whoever originated any idea you come up with and cite
that person in your assignment if your search is successful.
• A poor approach to avoiding plagiarism would be to submit an assignment
containing mainly long quotations. Markers will often regard assignments that
include more than 325 characters (50 words) of quotes for every 6,500 characters
(1,000 words) as unoriginal. Nevertheless, the penalties for plagiarism are usually
much more severe than the marks you would lose for having too much quotation.
We give further guidelines on summarising, paraphrasing, and quoting sources
in 4.3.5.
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Chapter 1: Read This First!
who can help with grammar and writing style, and to counsellors who can help if you get
stuck with issues such as procrastination or writer’s block. Make sure you get help from all
these people if you need it; you will find them only too happy to provide it.
There are some things the people we have mentioned are unlikely to do. For example,
your instructors or tutors will not read a draft of your assignment, especially if they will
also mark it (this is an issue of equity). Your librarian will probably be unlikely to download
papers for you. But you can get help with such things by setting up your own support
networks. Consider forming a study group so you can share resources and recruiting a
trusted person to read your drafts.
Above all, read, read, read! Read articles in good psychology journals, books in the
library, and your textbooks. Read great novels too. The more you read the better your
writing will become through a psychological process called incidental learning. Exploit it.
Use the recognised arbiter of spelling for your area. In the United States use Webster,
for Canada use Gage, for Australia use Macquarie, and elsewhere use the Oxford English
Dictionary. Use an electronic dictionary (e.g., OneLook dictionary search, n.d.) for internet-
and web-specific words.
If your word processor includes spelling and grammar checkers, use them once
immediately before you submit your assignment. However, be aware that even the best
spelling checkers will sometimes overlook errors (e.g., “there” for “their”, “right” for “write”)
and report false errors (e.g., names, technical terms, and local spellings such as “colour”
for “color”). Grammar checkers are also fallible—missing errors and identifying correct
grammar as incorrect. Be sure you understand why your grammar checker has identified
an error before changing your text.
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Writing for Psychology
student might write, “At the end of the day [cliché] the research is up the creek [colloquialism]
and only an idiot [emotional word] would get [casual word] caught by the theory’s proselytising
[pretentious word]”. That student would be better to write, “The methodological errors in the
research prevent the results from supporting the theory” (6.4.1).
Formal writing means communicating your intentions and feelings with words, and not
with typography, such as using boldface, all uppercase, or italics to emphasise particular
words or phrases. Emojis, of course, are also never part of formal writing.
Treat all people you write about with respect and inclusivity. Use the terms they
themselves prefer. Describe different people using the same sorts of words (if possible) and
give specific information about them. The editors of the APA Manual give eight personal
attributes that writers need to respect (Usage Example 1.6).
Usage
Example 1.6
Be Respectful
Avoid Best practice
Age Participants were 100 young Participants were
people and 100 elderly. 100 younger people (ages
[“Elderly” implies a stereotype, 20–35 years) and 100 older
is not specific, and is not people (ages 65–80 years).
preferred by the people
described.]
Disability Autistic people have the People with autism [use
following characteristics ... person-first language] have the
[Giving the label first, or, worse, following characteristics ...
only the label (“Autistics”),
implies that such people are
defined by their label.]
Gender He [the participant] was required Participants used the right index
to use his right index finger to finger to press the response
press the response button … [If button … [Active voice also
gender is irrelevant, either avoid makes the participants the
personal pronouns or use plurals agents of their actions.]
or both.]
Abrams (2017) described what it Abrams (2017) described
is like to be gender non-binary, what it is like to be gender
drawing on her experiences … non-binary, drawing on their
[“Her” is not among Abrams’s experiences …
preferred personal pronouns;
they are the singular “they”,
“them”, and “their”.]
Intersectionality (how different There were 48 immigrants and Participants were
contexts can interact to 52 citizens; 56 were women and 23 immigrant women,
produce inequality) 44 were men. [This disguises 25 immigrant men,
intersectionality of gender and 33 citizen women, and
status in a country.] 19 citizen men.
(Continued)
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Chapter 1: Read This First!
(Continued)
Avoid Best practice
Participation in Research Subjects were ... [Although the Participants were …
editors of the APA Manual allow Subjects were 16 pet dogs
“Subjects” because this term (Canis familiaris)
was used for about 100 years
prior to 1994, we and they prefer Subjects were
“Participants” to record that 63 babies aged from
people participate in research, 6 to 9 months….
giving their informed consent.
We and they prefer “Subjects”
for non-human animals. We
prefer “Subjects” for individuals
who cannot give informed
consent, such as children.]
We studied 12 patients and 12 We studied 12 people diagnosed
people matched for age. [Use with schizophrenia and
“patients” only in health contexts 12 age-matched people with no
to describe people with a such diagnosis.
diagnosed disorder and receiving
treatment by a health-care
provider. In any case, describe
them equitably and specifically.]
Race and ethnicity Participants included 100 New Participants included 100 New
Zealanders and 100 Maori. Zealanders of European descent
[This implies incorrectly that and 100 New Zealanders of
Māori people are neither New Māori descent.
Zealanders nor have a preference
for how their race is spelled.]
Afro-American people… [“Afro- African American [or Black
American” is American, with a capital “B”]
non-preferred.] people …
Sexual orientation and gender Homosexuals can be Sexual minorities including
identity distinguished from lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans,
heterosexuals. [“Homosexual” queer, and others can be
is not a preferred term; the distinguished from the majority
description incorrectly implies of heterosexuals.
that sexual orientation is binary.]
Socioeconomic status Participants were 10 homeless Participants were
people and 10 middle-income 10 people experiencing
people. [Use person-first homelessness and on low
language, make equitable terms, incomes and 10 people living in
and give specific information their own homes and on middle
about relevant aspects of incomes.
socioeconomic status.]
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Writing for Psychology
1.3.3 Simplicity
Your writing should be simple rather than complicated, or worse, pretentious.
Simplicity includes ensuring that each sentence you write contains one thought, that each
Topic sentence: A sentence
paragraph contains one major idea, and that each paragraph contains a topic sentence
that summarises the major that gives its major idea (6.2.9). It also includes:
idea of a paragraph.
• using the active voice in which the subject acts on the verb (e.g., “The participant
Voice: A property of a verb.
There are two possibilities: [subject] pressed [active-voice verb] the key [object]”; 6.2.1),
active voice (we recommend
• avoiding all but essential technical terms, and
it), in which the subject
acts on the verb (e.g., “The • avoiding jargon from outside of psychology (6.4.2).
participant [subject] pressed
[active-voice verb] the key Some psychology works, especially articles published before about 1994, contain
[object]”), and passive voice,
prose with no personal reference and written in the passive (6.2.1) voice (e.g., “It will be
in which the subject is acted
on by the verb, (i.e., “The argued by the present author that …”). Then, such writing was considered to confer an
key [object] was pressed objective style. Now, guidelines first given in the APA Manual (1994), and re-emphasised in
[passive-voice verb] by the
subsequent editions, are that you use personal reference for your own contributions to the
participant [subject]”).
work for your assignment and the active voice to simplify and humanise your writing (e.g.,
“I will argue that …”; 1.3.7). Many instructors, however, consider this advice too confusing
for students in the first three years of their study (misleading them, for example, to write “I
think …”, which you should never, never, never write in any psychology assignment). Check
with your instructor and look at Chapters 2 and 3 for how to deal with this issue.
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You need to ensure all the words you use mean what you think they mean; use a
dictionary if you have the slightest doubt. Your marker will not be impressed if you wrote
“suppository of all wisdom” when you meant “repository”, as famously said by a former
Australian Prime Minister.
Some psychology terms have different meanings from the same words in informal
writing. That is, psychology has its own jargon you must learn and use correctly. The most
common mistake we see from students is “prove”. Only in mathematics can someone prove
anything, such as a theorem. In science, the best anyone can do is to provide evidence
consistent with a hypothesis or theory.
Another reserved word is “significant” and its variants (e.g., “significance” and
“significantly”). Researchers use them to refer to statistical significance—whether a
particular finding can be taken seriously or dismissed as due to chance factors. It is best
to use words such as “important” or “considerable” instead of “significant” for other uses.
Lilienfeld et al. (2015) give other examples of misused psychology terms (1.7).
1.3.5 Conciseness
Write as concisely as possible. You need to eliminate unnecessary paragraphs,
sentences, phrases, and words. For example, this: “At the present time [wordy] we need to
conduct future planning [tautology] for events in close proximity [tautology] to our location
[wordy]”, can be reduced to “Now we need to plan for nearby events”. In 6.4.4 we present
more tips on how to shorten your assignments.
1.3.6 Interest
You need to write interesting prose in your assignments. You do this by being original
(1.2.2) and by organising your writing so your sentences and paragraphs flow seamlessly,
from one to the next (6.4.5).
1.3.7 Audience
You need to have a clear image of the audience, the reader, of your assignment. Imagine
one person you know, care about, and respect, but who knows less about your topic
than you. If you are an introductory student, imagine writing for a final-year high-school
student. If you are an advanced student, imagine writing for an introductory student.
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Writing for Psychology
Nevertheless, you need to keep your distance from your reader (1.3.3). You can use the
first-person singular (6.2.3) only when referring to your contributions to an assignment
(e.g., “I used a t-test to analyse the results”) and the first-person plural only if you are
writing a group assignment (e.g., “We tested five participants each for a total of 25”).
You use the third person when referring to others (e.g., “He [Chalmers, 2013] gave the
principles of deductive logic”, “They [participants] used a key pad to give responses”).
Unlike our approach in this book, you must avoid the second person (i.e., “you”).
For example, rather than writing “You can see in Figure 1 …”, write “Figure 1 shows …”.
And, unless you are writing a group assignment, you must avoid the first-person plural
(e.g., “we”). Mark Twain is reputed to have said, “Only kings, editors, and people with
tapeworms have the right to use the editorial ‘we’” (O’Toole, n.d.). For example, rather than
writing “We [you and the reader] will reach the conclusion …”, write “I will show … …”.
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Chapter 1: Read This First!
Design). Within the Introduction you might use subsections (e.g., Theory A, Theory B).
Within the Results you might use subsections (e.g., Measure 1, Measure 2).
Within the Discussion you might use subsections (e.g., Implications for Theory A,
Implications for Theory B). Level 2 headings are left-justified, with boldface font,
and with each major word capitalised.
• Sub-subsections within Level 2 subsections have Level 3 headings. These are rare
in introductory student research reports, but you might use them later if you have
a complicated Level 2 subsection (e.g., a Participants section might have Sample 1,
Sample 2). Level 3 headings are left-justified, with boldface, italicised font, and with
each major word capitalised.
In essays, Level 1 headings are used for the main sections: on the first page, the
Title and Author Note; after a page break, the Abstract; after another page break, the
Introduction (with Title as its heading), then the Body and Conclusion; and, after a page
break, the list of References. Level 2 headings can be used to distinguish subsections of
the main text. Level 3 headings are rare in essays of fewer than about 13,000 characters
(2,000 words).
A Level 1 Heading Is Centred, in Boldface, with the First Letter of Each Major APA Example 1.1
Word Capitalised Three Levels
of Headings
A Level 2 Heading Is Left-Justified, in Boldface, with the First Letter of Each
Major Word Capitalised
A Level 3 Heading Is Left-Justified, in Boldface and Italics, with the First Letter of
Each Major Word Capitalised
With all three headings, text then continues as a new paragraph.
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Writing for Psychology
Parentheses (the They always come in pairs; the left parenthesis is “(” and the right parenthesis is “)”. In this
singular is parenthesis): book we call them parentheses, although they are sometimes referred to as round brackets
1. Punctuation marks,
or brackets. We distinguish them from square brackets [thus], also confusingly known as
also known as round
brackets or brackets, used brackets, and braces {thus}, also known as curly brackets.
to enclose text that is not
vital for understanding
Parenthesis also means a part of a sentence—like this—that is not essential to the
the surrounding text or meaning of the sentence. It is set off from the rest of the sentence by paired punctuation,
to enclose the year in a such as commas, dashes, or parentheses. Parenthetical is the adjective; in a parenthetical
narrative citation.
2. Parenthesis: A singular
citation, the citation, although vital for a reader, is unnecessary for the meaning of the
noun referring to a part of a sentence containing it.
sentence that is not essential
to its meaning or to one of • Narrative citations include the surname(s) of the author(s) of a reference followed
the punctuation marks. by its year of publication in parentheses. An example is, “Breuer and Freud (1895)
Square brackets: suggested that …”. Note that in a narrative citation, “and” between two authors’
Punctuation marks, also
names is spelled out fully.
known as brackets, used to
enclose parenthetical text • Parenthetical citations include the surname(s) of the author(s) of a reference and
for various purposes [thus].
its year of publication separated by a comma and all in parentheses. An example
Braces: Punctuation
marks, also known as curly is, “there is some doubt about whether males have poorer verbal skills than females
brackets, used to enclose (e.g., Hyde & Linn, 1988)”. Note that in a parenthetical citation, “and” between two
parenthetical text for
authors’ names is abbreviated to an ampersand (&).
various purposes {thus}.
In both types of citation, if there are three or more authors, give the first author’s
surname followed by “et al.,” (Latin abbreviation for “and others”) unless such a citation
would refer to more than one reference. In that case, give enough names to identify which
reference a particular citation corresponds to.
In the list of references, you give the details of each source so a reader could find it in
the library or on the internet.
There are four basic types of references: journal articles, book chapters, books, and others
(e.g., government reports, theses, conference papers, web pages). APA Example 1.2 gives
basic templates and some examples. We have printed components of each reference in
different colours to show the components (e.g., author names in orange, (year) in very dark
blue, and title in light blue; 4.4.2–4.4.5). You should print your references all in black text.
Alais, D., Cass, J., O’Shea, R. P., & Blake, R. (2010). Visual sensitivity
underlying changes in visual consciousness. Current Biology, 20(15),
1362–1367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2010.06.015
(Continued)
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Chapter 1: Read This First!
(Continued)
Book Chapter
Author1, I. N., Author2, I. N., & Author3, I. N. (year). Title of book chapter.
In I. N. Editor1 & I. N. Editor2 (Eds.). Title of edited book (pp. start page–
end page). Publisher. DOI or URL
Kotler, J., Wright, J., & Huston, A. (2001). Television use in families with
children. In J. Bryant & J. A. Bryant (Eds.). Television and the American
family (2nd ed., pp. 33–48). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. https://doi.
org/10.4324/9781410600172
Author1, I. N., Author2, I. N., & Author3, I. N. (year). Title of book. Publisher
or Site Name. DOI or URL
Author1, I. N., Author2, I. N., & Author3, I. N. (year). Title of other work.
Any publication details. DOI or URL
Lingelbach, B., & Ehrenstein, W. H., Jr. (ca. 2000). Das Hermann-Gitter
und die Folgen [The Hermann grid and its implications]. Institut für
Augenoptik. https://web.archive.org/web/20031030182518/http://www.
leinroden.de/304herfold.htm
Riak, J. (Ed.). (2010). Project NoSpank. Parents and Teachers Against Violence
in Education. http://www.nospank.net/
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Writing for Psychology
You will notice some complications. The citation and reference for “Tetris effect” (2020)
shows what to do when authors are unknown. The citation and reference for Lingelbach
and Ehrenstein (ca. 2000) shows what to do when a reference’s date is uncertain, when an
author’s name has a title, and when the title is in a foreign language. We give details about
complications in Chapter 4.
List references in alphabetical order. List only references you cited in the text of your
research report or essay.
1.5 Writing
1.5.1 Plan
Organisation is basic to effective writing. As early as possible, establish what the research
report or essay requires you to think about; develop broad arguments and questions—subject
to regular modification—that direct your reading and your search for specific material.
Record notes as you read using various systems, such as in tables or shorthand. Prepare a
flow diagram or outline to structure your ideas. Chapter 4 provides more information on
strategies to help you find and use references efficiently and effectively.
1.5.2 Rewrite
Be prepared to write at least two drafts of your research report or essay. As Stanley Roscoe
said: “Good writing isn’t written, it’s rewritten” (as quoted in O’Hare, 2015, p. 10). Writing
involves two separate jobs you perform alternately: writing and editing. When you are
writing, you should be concerned with recording your ideas rather than with perfecting your
expression. As Thurber (1939/1990) said: “Don’t get it right, just get it written” (p. 37).
When you are editing, you should pretend that someone else has written the draft
and your task is to improve it. Allow a few days between completing a draft and editing
so you can see it with fresh eyes. Ensure what you have written really relates to the
assignment topic. Prune any unnecessary words or paragraphs. Correct errors of spelling,
punctuation, and grammar. Reorganise the material to ensure a clear, logical flow of ideas.
If you need to rewrite substantial parts of your assignment, return to being an uncritical
writer, then re-edit. The more times you can go through writing and editing, the better
your assignment will be.
The best people to edit a close-to-final draft are other people, trustworthy yet unfamiliar
with the topic. We use the plural on purpose here—the more people who are prepared to
comment on your draft, the better. Your editors’ completely fresh eyes will readily see
writing errors and glitches in your logic or flow.
Treat your editors’ comments like gold, even if their suggestions about how to fix
problems are contradictory. If any editor could not follow something in your writing, resist
the temptation to explain it to your editor. Swallow your pride, thank your editor, and then
rewrite to explain the material more clearly. Edit your work again before preparing the
final version for submission.
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Chapter 1: Read This First!
1.6 Submission
1.6.1 Online vs Paper?
Make sure you keep a copy of your assignment!
Most likely, you will submit your assignment online, via your institution’s learning
management system (e.g., Blackboard, Moodle). This system will also likely put your
assignment through software to detect plagiarism. The system will automatically
record your name, student ID number, the time and date you submitted, the name of
the assignment, and the unit information. It may also show the marker the number of
characters, words, and pages, and a score of how closely your text matches that of others.
If you do not know how to submit your assignment online, check the instructions in the
online resources for your unit, search the web, or ask fellow students.
If you submit your assignment on paper, precede your assignment with a cover page
with your name, student number, assignment topic, subject or unit code, due date,
instructor’s name, and a count of characters and words. This cover page is separate from
the title page of your assignment and would not normally contribute to the character/
word/page count.
1.6.2 Deadlines
The deadline is the date and time before which you must submit your assignment. If
you submit after the deadline, even by one minute, you will most likely lose some marks for
the assignment. Make sure you understand your instructor’s penalties for submitting late
and use these to optimise your submission. For example, if you will lose 10% of potential
marks per 24-hour period after the deadline, submit late only if in each such period you
can improve your marks by more than 10%. If the worst happens and you know you are
already late by five minutes, spend some more time improving your assignment in the
next 23 hours, and then submit.
At the beginning of the semester, understand the deadlines of all your assignments from
all your units. Use them to manage your time. Construct a schedule for each assignment.
You need to give yourself time to read, to write, to revise, and to submit.
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Writing for Psychology
Start work on any assignment at least three weeks before the due date. A schedule
might be days 1 to 4 for reading, days 5 to 7 for producing a first draft, days 8 to 11
for showing the assignment to others, days 12 to 15 for producing the final draft and
submitting, and days 16 to 19 for emergencies. Stick to your schedule.
If unforeseen circumstances beyond your control delay your submission, ensure you
are familiar with your instructor’s policy on late work. Some instructors allow students to
apply for extensions if they do so before the due date. You will probably not be penalised
if you become ill around the deadline, provided you have the necessary documentation
to support your case. Your instructor may consider other circumstances, such as
difficult family or personal issues. Most instructors will not accept excuses such as work
commitments, other assignments due at the same time, or computer problems.
Keep in mind Murphy’s Laws when planning your work schedule for an assignment:
• Anything that can possibly go wrong will.
• It will go wrong at the worst possible time.
• Anything that goes wrong will have the worst possible outcome.
• When adding on two days for unexpected delays, add on two weeks for unexpected
delays.
• Your vital piece of equipment, such as your computer, typewriter, pen, photocopier,
car, or bicycle will break down irreparably for 48 hours before the due date.
• Any people vital to the assignment, such as your typist, study companion, person
commenting on your drafts, instructor, head of department, vice-chancellor, or
head of state will disappear 48 hours before the due date.
• Anything about you vital to the assignment will cease functioning 48 hours before
the due date: your hand will become paralysed, your memory will go blank, and
your motivation will evaporate.
• All material vital to the assignment, including your notes, photocopies, rough drafts,
internet connection, or the library itself will disappear 48 hours before the due date.
Good luck!
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Chapter 2
Writing Research
Reports
We describe research reports (1.1) next. Other research reports include systematic
Systematic review:
reviews (7.4) and meta-analyses (7.4). Research reports do not include reports that A literature review that is
registered psychologists write about their clients (if necessary, you will receive training for structured like a report, with
an Introduction, Method,
such reports during postgraduate study).
Results, and Discussion. The
Method gives explicit details
Reports
Meta-analysis:
A particular type of report,
in which the data are
effect sizes from primary
For a research report, your instructor may have involved you in a study, such as in a research reports following
laboratory or practical class, in which you and your classmates collected some data. To a systematic review.
write a report of your research, you describe and interpret it, based on a set of readings,
to test one or more hypotheses (1.2.2). In this chapter, we help you prepare for and write
such a report. We provide a good example research report (2.12) and a flawed version of it
(Appendix A).
Research can be quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods. Quantitative research Quantitative research:
involves numerical measurement of variables (e.g., response times, numbers of correct Research using numerical
responses, rating scales) followed by statistical analysis. Most undergraduate reports measurement of
variables followed by
are quantitative research. Qualitative research includes participants talking about their statistical analysis.
experiences (e.g., in interviews, focus groups, surveys) followed by content or discourse Qualitative research:
analyses (2.6.6, 2.7.7). Mixed-methods research combines quantitative and qualitative Research using participants’
methods. talking about their
experiences (e.g., in
Your instructor and marker will have some expectations about your report. They interviews, focus groups,
surveys), followed by content
include that you have a research question from which you have drawn a hypothesis and
or discourse analyses.
that you meet various marking criteria. Mixed-methods research:
Research combining
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Writing for Psychology
Theory: A well-substantiated, Ideally, your hypothesis comes from theory. A theory is a well-substantiated, organised,
organised, general general explanation of a set of phenomena and facts from which predictions, hypotheses,
explanation of a set of
can be made (5.2.1).
phenomena and facts
from which predictions For example, you might participate in a class activity in which your instructor asks
can be made.
you to rate the extent to which you perceive a stranger in a photograph as hostile and
untrustworthy. Some of your classmates watch a violent video before they rate this
Experiment: A procedure photograph. Other classmates watch a non-violent video before they rate the photograph.
designed to test a hypothesis
about cause and effect. In
Your operational hypothesis might be “Exposure to a violent video increases measures
psychology, an experiment is of perceived hostility and mistrust”. Your conceptual hypothesis might be “Exposure to
a study in which individuals violent videos increases perceived hostility and mistrust”. Your hypothesis might derive
are randomly assigned to
conditions, in which each
from more general theories, such as Bandura and Walters’s (1977) social learning theory—
individual performs in all that we tend to imitate behaviours—and from Wheeler et al.’s (2007) active-self theory—
conditions, or in which there that we expect others to share our view of our own behaviours.
is some mixture of these two
experimental designs. In This instructor has run what we define as an experiment, a procedure designed to test
the first case, the procedure
a hypothesis about cause and effect (5.3.1). The procedure differs between individuals only
differs between individuals in
one aspect—the independent in one aspect—the independent variable; it is manipulated by the researcher. Everything
variable. Everything else in else in the procedure is identical for all individuals, including the dependent variable; it
the procedure, including
is what the researcher measures. If the measures differ in the different conditions of the
the dependent variable, is
identical for all individuals. independent variable, then those differences must have been caused by the independent
In the second case, the variable.
procedure differs among
the conditions creating In our example the independent variable is whether participants watched a violent or
the independent variable; non-violent video. The dependent variable is how much participants perceive the stranger
the dependent variable is
identical for all conditions.
as hostile and untrustworthy.
Independent variable: Less frequently, an instructor might run a quantitative non-experiment, designed to
The variable that is
test a relationship between two or more dependent variables (5.3.1). For example, the
assumed to cause a
change in the dependent instructor might read to the class lists of digits, each list longer than the preceding one,
variable. In experiments, and after a fixed delay for each list ask the students to write down its digits. The longest
the independent variable
list correctly recalled by each student is the dependent variable of memory span. Then
is manipulated by
the researcher. the instructor asks the students to write down the number of hours slept the previous
Dependent variable: The night, another dependent variable of sleep duration. The instructor might call this second
variable that is measured dependent variable an independent variable, because of a hypothesis that sufficient sleep
by the researcher.
improves memory. But, of course, all that can be shown from the study is the extent of the
relationship between the two variables—not about whether one causes the other.
Non-experiment: Any other
psychology study that does After running the class exercise, your instructor may then provide you with a summary
not have the characteristics of the class results and ask you to write a research report on it. To do so, follow the four
of an experiment.
main steps researchers take in conducting any quantitative research:
1. Read the scientific literature to identify the arguments, theories, or issues you
Introduction: The section of
a research report in which want to assess, and to develop your hypotheses. You review the literature in the
you review the literature and Introduction of your research report, which concludes with a statement of your
conclude with a statement of
aims and hypotheses.
your aims and hypotheses.
Method: The section 2. Collect data to test these hypotheses. You describe how you collected the data in the
of a research report in Method section.
which you describe how
you collected the data. 3. Analyse these data using various statistical procedures. You report the outcomes of
Results: The section of a these analyses in the Results section.
research report in which
you give summaries of the 4. Interpret and explain the results, and discuss how they contribute to existing
data (in text, in figures, or in knowledge. You do so in the Discussion section.
tables) and of statistical tests.
Discussion: The section of
a research report in which
you explain your results and
consider their implications.
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Chapter 2: Writing Research Reports
2.2 Structure
Most research reports consist of eight main components: Title (page), Abstract (1.2),
Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, References, and optional Appendices
(Figure 2.1).
Bem (1987) gave a useful analogy for the organisation of a report: like an hourglass.
At the top, the Introduction starts broadly, with some general statement about how the
area of psychology contains your topic. It narrows to describe theories within that area.
It narrows further to examine your topic, how it relates to theory and to evidence, and to
give your hypotheses.
The Method and Results are the narrowest parts of the hourglass: you give the details
of what you did and what you found. It broadens in the Discussion, beginning with
summaries of your hypotheses and results, then with considering what the results mean
and whether there are any alternative explanations for them, then with considering the
implications for theory of your findings. At the broadest part it contains the implications of
your findings for the general area of psychology, for real-world implications, and for future
research.
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Writing for Psychology
Results
Materials
6
7
8
References 9
Appendix
Discussion
The sections are presented in the order they appear in a report—which is not necessarily
the best order in which to write them. You may find it helps to begin writing the Method,
followed by Results, before tackling the Introduction and Discussion sections. Write the
Abstract and Title after all other sections, and finish with the References and Appendices.
Az első vacsora.