Psy2004 / 2005

RESEARCH WRITING
Week 9
THE NEXT 4 WEEKS
 Week 9
Lecture: Writing up Research
Labs: Tutorials on APA Formatting
 Week 10
Lecture: Literature Review & Organisation
Labs: Introduction Brainstorm & Literature Search Tutorials
 Week 11
Lecture: Assessment Surgery
Labs: Statistics SOS with SLAs (no new content)
 Week 12
Lecture: Final Q&A for Assessment (student led)
Labs: Statistics SOS with SLAs (no new content)
T H E P U R P O S E O F L A B R E P O RT S

 vital part of the scientific process

 communicate the important work you have done in lab
 so that someone who was not there can understand and replicate your results
 also propose future studies and experiments
 or suggest alterations to pre-existing methods
 should be written for someone who is familiar with the scientific field of study but has not
performed this experiment
H O W T O F O R M AT Y O U R L A B R E P O RT
A PA F O R M AT

 Times New Roman (TNR) size 12 throughout (incl. headings and subheadings)
 Follow APA Heading Convention
 Double Spacing
 Page margin set to 1 inch (2.54 cm)
 Indentation of 0.5 inch (1.27cm) of the first line of every paragraph (except Abstract)
 Left Alignment (not centered or justified!)
 Avoid breaking tables over pages
 Chapters should be continious not on sperate pages
 Page Numbers on the right upper corner
 Margins in MS Word

Double Spacing option in MS Word

indent the first line of every paragraph 0.5

inches. This is usually default and you
can do so by pressing the “Tab” key.
 A PA H E A D I N G
CONVENTION

• Level 1 = Abstract, Introduction,

Methods, results, Discussion,
Conclusion, References
• Level 2 = Design, Participants,
Materials, Procedure, Analysis
• Level 3 = subheadings under
Level 2 (e.g. Questionnaire
names)
 A PA F O R M AT

• Page Numbers
• Indentation

• Double Spaced
• TNR 12
HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR LAB
R E P O RT
O R G A N I Z AT I O N

1. Title Page

2. Abstract

3. Table of Contents
4. Introduction

5. Methods
6. Results

7. Discussion
8. Conclusion

9. References
 T I T L E PA G E

• Title
• MISIS & Name

• CW Title, Course, & Module

Lead
• Date
 ABSTRACT

• synopsis or summary of the

experiment
• briefly summarizes the experiment,
results, and significance of the study
• include a sentence or two for each of
the following points:
• Background, Aim, Hypotheses,
Methods, Results, Discussion,
Conclusion
 ABSTRACT

• Level 1 Heading (centered & bold)

• The first line of the abstract should

be flush left (not indented)
• One flowing paragraph

• Address background, methodology,

results, and discussion
• Max 250 words

• Followed by keywords (max 5)

 TA B L E O F
CONTENTS

• You are expected to title the page “Table of

Contents” centered and in bold at the top of
the page.
• Flush all main headings to the left.
• All text should be written in title case.
• Include dotted lines between the headings and
their page number to improve readability.
• You can include lower-level headings (max
Level 3), but you will require additional
indentation for each level.
• the table of content must not exceed two pages.
Tutorial will be done in the Lab Sessions this Week
INTRODUCTION

 provides the reader with relevant background information,

 explains the experiment
 what it aims to accomplish,
 and highlights its importance
 Your introduction should include a purpose and hypothesis because you will return to those in your
conclusion to evaluate the experiment
 write an introduction is by using the funnel method
 No subheadings!
 Make sure paragraphs are long enough to stand alone
 Must conclude with aim & hypotheses
 INTRODUCTION
(ACTIVITY)

 Candy is bad for teeth

 Hypothesis: An increased
consumption of candy may cause
a greater number of cavaties in
children
 In groups create a brief outline of
your introduction (5-7 bullet
points)
 15 min
INTRODUCTION (FUNNEL METHOD)
METHODS

 Design (qualitative or quantitative, non-experimental vs experimental, between or within

groups, cross sectional or longitudinal)

 Participants (sample size, age range, Mage, Sdage, gender distribution, demographic details)

 Materials (questionnaires, interview schedule, tools, equipment, etc)

 Ethical Considerations
 Procedure (Detailed enough for someone to replicate the study/ Step by step description of
what participants “went through” )
 Data Analysis (Briefly describe the analysis you will use)
METHODS (EXAMPLES)
METHODS (EXAMPLES)
METHODS (EXAMPLES)
METHODS (EXAMPLES)
METHODS (EXAMPLES)
R E S U LT S

 Remind reader of your aim/hypotheses

 include all of your results and any relevant figures and tables (properly labeled)
 Your tables and figures should be able to explain your results without text, and your text
should do the same without figures and tables
 Present results in chronological and logical order (as you conducted them, e.g. start with
assumption testing)
 Details for your Lab report will be discussed in Assessment Surgery
P R I N C I P L E S O F TA B L E C O N S T R U C T I O N

 Limit the use of borders or lines in a table to those needed for clarity.
 In general, use a border at the top and bottom of the table, beneath column headings (including decked
heads), and above column spanners.
 You may also use a border to separate a row containing totals or other summary information from other
rows in the table.
 Do not use vertical borders to separate data, and do not use borders around every cell in a table.
 If a table is longer than one page, use the tables feature of your word-processing program to make the
headings row repeat on the second and any subsequent pages
 If a table is too wide to fit on one page, use landscape orientation on the page with the wide table. (use
page breaks to move between portrait and landscape pages)
A PA TA B L E S

• Should be constructed from

scratch NOT copied from SPSS
• 3 horizontal lines only
• Tutorial in Lab this week
 A PA TA B L E &
FIGURE CAPTIONS

• The figure number (e.g., Figure 1)

appears above the title and body
in bold font.
• The figure title appears one
double-spaced line below the table
number
• Number figures in the order in
which they are mentioned in your
paper
S TAT I S T I C A L G R A M M A R

 All major statistical abbreviations should be in italic

 F(2,566) = 2.321, p < .001, η2 = .233
 M = 23.45
 SD = 2.77
 t(233) = 3.44, p < .05
 Upper Case Letter Lower Case Letter Greek Letter Name

Α α Alpha
Β β Beta
S TAT I S T I C A L G R A M M A R Γ γ Gamma
Δ δ Delta
Ε ε Epsilon
• Greek letters Ζ ζ Zeta
Η η Eta
• Copy and paste as needed
Θ θ Theta
Ι ι Iota
Κ κ Kappa
Λ λ Lambda
Μ μ Mu
Ν ν Nu
Ξ ξ Xi
Ο ο Omicron
Π π Pi
Ρ ρ Rho
Σ σ,ς * Sigma
Τ τ Tau
Υ υ Upsilon
Φ φ Phi
Χ χ Chi
Ψ ψ Psi
Ω ω Omega
DISCUSSION

 use underlying theories to explain how you achieved your results as well as what they might
imply
 Do not just report results, but analyze them
 Should tie into the introduction
 Place work into larger perspective
 What research supports & contradicts your findings?
 Draw out significance, importance, and implications
 Identifies new questions and steps
 Limitations (Include any errors and how they may have affected your data)
 Future Research
DISCUSSION (INVERSE FUNNEL)
L I M I TAT I O N S

 Level 2 Heading under Discussion

 Acknowledging a study’s limitations is an important part of the process of science and of
communicating your results.
 It shows that you are willing to mention and discuss the weaknesses as well as the strengths of
your work and suggests an intellectually honest presentation of your findings
 No study is perfect
 For some studies, these limitations will be obvious: small sample size, multiple comparisons
without corrections, observational design and risk for confounding
 Focus on weaknesses in your design and analyses, rather than results
L I M I TAT I O N S
CONCLUSION

 the conclusion explains the results from the perspective of the entire experiment
 return to the original objective or hypothesis of the experiment
 This is a good place to reference back to the introduction and past studies regarding this topic
 Does this experiment contribute to or further the current research?
 Include suggestions for further studies in this section
REFERENCES

 This section shows the breadth and depth of your reading  make it count
 include any citations you mentioned in your report
 APA 7th Edition style
 Start on a new page
FINAL TIPS

Understand the difference between a purpose and a hypothesis.

 Purpose = an explanation of why the experiment is useful
 Hypothesis = what you are trying to explain through testing

Instead of saying that one variable affects another, explain how it affects it. Are they inversely
proportional? Directly proportional?

Titles of lab reports should be descriptive and detailed.

Know the difference between affect and effect.

 Affect = verb
 Effect = noun

Use academic hedging — the study "suggests" not "proves.

W H AT Y O U S H O U L D D O N E X T
Read journal articles to identify how other authors have structured their papers
How did they write the first sentence/paragraph? What info did they present?
How did they introduce their variables of interest?
How did they link these variables?
How did they establish their argument/problem/implications?
How did they synthesize other studies?
How did they critically evaluate these?
How did they bring it together to establish aims & hypotheses?
How do they write up their results? Look for papers using your analysis!
How do they present their findings?
How do they start the discussion?
How do they move forward and explain their findings?
How do they place them into greater context?
How do they state implications / limitation?