(4) REPORTING PSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS

Question 1

What are the 6 sections of a scientific report?

Answer 1

1. Abstract
2. Intro
3. Method
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. Referencing

Question 2

What happens in an abstract (1) and what are the 5 major elements of it?

Answer 2

1. Abstract
   ○ Short summary
   § 150-200 words
   ○ Major elements of investigation
   1. Aim
   2. Hypothesis
   3. Method
   4. Results
   5. Conclusion

Question 3

What are the 3 elements of an intro (2)?

Answer 3

2. Intro
   ○ Literature review
   § Review sources
   ○ Talks abt theories, concepts and studies related to current study
   ○ Follows logical progression
   § Broad —> more specific

Question 4

What happens during the method outline (3) and what are the 4 elements of it?

Answer 4

3. Method
   ○ Experimental Design
   § State & justify choice
   ○ Type of Sample
   § Who, what, where, why, how
   ○ Apparatus
   § Materials used
   ○ Procedure
   1. Consent from participants
   2. Instructions, list style
   3. How the participants were debriefed

Question 5

What happens during results (4) and what are the 3 elements of it?

Answer 5

4. Results
   ○ Summarise
   § Key findings
   ○ Descriptive stats (statistics topic)
   § Tables, graphs, charts, measures of central tendency & dispersion
   ○ Inferential stats (stats testing topic)
   § Stats test, calc & crit values, sig level, what hypothesis was accepted & rejected

Question 6

What are the 3 elements of discussion (5)?

Answer 6

5. Discussion
   ○ Summarise findings in verbal form
   ○ Limitations
   § Method & sample
   § How they can be addressed in future study
   ○ Real world implications

Question 7

What happens during referencing and in what order is the detail about the reference given?

Answer 7

6. Referencing
   ○ Full details of material cited in report
   ○ Process:
   1. Surname
   2. First name initial
   3. Year
   4. Title
   □ In italics
   5. Page
   6. Location
   7. Publisher