A2 RESEARCH METHODS - WRITING A SCIENTIFIC REPORT

Question 1

Describe the 1st stage of writing as scientific report

Answer 1

ABSTRACT: 150-200 words summary of the research, including…

• aims and hypotheses
• method
• results
• conclusion

Used to determine whether you want to read the whole report or not.

You could be asked to write an abstract for any of the named studies on the spec, e.g. Asch, Milgram, Zimbardo, Ainsworth’s strange situation, Bowlby’s 44 thieves, van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg, Pavlov, Skinner, Bandura, Mead…

Question 2

Describe the 2nd stage of writing as scientific report

Answer 2

INTRODUCTION: literature review of any previous research/ relevant studies.

Funnel method is used; start by talking about least relevant theories and finish with the most relevant

Talk about aims and hypotheses here at the end

Question 3

Describe the 3rd stage of writing as scientific report

Answer 3

METHOD: very important for checking reliability, replicability and temporal validity. Split into sections…

• Design used and justification for it
• Sample; details, size, age, background etc, also sampling method and target population. Ensure this doesn’t compromise anonymity of ppts
• Apparatus and materials used
• Procedure (like a recipe); this should also include the full brief, std.ised instructions and debrief (in verbatim)
• Section of ethical consideration; any potential issues and how these were addressed w/in the study

Question 4

Describe the 4th stage of writing as scientific report

Answer 4

RESULTS: descriptive stats e.g. tables, graphs, mean, median, mode, range, SD etc as well as inferential stats: which test was used and why, what was the significance level, what hypothesis was accepted/ rejected?

Question 5

Describe the 5th stage of writing as scientific report

Answer 5

DISCUSSION: put the findings of the study into your own words, and talk about any limitations of the study and how they’d be addressed in a future study. Also talk about the wider implications of the study for society, the econonomy, the target population etc

Question 6

Describe the 6th (and final) stage of writing as scientific report

Answer 6

REFERENCES: must be done in this order…

• author: surname first, then initials
• date (in brackets): when it was published, not necessarily when it was done
• title: usually done in italics, but in the exam this can be ambiguous so you can underline it (and even write a note to the side saying that it’s normally in italics and that the underlining is a substitute for this)
• place of publication
• publisher

For example, for the AQA psychology textbook…

Flanagan, C. and Berry, D. (2016) A Level Psychology. (that A Level Psychology bit should be italics/underlined but there’s no function for that on here) Cheltnam. Illuminate Publishing.

Always remember to keep alphabetical order if referencing multiple people