Conventions of Report Writing Flashcards
What is an abstract?
A short summary that includes all the major elements of a study
What does the abstract feature?
Aims and hypotheses.
Method/ procedure.
Results.
Conclusions.
What is the introduction?
A literature review of general area of investigation, which will summarise studies that are related to the current study.
This section will follow a logical progression - beginning broadly and gradually becoming more specific until the aims and hypotheses are presented.
What is the method?
This will be split in to several sub-sections and needs to be detailed enough so that other researchers are able to precisely replicate the study if they wish.
What are the sub-sections within the method?
Design.
Sample.
Apparatus/materials.
Ethics.
Procedure.
Outline ‘design’ within the method.
The design is clearly stated and justification for choice is given.
Outline ‘sample’ within the method.
Number of participants.
Biographical/ demographical information (as long as it doesn’t compromise anonymity).
Sampling method and target population.
Outline ‘appartus/materials’ within the method.
Any assessment materials or instruments used.
Outline ‘ethics’ within the method.
An explanation of how these were addressed within the study.
Outline ‘procedure’ within the method.
This is like a recipe from a recipe book.
It is a list of everything that was said to participants: briefing, standardised instructions, and debriefing.
What is the results section of the report?
This will summarise the key findings from the investigation.
This will feature descriptive statistics (e.g. tables, graphs).
Inferential statistics should include reference to the choice of statistical test, calculated and critical values, level of significance, and final outcome (did you retain the null or experimental/ alternative hypothesis?)
Raw data and calculations will appear in the appendix rather than the main body of the report.
This is not needed if qualitative research methods have been used, then this section will likely include analysis of themes/ categories.
What is the discussion section of the report?
Summary of the findings in verbal, rather than statistical form.
These will be discussed in the context of evidence presented in the introduction.
The researcher will discuss limitations presented in the investigation.
Wider implications are considered.
This could include real-world applications and what contribution this research has made to the existing knowledge base within the field.
Suggestions for future research may also be discussed.
Outline referencing within journal articles.
Author’s surname(s), initial(s), year of publication (in brackets), title of article. Title of journal (in full, italicised). [Online, if applicable, in square brackets] Volume number (part number/month in brackets), page number(s) (p.xx). Available from: URL. [Accessed: followed by the date viewed in square brackets].
For example: Shepard, R. and Metzler, J. (1971) Mental rotation of three dimensional objects. Science. 171(972), pp. 701-3.
Outline referencing within books.
Author’s surname(s), initial(s) (and ‘ed.’ or ‘eds’ if they are the editor/s), year of publication (in brackets), title of book (initial capitals for key words, italicised), edition (if not the first). Place of publication: publisher.
For example: Wodehouse, PG. (1917) The Man with Two Left Feet. London: Methuen.
Outline referencing within chapters in books.
Combines aspects of the procedure for journal articles and books by giving the author of the chapter and their chapter title first followed by ‘in Smith, A. (ed.) …’, etc.
For example: Cohen, G. (1982) Theoretical interpretations of visual asymmetries’, in Beaumont, J.G. (ed.) Divided Visual Field Studies of Cerebral Organisation. London: Academic Press.
