lesson 5 Flashcards
Elements of good scientific writing
- Good writing skills are essential for researchers.
- No matter how insightful, creative, or well-designed
particular studies may be, they are not likely to have an
impact on behavioral science if researchers do not
convey their ideas and findings in a clear, accurate, and
engaging manner.
- The first prerequisite for clear writing
the order in which one’s ideas are expressed
Organization
- The general organization of research reports in
behavioral science is dictated by guidelines established
by the ____
Among other things, these guidelines stipulate the order
in which sections of a paper must appear.
APA
Perhaps the fundamental requirement of scientific writing.
clarity
Unlike some forms of fiction in which vagueness enhances
the reader’s experience, the goal of scientific writing is to
communicate information.
clairty
Two primary
factors contribute to the clarity of one’s writing:
sentence construction and word choice
The best way to enhance the clarity of your writing is to
pay close attention to how you construct your
sentences; awkwardly constructed sentences distract
and confuse the reader.
sentence construction
In sentence construction First, state your ideas ——
possible. One way to do this is to avoid the_____.
most explicitly and straightforwardly; passive voice
T/F
IN WRITING, YOU SHOULD AVOID OVERLY COMPLICATED SENTENCES
TRUE
Say what you are going to say as
economically as possible
CONCISENESS
Writers whose first draft is
ready for public distribution are extremely rare if they exist
at all. Most researchers revise their papers many times.
Proof reading and rewriting
in the 1970s, the American Psychological Association
(APA) was one of several organizations and publishers to
adopt guidelines for the use of
Gender neutral language
T/F
Man-linked words not only foster confusion but also
maintain a system of language that has become
outmoded
True
Other instances of sexist language involve using words
that are not equivalent for women and men.
Nonequivalent forms
T/F
labeling people is fine as long as it clearly define their situation
false
APA Manual three purpose
- Help authors write moreb ffectively
- Design to make published research articles uniform
- Design to facilitate the conversion of manuscripts typed using word processing software into printed journal articles
7 major sections of apa manual
- Title page
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Method
- Results
- Discussion
- References
state the central topic of the paper clearly
yet concisely. As much as possible, it should mention the
major variables under investigation.
Title page
titles should generally be more than ___ words
15
a summary of the content of the pape
Abstract
the abstract should be ___ words
150 to 250
describes for the reader the
problem under investigation and presents a background
context in which the problem can be understood.
introduction
This section describes precisely how the study was
conducted.
Methods
T/F
A well-written method allows readers to judge
the adequacy of the procedures that were used and
provides a context for them to interpret the findings.
true
