reporting psychological investiagations

Question 1

what is in an abstract?

Answer 1

short summary including aims, hypotheses, method procedure, results and conclusions

Question 2

what is in the introduction?

Answer 2

details relevant theories, concepts and studied related to the current study

begin broadly and gradually become more specific about the aims and hypotheses are presented

Question 3

what is in the method?

Answer 3

sufficient detail - so that researchers can replicate the study

design (independent groups, naturalistic observation etc +why)

sample- (how many were there, biographical, demographic information), sampling method and target population

apparatus and materials

procedure - beginning to end - including briefing, standardised instruction, debriefing

ethics- how these were addressed

Question 4

what is in the results section?

Answer 4

summarise key findings - tables, graphs, charts measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion

inferential statistics - stats test, calculated, critical value, level of significance - the findings

qualitative methods of research

Question 5

what is in the discussion section?

Answer 5

summarise results in verbal form , discuss limitations of the investigation and suggestions of how these could be addressed in the future

wider implications of research are considered and what contribution this has made to the existing knowledge in the field

Question 6

referencing

Answer 6

author, date, article title, journal name, volume, page numbers

author, date, title of book, place of publication, publisher.