Reporting psychological investigation

Question 1

What are the different parts of a psychological report ?

Answer 1

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Aims and hypothesis
• Procedure and method
• Findings/ result
• Discussion
• References

Question 2

What is an abstract ?

Answer 2

• A summary of your research
• Around 250 words
• Provides future suggestions
• Includes a brief description of all of the major elements

Question 3

What is an introduction ?

Answer 3

• Follows a logical progression as it goes from broad to specific
• general background and relevant previous research
• Finish with information about study area

Question 4

What are aims and hypothesis ?

Answer 4

• Clear and precise
• Alternative and null hypothesis
• Directional and non-directional
• Level of significance = 0.05%

Question 5

What are the procedure and method ?

Answer 5

• Design
• Participants (Sampling procedure)
• Materials (A questionnaire or IQ test)
• Standardised procedure
• Controls (Randomisation, pilot study)
• Ethics (Consent form, debrief)

Question 6

What are findings/ results ?

Answer 6

• Summary of raw data
• Written with tables and graphs
• Descriptive statistics - central tendency and measures of dispersion
• Inferential statistics - statistical tests

Question 7

What is descriptive statistics ?

Answer 7

Raw data using central tendency and measures of dispersion

Question 8

What is a discussion ?

Answer 8

• Explanation of findings
• Relationship to background research
• Limitations and modifications
• Implications for future research

Question 9

What are references ?

Answer 9

• Details of materials in a report
• For example: Journals, books and websites

Question 10

What information does a journal source need to have ?

Answer 10

• Author
• date
• title
• journal name
• volume
• page number

Question 11

What information does a book source need to have ?

Answer 11

• Author
• Date
• Title of book
• Place of publication
• Publisher

Question 12

What information does a website source need to have ?

Answer 12

• Source
• Title of page
• Full weblink
• Date accessed (In brackets)

Question 13

What does a consent form need to include ?

Answer 13

• Formal and appropriate style
• Reminder of ethical guidelines (right to withdraw)
• Aim of experiment
• Data that is being recorded
• Indication of method -
  expectation
• Conditions