Reporting psychological investigations

Question 1

What is an abstract?

Answer 1

• first section of a journal article
• short summary (150-200 words) of your study
• covers the aims, hypothesis, method, results and conclusions

Question 2

What is an introduction?

Answer 2

• provides background information on theories and studies relevant to the investigation
• explains how the current aims and hypothesis were derived

Question 3

What is a method?

Answer 3

• a detailed descriptions of what the researcher did, providing enough info so that the study can be replicated
• Design (IG, RM etc & why?)
• sample (method & target population)
• apparatus/materials (details of any assessment instruments used or other relevant materials)
• procedure (briefing, standardised instructions, debriefing)
• ethics (explanation of how these were addressed)

Question 4

What is the results?

Answer 4

• description of what the researcher found e.g. descriptive and inferential statistics

Question 5

What is the discussion?

Answer 5

• a consideration of what the results of a research study tell us in terms of psychological theory
• summary of results in verbal form
• discussed in context of evidence provided in introduction
• researchers should discuss limitations of research > how it could be addressed
• wider implications of research

Question 6

What is the referencing section?

Answer 6

• list of sources that are referred to or quoted in the article and their full details

Question 7

What format do journal references follow?

Answer 7

• author(s), date, article title, journal name (italics), volume (issue), page numbers

Question 8

What format do book references follow?

Answer 8

• author (s), date, title of book (italics), place of publication, publisher