Reporting psychological investigations Flashcards
What is the order of a scientific report?
- abstract
- introduction
- method
- results
- discussion
- referencing
How long is an abstract?
150-200 words
What major elements does an abstract include?
- the aims and hypotheses
- method/procedure
- results and conclusions
What are abstracts useful for?
psychologists will often read lots of them to identify studies that are worthy of further examination
What is the introduction?
A literature review of the general area of research detailing relevant theories, concepts and studies. The aims and hypotheses should be presented.
Different sections of the method
- design
- sample
- apparatus/materials
- pricedure
- ethics
Why should a method be detailed?
So other researchers are able to precisely replicate the study
What should the results section do?
Summarise the key findings from the investigation
What is likely to be in the results section?
descriptive statistics such as tables, graphs/charts, measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion
What should inferential statisics include reference to in the results section?
The choice of statistical test, calculated and critical values, the level of significance and the final outcome
What should their be in relation to qualitative data in the results section?
analysis of themes and categories
Key elements in the discussion section?
- summerise the results in verbal form
- relate to wider research
- discuss limitations and how they should be addressed in the future
- wider implications should be considered eg real-world application
What does referencing include?
full details of any source material cited in the report
Journal referencing format
author(s), date, article title, journal name (in italics), volume(issue), page numbers
Book reference format
author(s), date, title of book(in italics), place of publication, publisher
Web references format
source, date, title, weblink, date accessed
