Reporting psychological investigations

Question 1

what are the sections of a scientific report

Answer 1

• abstract
• introduction
• method
• results
• discussion
• refrencing

Question 2

what is the abstract in a scientific report

Answer 2

the first section in a journal article and is a short summary that includes method, results and conclusions

Question 3

why are abstracts important

Answer 3

useful for psychologists that are researching a particular topic as they will read lots of abstracts to identify if any are worth further examination

Question 4

what is the introduction in a scientific report

Answer 4

a literature review of the general area of investigation detailing any relevant theories, concepts and studies related to the study

Question 5

what is the method in a scientific report

Answer 5

includes sufficient detail so other researchers are able to replicate the study

Question 6

what are the subsections of the method in a scientific report

Answer 6

• design
• sample
• materials
• procedure

Question 7

what is design in the method of a scientific report

Answer 7

independent groups, naturalistic observation etc and reasons given for the choice

Question 8

what is sample in the method of a scientific report

Answer 8

information on the people involved in the study- how many there were, sampling method and target population

Question 9

what is materials in the method of a scientific report

Answer 9

details of the assessment instruments/materials

Question 10

what is procedure in the method of a scientific report

Answer 10

a ‘recipe style’ list of everything that happened in the investigation from beginning to end

Question 11

what is ethics in the method of a scientific report

Answer 11

explanation of how these were addressed

Question 12

what is results in a scientific report

Answer 12

should summarise the key findings

Question 13

what is results in a scientific report likely to include

Answer 13

• descriptive statistics- tables, graphs, measures of central tendency
• inferential statistics- choice of test, calculated and critical values
• any raw data collected

Question 14

what is discussion in a scientific report

Answer 14

researcher will summarise the results in a non statistical form

Question 15

what will discussion in a scientific report include

Answer 15

• limitations of the investigation and suggest how they can be addressed in a future study
• wider implications of the research and what contributions the investigation has made to existing knowledge base within the field

Question 16

what is referencing in a scientific report

Answer 16

full details of any source material the researcher drew upon or cited in the report

Question 17

what can referencing in a scientific report include

Answer 17

journals, articles, books, websites etc

Question 18

what is a peer review

Answer 18

before psychological findings are publicised they must go through a process of peer review which involves all aspects of the investigation being scrutinised by a group of 2/3 experts in the field- experts should be objective and unknown to the author or researcher

Question 19

what are the aims of a peer review

Answer 19

> to allocate funding- chose if they get funding for further research or not
to validate the quality and relevance of the research- look at the quality and accuracy of all components
to suggest amendments or improvements- in some cases the research is withdrawn

Question 20

what is an evaluation of a peer review

Answer 20

> anonymity is not always possible- some may criticize rival researcher they are in direct competition with
can be publication bias- editors of journals prefer to publish positive results which could mean the research could be over looked or disregarded so a false impression of psychology is created due to publication bias
ground breaking research can be buried- reviewers are critical of researchers that oppose their own so only research that supports their opinion is passed