reporting statistical investigations

Question 1

abstract

Answer 1

• short summary of the key points of the research in roughly 150-200 words
• should give a general overview of the study and let the reader decide if they want to continue reading
• should include: aim, hypothesis, participants, methods, results, data analysis and conclusions

Question 2

introduction

Answer 2

• justifies the need for conducting research
• think about existing research in the field to identify gaps or questions to answer
• must do a literature review: an overview of existing research in the field. start with a large concept which is narrowed and explored in more depth
• state the aim and hypothesis at the end
• 1/3 of the report in volume

Question 3

method - design

Answer 3

• technicalities of the study
• experimental design and any iv’s or dv’s
• if the study is correlational, state the co-variables and the order in which they were presented
• if there are multiple conditions, they should have full names to identify them
• allocation and any counterbalancing used

Question 4

method - sample

Answer 4

• the nature of the participants who made up the sample and the sampling method
• how many participants were recruited
• any important characteristics of the demographic of the sample
• any characteristics important to the study

Question 5

method - apparatus/materials

Answer 5

• state any equipment and materials used
• equipment = anything used to present the stimulus
• materials = the stimulus itself

Question 6

method - procedure

Answer 6

• the steps to replicate the study
• beginning to end, in the order it occurred
• info about standardised instructions given to participants
• informed consent and debriefing forms

Question 7

method - ethics

Answer 7

consider any ethical issues and how they were addressed

Question 8

results

Answer 8

• presenting the findings
• should be in chronological order, starting with an explanation of how the data was treated
• present descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and dispersion
• then inferential statistics
• justify the choice of statistical test
• link back to the hypothesis, stating which is retained or rejected
• results and method take up 1/3 of the report

Question 9

discussion

Answer 9

• allows findings to be interpreted and discusses what they may mean
• results are interpreted in verbal form
• how findings compare with initial questions and hypothesis, how it compares with other relevant research, the implications for future research
• link findings back to the field
• consider the limitations of the research
• final 1/3 of the report

Question 10

references

Answer 10

• gives credit to original authors whose work has been referred to or cited in the research report
• references should be given in alphabetical order of the author’s last name

book:
author, initial (year of publication). book title in italics. place of publication. publishers

journal
author, initial (year). article title. journal title in italics, volume number in italics, issue number if available, page range.

• if only available online, a direct link should be provided