Research methods - Scientific report

Question 1

What is the basic structure that all scientific reports follow?

Answer 1

Title, abstract, introduction, aim and hypotheses, method, results, discussion, references and appendices.

Question 2

What does the title involve?

Answer 2

The title of the article should succinctly summarise what the study is about. The title should include the IV and DV.

Question 3

What does the abstract involve?

Answer 3

The abstract is a summary of the article. The purpose of the abstract is for other scientists and readers to quickly identify what the study is about and if it is worthwhile for them to read. Should include the aim, hypotheses, and brief summaries of the method and results.

Question 4

What does the introduction?

Answer 4

The introduction gives a description of the background of the study. It provides the foundations of what previous research has been done and the framework for why the study is being done. It can include references to related studies, techniques and theories.

Question 5

What does the aim section involve?

Answer 5

This section is the start of the ‘new’ study or rather the study that is being published. The aim is stated here, in other words, why is the study being done?

E,g: “The investigation will examine the effects of caffeine on short-term memory recall.”

Question 6

What does the hypotheses section involve?

Answer 6

A hypothesis should include the independent and dependent variables. A hypothesis should be able to be tested.

Question 7

What does the method section involve?

Answer 7

The method lays out how the study was completed about the techniques used. The method needs to be detailed enough for other scientists to be able to replicate the study. Repeat studies are crucial because they help to validate the results of the initial study. A description of the use of participants should be included i.e the demographic and sampling type. How the participants were assigned to the conditions. Resources should be included.

Question 8

What does the design section include?

Answer 8

1. Research method
2. Materials used
3. Experimental design
4. The issues of using the experimental design and how they were overcome.
5. How the extraneous variables were controlled. this is important to limit their impact on the variables
6. Ethical issues
7. Principles of informed consent, deception, protection from harm, debriefing and confidentiality are all important to make sure that research is done in an ethical manner.

Question 9

What does the procedure section include?

Answer 9

Should start off by addressing the ethical issues. How were the participants introduced to the study and how informed consent was. A set-list of instructions should be given to participants in the same manner. The details of the debrief should be outlined.
How the data was recorded should be outlined.

Question 10

What should happen to the results if they are quantitative?

Answer 10

Statistical tests should be conducted to describe any patterns to support or negate the hypothesis There are two main types of statistical analysis; descriptive or inferential.

Question 11

What should happen to the results if they are qualitative data?

Answer 11

Thematically analysed (summarising data) or content analysed (categorising data)

Question 12

What are descriptive statistics?

Answer 12

Refers to the measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation) Data such as this is going to be represented as tables, graphs or charts which concisely summarise the data and are easier to read.

Question 13

What are inferential statistics?

Answer 13

Inferential statistical tests are completed to show how significant the results are. Tests include the sign test. t-tests and the Mann-Whitney test.

Question 14

What should be stated included in the results section?

Answer 14

The observed value, critical value and level of significance should all be stated in the results section. Finally, the reason why the certain statistical tests were chosen should be discussed.

Question 15

What should the discussion section include?

Answer 15

The discussion section should argue the extent to which the results impact real life. For example, if caffeine levels affect short term memory recall, then schools/exam boards/ students should be informed of such implications.
- Limitations of the study
- Connect their study to the previous work, data should be compared - do the results support or negate previous studies?
- Suggestions of what future research should be done.

Question 16

What should the references and appendices section include?

Answer 16

All books, studies, articles, websites etc that have been used to conduct the study must be references. Alphabetical order by the lead scientist’s surname. Appendices is the final section of any report, this can include questionnaires, survey questions, interview transcripts, apparatus diagrams etc.