role of scientific community

Question 1

What is the abstract section in a psychological report?

Answer 1

A short paragraph at the start that gives an overview of the participants, procedures and conclusions. It is a snapshot of the important information about the study

Question 2

What is the introduction section in a psychological report?

Answer 2

Overview of previous research and studies. Starts broadly and funnels in to information specific to the study being conducted

Question 3

What is the methods section in a psychological report?

Answer 3

A detailed description of what the researcher did. Needs to be detailed enough to be replicable by other researchers

Question 4

What is the results section in a psychological report?

Answer 4

What the researcher found. Data can be qualitative or quantitative. Quantitative data should be analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics

Question 5

What is the discussion section in a psychological report?

Answer 5

What the researcher concludes. Needs to refer back to the hypothesis. Compare with previous research, Evaluate and identify any issues with the study and find possible solutions to them

Question 6

What is the references section in a psychological report?

Answer 6

Full titles and details of any journal or book references in the report

Question 7

What is the appendix section in a psychological report?

Answer 7

At the end of the report and contains any information that is too distracting to put in the main body. Could be raw data or materials used

Question 8

What is the order of the sections in a psychological report? (7 sections)

Answer 8

Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
References
Appendix

Question 9

What is a peer review?

Answer 9

When a piece of psychological research is scrutinised by a small group of peers in the particular field

Question 10

Why do publishers want all reports to be peer reviewed? (4 reasons)

Answer 10

To ensure that the research is:
- High quality
- Isn’t flawed
- Isn’t biased
- Genuine and not made up

Question 11

What is the purpose of peer review (3 reasons)

Answer 11

Allocation of research funding
Publication of research in academic journals and books
Assessing the research rating of university departments

Question 12

Why is the allocation of research funding important?

Answer 12

The government and charitable bodies who pay for research want to make sure that the research they are paying for is worthwhile

Question 13

Why is the publication of research in academic journals and books important?

Answer 13

Journals allow researchers to share their results

Question 14

Why is assessing the research rating of university departments important?

Answer 14

Future funding for the research department in universities depend on receiving good ratings from the Research Excellency Framework

Question 15

What is the process of peer review? (5 steps)

Answer 15

• Researcher submits the report to a journal
• The report is read by the editor of the journal
• The report is sent by the editor to a panel of experts for review
• The reviewers submit their comments to the editor
• The editor can decide whether to reject or accept the report for publication

Question 16

What are the benefits of peer review? (4 reasons)

Answer 16

Work is validated for accuracy/validity
Peers suggest improvement and can allocate further funding
Prevents scientific fraud
Adds credibility to the research and the field of study

Question 17

What are the limitations of peer review? (5 reasons)

Answer 17

Takes time which delays publication
Peers have their own bias
Can be hard to find an expert in the field of the research being published
Peers may not accept ideas that go against the mainstream, so may be overly critical
Positive findings are more likely to be published than negative (null) findings