Gravetter & Forzano Ch. 2 & Reading Research Reports 

In addition to G&F Ch. 2, also read this short guide on Reading Empirical Research Articles

Be ready to discuss:

1) What does the order in which the authors are listed tell you?

2)  What four main pieces of information should the abstract convey?

3) Which part of a research report provides the argument describing what the current study will contribute to knowledge in that field of study?

4) If there is a research hypothesis, should it be explicitly stated? If so, in which section of the paper?

5) Which part of a report describes the operationalizations and procedures employed in the study?

6) The Method section usually begins with a subsection that describes what?

7) Which section contains the outcomes of the descriptive and inferential statistical procedures used in the study? What is the tone of this section--factual or evaluative?

8) Which part of the report is usually the most "creative" in that the author examines, interprets, qualifies, and draws inferences from the results?

9)  What are the usual subsections of the Method?

10)  Which part of the report describes the researchers' reasoning (rationale) behind their hypothesis?