Psy 330
How to Read and Write Research Reports--Method & Results
Most of the information in this chapter should be review. Click here to test your knowledge.
Tips/Guidelines
for writing the
Method
section
A good place to start when looking for free
measures/scales/instruments--AmoebaWeb
Tips/Guidelines for writing the Results section
Order of pages for a one-experiment report in APA format:
Title
Abstract
Introduction (begins with title of paper centered on first line)
Method
Participants
Design (optional)
Materials--describe all materials. Refer the reader to at least one appendix.
Procedure
Results
References
Appendices
| Chapter 5 | |
| Abstract | short summary at the beginning of a journal article that informs the reader about what was done (method) and results |
| APA format | the journal article format specified by the American Psychological Association (APA); the Publication Manual of APA is currently in its fifth edition |
| Apparatus | a subsection of the method portion of a technical paper that describes any special equipment used in the research to test participants |
| Author | the person or persons responsible for a technical paper; a literature search via an author's name can be profitable source of additional references |
| Computerized literature search | a method of searching databases in a library or on the Web using a computer |
| Design | the framework of an experiment—the independent, dependent, subject, and control variables |
| Discussion | a section of a technical paper in which the author draws theoretical conclusions by examining, interpreting, and qualifying the results |
| Figures | graphical presentations of data in the results sections of a research report |
| Introduction | the portion of a technical paper that specifies the problem to be studied and tells why it is important |
| Materials | a subsection of the methods section that describes any written or videotaped sketches, questionnaires, surveys, and so forth that were used to test subjects |
| Method | a section of a technical paper that describes in detail the operations performed by the experimenter |
| Procedure | a subsection of the method section of a technical paper that explains what happened to the participants/subjects and contains enough information that someone else could replicate the study (repeat the study exactly as it was originally conducted) |
| References | found at the end of a technical paper; only articles cited in the text are included in the reference section |
| Results | a section of a technical paper that describes that data obtained in the research and provides statistical analyses conducted on the data |
| Running head | the heading that appears at the top of the page of a published article |
| Subject (participant) | A person participating in the research |
| Tables | a nongraphical way of summarizing data in a technical paper; summary values of the dependent variable are presented under headings describing the levels of the independent variable |
| Title | provides an idea of the contents of an article or technical paper and usually states only the dependent and independent variables |