Psychology Report Writing - Bournemouth University

Writing a psychology report Dr Doug Hardman Critically Evaluating Psychology: Past &  Lecture overview 1. Introduction to the psychology report 2. Understanding the report structure 3. Top tips on writing a good psychology report  1. Introduction to the psychology report...

Writing a psychology report Dr Doug Hardman Critically Evaluating Psychology: Past &  Lecture overview 1. Introduction to the psychology report 2. Understanding the report structure 3. Top tips on writing a good psychology report  1. Introduction to the psychology report A psychology report is a standard way in which the findings of psychological studies are communicated. It should give a comprehensive account of how the study was conducted, what the findings were, and what they mean. There are slight differences in how quantitative and qualitative psychology reports are structured. In this workshop we  1. Introduction to the psychology report The American Psychological Association (APA) prescribes a certain style of formatting for reports, articles, reviews, etc. written by all psychologists. This covers both formatting and style. There is a publication manual that describes all of this in detail. https://apastyle.apa.org/  Report structure Title* Abstract Introduction* Method *With the exception of title - Design (where you actually write the - Participants report title) & Introduction, headings should be written - Materials for all other sections. - Procedure Results Discussion References Appendices  Example report For this lecture we will use a 2020 student report from Southeastern Louisiana University, titled : ‘Effects of Misinformation on Memory Recall’. This is available on Brightspace and is taken from the APA website as an exemplar. There are, as we will see, still things we can critique about it.  2. Understanding the report structure Just as the whole report has a set structure, so does each section of the report. This structure is explicitly labelled with sub-headings in the methods section, but not in the other sections. Understanding the implicit structure of all sections of the psychology report (and abstract) is crucial to writing a  Title Look at published papers for What makes a good title? examples of good papers Your title ought to summarise the main idea of your report. It should be precise: - It should not vaguely or opaquely mention your study. - Key elements of the design should be included (i.e. the independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV)). It should be concise: - Aim for under 10-12 words. - Avoid redundant phrases such as “an investigation into …” Effects of Misinformation on Memory Recall  Abstract The abstract is a brief, self-contained summary of your report. Aim for 120-150 words. The simplest way to think about an abstract is that it should include a summary of each of the four main sections of the report: - Introduction (the problem/issue being investigated) - Method (what you did to investigate it) - Results (what you found out) Write your - Discussion (what your results mean) abstract after you have finished your report.  Introduction What are you trying to do in the introduction? 1. Introduce the problem your study is going to address. 2. Explain what we currently know about the problem. 3. Identify what we still need to know about the problem (why it’s worth doing your study – i.e. your rationale). 4. Briefly identify how you will answer (3) above, including identifying IVs and DVs. 5. Make your prediction(s) (for an experimental study). This gives you an implicit structure by which to write your introduction.  When youand Introduction – formatting have style finished writing, try to summarise your introduction using one sentence for each of its 5 The introduction is the beginning of ‘main body’ of the report. sub-sections. This will show if it has a logical flow. It is always the first section and does not have a heading. Think about it as an inverted triangle, starting broad and narrowing down to a brief description of what you are going to do. For a 1500-word report, I suggest that this section is 400-500 words. Ensure that your points are backed up with evidence – i.e. include a suitable amount of references of academic journal articles in APA style.  Method The purpose of the Method section is simple: to describe what you have done in enough detail so that someone else could replicate your study. As already mentioned, quantitative reports are typically divided into four sub-sections, which you use as sub-headings in your report: - Design - Participants - Materials - Procedure The length of this section will depend on the complexity of the study.  Method DESIGN: Describe the type of design (within-participants, between, mixed, correlational etc. – although you do not need to define these concepts). We also identify the variables. This section might also include experimental controls such as information on counterbalancing. PARTICIPANTS: Describe the sample: how many participated, who participated (how many were male and female; mean age), how they were recruited, including your sampling strategy (this is where you might refer to the type of sampling employed – opportunity sampling, snowball sample etc.).  Method Be mindful of unnecessary MATERIALS: Report the items, apparatus and equipmentrepetitionused in the in the study. This could be a questionnaire, stimuli for a Method memorysection task, video camera for an observation etc. Provide enough detail such that readers would be able to duplicate your materials. For example, if a standard questionnaire was used, provide a reference. If unique materials were designed, include full details. PROCEDURE: This section is a chronological account of your study. Provide the reader with sufficient information so they could replicate your study. Conceptualise the procedure as a cooking recipe, where we inform the reader what to do, for how long, and in what order. Also include how you ensured that the study was ethical (how participants  Results The purpose of the Results section is to report your findings, including the results of your statistical analyses. The complexity of this section will again be determined by the complexity of your design. Consequently, this section may be short or (in the context of your research project) long. You will be rewarded for a clear, concise, and precise results section. As with other sections, there is an implicit structure to your results  Results - structure 1. Summarise the trends observable from your data (i.e. your descriptive statistics). - You could report the means and standard deviations (in either a table or graph). - We call graphs ‘Figures’ and label them below the graph. - We call tables ‘Tables’ and label them above the tables. - It is best to first include a short paragraph summarising the trends in your data and then have your table or graph (you only need one or the other).  Results - structure 1. Summarise the trends observable from your data (i.e. your descriptive statistics). - You could report the means and standard deviations (in either a table or graph). - We call graphs ‘Figures’ and label them below the graph. - We call tables ‘Tables’ and label them above the tables. - It is best to first include a short paragraph summarising the trends in your data and then have your table or graph (you only need one or the other). 2. Report the inferential statistical test results. - This is your t-test, ANOVA etc. - There is a clear way to report statistics for each of these tests so ensure that follow your notes and APA guidelines as stipulated in the unit. (e.g.  Discussion What are you trying to do in the discussion? 1. Briefly summarise your results. 2. Discuss what your results mean with respect to the existing literature (much of which you will have introduced in the introduction). 3. Discuss the implications of your results (theoretical/practical). 4. Note the strengths and limitation of your study. 5. Conclude the report, including the key takeaway from the study. This gives you an implicit structure by which to write your discussion.  Discussion – formatting and style Think of the introduction and discussion sections as Whilst the introduction is structured like anlinked, inverted andtriangle, the when editing discussion is like an upright triangle such that we begin the report, focused make sure on they our specific findings and then gradually become broader as work together in a pair consideration of past research, applications, and follow-on research. For a 1500-word report, I suggest that this section is 400-600 words. In discussing what your results mean with respect to the existing literature you should refer back to studies you discussed in the introduction, but you can also bring in new studies if required.  Summary structure of the four main sections INTRODUCTION METHOD RESULTS DISCUSSION Introduce the Design Summarise the Briefly problem. Participants trends summarise Explain what Materials observable your results. we know about Procedure from your data Discuss what it. Report the your results Identify what inferential mean with [This is the only statistical test respect to the we still need to section in which know about it. results. existing the sub-sections Identify how become sub- literature. you will do that. Discuss the headings] Make your implications of predictions. your results. Note the strengths and limitations of your study. Conclude the  References A list, organised alphabetically (by first author’s surname), of ALL sources cited in the main body of the report. Follow the APA 7th (American Psychological Association 7th) referencing style outlined in the unit lectures https://libguides.library.curtin.edu.au/apa-7. If you can, include some (relevant) up-to-date studies. This is a good Using Endnote Web, Zotero , or way of showing the marker that you are a good student. other software saves a lot of time as they produce the references for you!  Appendices This section is optional but there might be instances where you want to include additional information. For example, you may include stimuli or questionnaires in full that you used in the study. You may opt to include some additional analysis from your study. Appendices should be labelled in order: - Appendix A - Appendix B - Etc…  General writing tips Writing style Ensure that it is precise and concise. Avoid abbreviations: do not write “don’t”, “can’t” etc. Describe your study (i.e. what you did) in the past tense. Avoid the passive voice. Use of the first person You are allowed to write in the first person when describing what you have done or will do. E.g. “In this paper, I focus on …”, or “I conducted two experiments…”. Avoid using the editorial “we”.  General writing tips Supporting your arguments Avoid unsubstantiated claims. Ensure that all your arguments are backed up with (cited) evidence from a reputable source (e.g. academic journal articles). The importance of editing Proof-read your work before submission. Unnecessary typographical errors are an easy way in which you can irritate the marker and lose marks. Do not hand in your first draft. If you can, leave it at least overnight and go back and edit it.  3. Top tips 1. Make sure you understand the APA psychology report format – it is very important! 2. Use the APA Style Guide to help you format your reports. 3. Write clearly and plainly. 4. Edit your work – no first draft is that good. Questions?