Week 7. Report Writing Skills PDF

University of Birmingham Dubai Campus LC Developing Skills for Psychologists/Neuroscientists 1 Writing Skills – Research Reports Lecture Overview To describe the basic structure and sections of a report To outline some qualities of scientific writing to use in essays and reports What...

University of Birmingham Dubai Campus LC Developing Skills for Psychologists/Neuroscientists 1 Writing Skills – Research Reports Lecture Overview To describe the basic structure and sections of a report To outline some qualities of scientific writing to use in essays and reports What is a scientific report? A concise, objective, and precise account of an empirical research project Aims to: Describe an experiment you’ve carried out in the lab To communicate the results Some qualities of scientific writing Objective Accurate Clear Knows its audience Uses of jargon appropriately (appropriate terminology) Follows style guidelines: verb tenses and active vs. passive voice self-reference bias-free and inclusive language parallel form and repetition numbers Report assessments from LC to LH RMA RMB Report 1 RMB Report 2 LC Cognitive Psychology RMC RMD LI LH Project LH It will pay off to develop your report writing skills! Report marking criteria Title and Results Abstract Introduction Discussion Overall Method(ology) comments Introduction The research question or problem Method & Results most specific Discussion Introduction Presents the scientific background, the rationale, and the hypothesis Opening paragraph(s): Introduce the research problem/question Cite an actual event Create a fictional scenario Identify the scope of previous research Present a statistic Cite a quotation Describe a common occurrence A concise literature review Summarise current knowledge; emphasise relevant findings, highlight methodological issues, and major conclusions The present study / Rationale: Introduce the project Provide a brief overview or your own study State the rationale: use previous research and theory to make a critical argument for your hypothesis Provides a smooth transition to the Method section Extract from the Introduction of Broom and Wagner (2023) 9/4/20XX Presentation Title 10 A concise literature review Brief summaries of research, e.g., In a sample of A, method B produced result C, thereby supporting the view that X causes / predicts / etc. Y In a sample of 5,000 British employees, the HDS themes Bold, Mischievous, Imaginative correlated positively with sales success, thereby supporting the view that dysfunctional personality traits can be beneficial in the workplace … “The present study evaluated the association between daily exposure to pandemic-related media and symptom severity for depression and PTSD in young adults. The present study used a daily diary methodology to measure this relation over 30 days. Furthermore, comparisons were made between social media and traditional media given the potential for social media to have a stronger negative valence than traditional media. It was hypothesized that daily exposure to pandemic-related news media and social media would be associated with elevated symptom severity for each disorder. It was also hypothesized that the magnitude of the increase in symptom severity after viewing media would be moderated by the severity of childhood maltreatment history. To determine the extent that those with elevated psychopathology might be more prone to turn to social media, the relation between baseline psychopathology and overall social and traditional media use during the first month of the pandemic was examined. Finally, the cumulative effect of media consumption on PTSD and depression symptoms during the month-long assessment period was also evaluated.” Extract from the Introduction of Price et al. (2022) Method A comprehensive description of how you conducted the study Qualitative reports Quantitative reports Epistemological and ontological position Participants Participants Data Collection Materials / Measures / Stimuli / Equipment Data Analysis Procedure Ethical Considerations Ethical Considerations Reflection Data Preparation  Written in the past tense Sufficiently detailed to permit replication Be specific about: Method the participants, measures, materials, equipment, etc. The steps in the process (in chronological order) Extract from the Method of Schuhl et al. (2019) Results Describes the findings of the data analysis E.g., quantitative study 1. Restate hypothesis in conceptual terms 2. Reword hypothesis in operational terms 3. State the finding plainly 4. Summarise what was found It was hypothesised that 1st year students would have more difficulties settling into the first semester than 2nd year students. Specifically, 1st year students were expected to have lower CAT scores than 2nd year students. As shown in Table 1, 1st year students had higher CAT scores than 2nd year students, on average, t (85) = 5.38, p =.005. Thus, although a significant difference was found the hypothesis was not supported. Supplement the text with tables and figures, as appropriate Describe the findings, but don’t interpret them Extract from the Results of Liu et al. (2023) 9/4/20XX Presentation Title 18 Discussion Interpret the results Opening paragraph: Address the research problem/question General statement of the findings in conceptual terms State whether the hypothesis was supported or not Don’t include statistical information here Account for the findings Compare your findings to those cited in the Introduction Implications - Explain what your findings mean: How do they fit with existing theoretical ideas? What new knowledge has been gained? Offer tentative explanations for unexpected findings* Limitations: Evaluate your study Discuss threats to the study’s internal validity, inadequacy of measurement, etc. Discuss the extent to which the findings are generalisable Future research directions Conclusions State the potential implications for research, theory, and/or practice Link back to the research question or problem Extract from the Discussion of Price et al. (2022) 9/4/20XX Presentation Title 20 Directions for Future Research What are the recommendations for research or practice? Propose specific and original directions, e.g., Try to rule out alternative explanations (i.e., a better test of the hypothesis) Examine the limits of the findings Test the implications of the findings Apply to a different area of investigation Test findings in context of a specific, real- world problem The Abstract A brief, but comprehensive summary of the key elements of the study Must be able to stand alone Write 1 – 2 sentences about: Key aspects of the literature review (Introduction) The research problem or research question (Introduction) Hypothesis / hypotheses (Introduction) Methods used, including descriptions of study design, sample, and sample size (Method) Study results (Results) Implications – importance, applications (Discussion) Title Captures the topic area, aim, and research question Informative and specific, avoids ambiguity, includes key words Concise (approx. 10 – 15 words) Should be able to stand-alone Weak: An investigation into the relationships between life satisfaction, sleep quality, and psychological distress in couples OK: The relationships between life satisfaction, poor sleep quality, and psychological distress among married couples Better: Life satisfaction moderates the relationship between poor sleep quality and psychological distress among married couples Any questions?