25. reporting psychological investigations

order of sections

1. abstract

2. introduction

3. method

4. results

5. discussion

6. referencing

abstract

abstract = key details of the research report

• includes all the major elements: aims and hypotheses, method/procedure, results and conclusions

introduction

introduction = a look at past research on a similar topic

• a literature review of the general area of research detailing relevant theories, concepts and studies related to the current study

• should follow logical progression - beginning broadly and gradually becoming more specific until the aims and hypotheses are presented

method

method = a description of what the researcher did, including design, sample, apparatus/materials, procedure, ethics

what is the method split up into

• design - the design is clearly states and justified

• sample - information related to the people involved eg how many, biographical/demographic info (as long as it does not compromise anonymity), sampling method and target population

• apparatus/materials - detail of any assessment instruments used and other relevant materials

• procedure - a list of what happened from beginning to end, includes a verbatim record of everything that was said to participants: briefing, standardised instructions and debriefing

• ethics - explanation of how these were addressed within the study

results

results = description of what the researcher found, including descriptive and inferential statistics

• if qualitative methods have been used the results/findings are likely to involve analysis of themes and/or categories

discussion

discussion = consideration of what the results of a research study tell us in terms of psychological theory

• summarise results in verbal form

• discuss the limitations of the present investigation which may include how these could be addressed in a future study

• wider implications of the research are considered - may include real world applications and contribution to the existing knowledge base within the field

referencing

references = list of sources that are referred to or quoted in the article and their full details

journal references

• author(s)

• date

• article title

• journal name (in italics)

• volume (issue)

• page numbers

book references

• author(s)

• date

• title of book (in italics)

• place of publication

• publisher

web references

• source

• date

• title

• weblink

• date accessed