Reporting Psychological Investigations

What is the first section in a journal artery?

A short summary/abstract.

What is the abstract?

The key details of the research support: the aims and hypotheses, method/procedure, results and conclusions.

What is the introduction?

A literature review of the general area of research detailing relevant theories, concepts and studies that are related to the study.

What should the method include?

Sufficient detail so other researchers are able to replicate the study if they want to:

Design - type stated as well as justification.

Sample - method, number, biographical/demographic information (as long as this does not compromise anonymity), target population.

Apparatus/materials.

Procedure - a ‘recipe-style‘ of everything that happened from beginning to end.

Ethics - an explanation of how these were addressed within the study.

What should the results section summarise?

The key findings from the investigation. This is likely to feature descriptive statistics like tables, graphs and charts as well as measures of central tendency and dispersion.

In the results, what should the inferential statistics include?

Reference to the choice of statistical test, calculated and critical values, the level of significance and the final outcome.

If the researcher has used qualitative research methods, what are the findings likely to involve?

Analysis of themes and/or categories.

What is in the discussion section?

A verbal summary of the results, the limitations of the investigation and how these can be addressed in a future study, wider implications of the research.

What does referencing include?

Full details of any source material cited in the report.