Reporting Psychological Investigations

What tense should the report be written in?

Reports should be written in the past tense and third person e.g. ‘An investigation was carried out…’ rather than ‘I am going to carry out an investigation…’

Explain what the abstract is

The abstract is a concise summary (about 150 words) which appears after the title of a report.

Its purpose is to inform the reader whether they should read the rest of the report. The

abstract can only be written after the whole investigation has taken place and so is the last

section to be written.

What are the features included in the abstract?

The section includes a sentence on the following key features:

• Aim and hypotheses.

• Method: variables, participants and procedure.

• Results: inferential statistical test, outcome of hypothesis testing, level of significance.

• Conclusion.

Explain what the introduction is

The introduction provides background information about theories and studies relevant to the

investigation as a well as the research aims and hypotheses. Its purpose is to show how the

context of the study flows from the general research area of the background research to the

more specific research aims and ultimately the hypotheses.

What features does the introduction include?

• Background research

• Aims

• Hypotheses

Explain what the method is

The purpose of the method section is to enable other psychologists to accurately replicate

the procedure of the study to check the reliability of the findings.

What are the sub-sections the method includes?

Design: This includes the research method that was used, experimental design, variables,

control of variables and the ethical issues considered.

• Participants: This describes the characteristics of the participants used, the number used

and how the sample was obtained from the target population.

• Materials: This details the resources and apparatus needed to carry out the research (e.g.

software, consent forms, questionnaires).

• Procedure: This is a step-by-step account of what happens for a participant when they

enter the research study including the standardised instructions.

Explain what the results is

The purpose of the results section is to analyse the data using descriptive and inferential

statistics

What features does the results include?

• Descriptive Statistics:

o A summary table of the data is presented usually with an accurately selected measure

of central tendency (mean, median and mode) and a measure of dispersion (range or

standard deviation).

o A relevant graphical representation is used (scatter graph, bar chart, histogram).

• Inferential Statistics:

o A statistical test is chosen and reasons why this test is chosen are provided.

o The test statistic is reported including the level of significance and whether the null

hypotheses has been accepted or rejected.

The raw data and statistical calculations are included in the appendix at the end of the report.

Explain what the discussion is

The purpose of the discussion section is to explain the findings of the study and within the

context of the background research. Potential improvements and the wider importance of

the study are also discussed.

What are the four sub-sections the discussion is split into?

• Interpretation of Results: The results are explained purely in words and related to the

aims and hypotheses, any unconventional findings and errors are explained.

• Background Research: Results are related back to the previous research identified in the

introduction section.

• Limitations and Improvements: Limitations are identified and suggestions for how to

improve these are explained.

• Applications and Implications: Applications (practical use) and implications (wider

importance) of the research are explained and suggestions for a further study are made.

Explain what the reference is

The references section includes a list of authors (in alphabetical order by surname) whose

work has been linked to in the study. It includes the source of each author’s work, such as

textbooks, journal articles and websites. The purpose of a references section is to avoid

plagiarism, where another author’s work is copied without giving them credit.

How should references be written?

References must be made in a conventional style appropriate to the source:

• Book reference format: Author(s). (year). Book title. Publication location: Publisher.

E.g.

Flanagan, C. and Berry, D. (2016). A Level Psychology. Cheltenham: Illuminate Publishing.

• Journal articles reference format: Author(s). (year). Article title. Journal title, volume

(issue number), page numbers.

E.g.

Gupta, S. (1991). Effects of Time of Day and Personality on Intelligence Test Scores.

Personality and Individual Differences, 12 (11), 1227-1231.

• Webpage (with no specific author/article) reference format: Webpage title. (n.d).

Retrieved (year, month, day) from (URL).

E.g.

IQ Classification. (n.d). Retrieved (2021, June 12) from https://en.wikipedia.org/

wiki/IQ_classification.

Explain what the appendice is

The appendices appear at the end of the report and are each labelled with roman numerals.

They include the materials used, such as: consent form, debrief, standardised instructions,

raw data and statistical calculations. The purpose of the appendices is to enable the study to

be accurately replicated.