13. Scientific Report

• Abstract

  • First section in a journal article - 150-200 words in length
  • Aims, hypotheses, method/procedure, results and conclusions
  • When researching a particular topic, psychologists often read a lot of abstracts in order to identify those studies that are worthy of further examination
• Introduction

  • Literature review of the general area of research detailing relevant theories, concepts and studies related to the current study
  • Research review should follow a logical progression
• Method

  • Design - independent groups, naturalistic observation etc.
  • Sample - biographical/demographic information, sampling method and target population
  • Apparatus material - any assessment materials
  • Procedure - everything that happened in the investigation beginning to end. Briefing, standardised instructions and debriefing included.
  • Ethics
• Results

  • Summarises key findings
  • Descriptive statistics such as tables, graphs and charts
  • Inferential statistics should include reference to the choice or statistical test, calculated and critical values
  • Raw data collected should appear in an appendix rather than the main body of the report
  • Qualitative methods = thematic analysis
• Discussion

  • Summarise results in a verbal form
  • Discussed in context of evidence present
  • Discuss limitations and how these may be improved
  • Wider implications of research are considered eg. real world application
• Referencing

  • Full details of any source material cited in the report
  • Journals - author, date, article title, journal name, volume, page numbers
  • Books - author, date, title of book, place of publication, publisher
  • Websites - source, date, title, weblink, date accessed