Report writing

• What is a report

  an overview an presentation of a piece of research conducted by a psychologist
• What is the order of sections in a report

  • abstract
  • introduction
  • method
  • results
  • discussion
  • references
  • appendices
• What does the abstract contain

  -150-200 word brief summary of all sections of the report

  -helps psychologists decide if the journal will be useful for them to use

  -will include an overview of previous research, methodology, results and discussion
• What does the introduction contain

  -introduces the reader to the subject area and inform them of the background to the research

  -includes past research + theories which help to place the research in context

  -the hypotheses are also stated here
• What does the method contain

  -describes how the study was conducted: good example will allow for replication

  -this ensures that the findings can be checked for both reliability and validity
• What does the results contain

  -displays the results gathered in the study clearly and accurately

  -this is usually made up of 2 sections: descriptive (mean, median etc, allows for visual comparisons) + inferential (e.g t-tests, which can obtain P values and therefore make decisions on which hypothesis to accept)
• What does the discussion contain

  -a summary of findings/results, offering an explanation for these

  -this section also discusses limitations of the research and can suggest implications and future improvements
• What do references contain

  -a list of all research documents, journals, internet resources and books that were used when writing the report. this allows for further reading

  -the Harvard system is frequently used
• What does the appendices contain

  -all the resources used within research (e.g measures and stimuli), raw data and statistical calculations (included computer generated statistical data)
• Harvard referencing

  • its a way of thanking the author for using their research to help construct the purpose of your research
  • by referencing, you are allowing others to access your references so readers can read the referenced articles
  • protects you against plagiarism
• How to write a book reference

  Surname, Initial.(date)Book Title, Location: Publisher, Edition, Page numbers

  initial = first and middle name
• How to write a journal/article reference

  Surname, Initial. (Date) Article Title, Journal Title, Volume number, Page numbers
• What is a peer review

  the assessment of scientific work by others who are experts in the same field -> this validates new knowledge + ensures integrity in research
• Criticisms of peer review

  
• 3 main purposes of peer review