Reporting a psychological investigation

• What are the sections of a scientific report? (IN ORDER)

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Method
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Referencing
• What should the abstract include?

  • A short summary of the aims and hypotheses, method and procedure, results and conclusions
• What should the introduction include?

  • A review of the general area of investigation
  • Reference to relevant theories concepts and studies relating to study
  • Aims and hypotheses should be presented
• What is the method divided into?

  • Design- e.g. type of experimental groups, observation and justifications to why
  • Sample- biographical and demographic information of people involved, how many, sample method and target pop
  • Apparatus/materials- assessment instruments used
  • Procedure- list of everything happening in investigation from beginning to end including briefing, standardised instructions and debriefing
  • Ethics- addressing ethical issues within study
• What should the method include?

  • Sufficient detail of study to allow other researchers to replicate if wanted
• What should the results section include?

  • Summarise key findings from investigation
  • Inclusion of descriptive statistics (e.g. tables/graphs)
  • Inferential statistics (choice of statistical test, critical values and level of significance)
  • Raw data collected with calculations in appendix
  • Qualitative methods with findings, reference to analysis of themes and categories
• What should the discussion section include?

  • Summarise findings in verbal form (instead of statistical)
  • Discussed in the context of the study and other relevant research
  • Discuss limitations of investigation such as methodology or sampling technique
  • Wider implications of research should be considered, such as application to real-world or implication to existing knowledge
• What should the referencing section include?

  • Details of source material that the researcher cited in report
  • May include journal articles, books, websites etc
  • SURNAME, FIRST NAME INITIAL, YEAR, TITLE, LOCATION OF PUBLICATION, PUBLISHER,
• Referencing example

  • Berry, D. (2016) A level Psychology. Cheltenham: Illuminate Publishing
• Acronym to remember

  • All Intelligent Mind Read Deeply (and) Reflect