reporting psychological investigations

• report writing - no point in doing psychological research unless the findings are shared with other psychologists. as the research is published is it validated by other psychologists and becomes part of permanent scientific record
• order of report

  title

  abstract

  intro

  method

  results

  discussion

  references

  appendices
• title - the report title is important because it will determine who reads the full report. it should be concise as possible yet at the same time it should be informative. anyone reading the title should know exactly what the report is about
• abstract - an abstract of a scientific report should be brief (150-200 words) summary of report. if a psychologist finds the title to be helpful the next step is for them to read the abstract . which is a concise summary of the study covering the aims, method results and conclusion
• intro - the info is designed to introduce reader to topic area and background to study. made up of past theories. this allows the reader to place the study in context. which will then allow the researcher to introduce the actual study
• method - how study was conducted - should have enough info to allow for replication. the section includes subsections - design , ppts/ sample, apparatus , resources , materials , ethics and procedure
• results - made up of two sections: descriptive - allows for visual representation of differences between the groups and inferential - analysis of the data and null hypothesis to be accepted or rejected
• discussion - summary of findings before going on to an exploration of the best explanations of findings. may also include implications of research and make suggestions for future research
• references - complete details of all research documents , journals , internet research and books that was mentioned and used for additional background research
• appendices - compromised of a copy of all resources / materials used within the study, raw data and statistical calculations