Reporting Psychological Investigations

• Sections of a Psychological Report:

  > abstract

  > introduction

  > method

  > results

  > discussion

  > referencing
• Abstract:

  > purpose - allows the reader to gain an overview of the study, and help them decide if they want to read on

  > contains a summary of the study, covering the aims, hypotheses, method, results and conclusions

  > first part of a report

  > a single paragraph of 150-250 words
• Introduction:

  > purpose - gives background on relevant theories and studies to explain how aims and hypotheses developed

  > contains relevant previous research, and makes it clear how the current research will add to this

  > ends with the researcher stating the aim and hypotheses of the research
• Method:

  > purpose - provides a detailed description of what the researcher did (enough detail for replication)

  > includes sampling method and sample, procedure, equipment, ethics and design
• Results:

  > purpose - present an overall summary of the findings to the reader, rather than reviewing the raw data

  > includes descriptive statistics - tables and graphs showing frequencies and measures of central tendency and dispersion

  > includes inferential statistics

  > for qualitative research, categories and themes are described alongside examples
• Discussion:

  > purpose - discuss the findings and suggest possible uses and future areas of research

  > includes summary of results, a comparison with other results, limitations and modifications, and implications and future research
• References:

  > purpose - to give details of any other articles or books that are mentioned in research so readers can locate resources, and helps avoid plagiarism

  > referencing an article - author's name, date, title of article, journal title, volume, issue, page numbers

  > referencing a book - author's last name, first initial (date), title of book, place of publication: publisher