features of a report

• name the 8 sections in a report?

  1. title
  2. abstract
  3. introduction
  4. method
  5. results
  6. discussion
  7. reference
  8. appendix
• explain title?

  should be clear, relevant & fully informative
• explain abstract?

  provides short summary of study to establish of full report is worth reading

  includes iv & dv

  short

  one paragraph only

  is the last section you write
• explain introduction?

  provides background information on theories & studies relvant to the investigation

  contextualises the present research

  shows where the aim & hypothesis is derived from
• explain method?

  should be concise but giving enough detail to make replication possible

  1. discussion
  2. participants
  3. materials
  4. procedure
• explain the design of a method?

  state the research method used

  state experimental design used

  identify variables & ethical considerations
• explain the participants of a method?

  target population

  sampling method used

  actual sample - number of participants used

  how participants were allocated to conditions
• explain materials of a method?

  describe the stimulus material & any other apparatus

  can be a list
• explain the procedure of a method?

  describe step by step what participants will do

  needs to be precise so replication is possible

  include standardised instructions & debrief
• explain results?

  table - must have a title & columns/rows labelled correctly

  graph - suitable one depending on the data, title, labelled, relative scale

  descriptive stats - measure on central tendency/dispersion & comment on its meaning
• explain discussion?

  explain findings - link to hypothesis

  implication - what the research can help us to understand in real world

  application - what we could do in real world as a result
• explain reference?

  all the cited evidence in the report should be included in an alphabetical list

  surname,intial.year.title of book underlined/italics.place of publication:name of publisher
• explain appendix?

  includes any additional information such as statistical calculations, raw data, copy of materials, consent form

  each appendix should have a full title

  should be referred to somewhere in the main body of report
• what is peer review?

  process by which psychlogical research papers before publication are subjected to independent scrutiny (close inspection) by others working in a similal fiels who consider research in terms of its validity, significance & originality