Reporting psychological investigations

• Abstracts are one or two paragraphs at the start of a paper that act as a summary of the report. They are likely to include aims, hypothesis, details of the methodology / procedure and the results.
• Introductions act as a guide to the academic background of the current study, acting as a justification for why the current research is being conducted.
• Method is a complete guide outlining how the research was conducted. This level of detail allows other researchers to see the research that has been conducted carefully but also gives other researchers the ability to replicate the study if they wish to do so.
• Results summarise the data collected in the research study. There will be tables of descriptive statistics (measures of central tendency and distribution). Key figures will also be displayed on appropriate graphs. Statistical tests will be performed on the data to see if it passes the level of significance.
• Discussion explains what the data analysis in the results section actually means, such as if the null or alternative hypothesis should be accepted, if the study supports previous research or if it creates new questions for researchers to investigate in the future. This section is also an opportunity to criticise ones own research, identifying potential extraneous variables.
• Referencing sections are alphabetical lists (using surnames) of the research studies that were used to inform the current study.

  • Provides credit for other researcher's ideas, avoiding plagiarism.
  • Helps to identify the authors sources and related studies.