8. Reporting Psychological Research

• 1. Abstract


  First section of report; summary.

  • aim, hypotheses, method, result, conclusion.
  • written last; used to find most relevant reports.
• 2. Introduction


  Literature review/overview of current fields.

  • ‘funnel technique‘ = broad themes covered first.
  • ends w/ aim + hypothesis of research.
• 3. Aim + Hypothesis

  Aim = purpose of study.

  Hypothesis = what’s going to be tested, expected outcome.

  • experimental/alternative + null hypotheses.
• 4. Method


  Detailed = ability to replicate.

  • design/method.
  • sample + participants.
  • equipment.
  • procedure.
  • ethics.
• 6. Results 


  Key findings, related to hypothesis.

  • descriptive statistics = tables, graphs, charts (measure of central tendency + measure of dispersion).
  • inferential statistics = choice of statistic test + why; calculated value + critical value + level of significance.
  • qualitative research, results more likely include analysis of themes/categories.
• 7. Discussion


  Results verbally summarised at start of discussion; relating them to aim + hypothesis stated in intro.

  • compares previous research from intro.
  • limitations discussed.
  • real-life application discussed.
• 8. Referencing


  Includes all sources used to gather initial info and equipment for investigations.

  • books, articles, websites.
  • APA referencing style.