research paper
Research Report How To
These slides cover all parts of the research report
Look to these when writing the paper
They will ease the task tremendously
Remember the title page! And the header!
Introduction Writing
Components of the introduction
A general introduction to the topic of the paper
What is the topic(s) and why is it important?
A review of the relevant literature
What has past research found with respect to your variables?
A statement of the problem or purpose of the study with relevant variables clearly defined
State hypotheses clearly!
Introduction
Do not write ‘Introduction’ – list the title again.
Figure 16.3 Excerpts from an APA-Style Introduction
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For your paper, I suggest:
Roadmap paragraph
Provide general purpose statement
Why should we care about the topic? Why is it important?
Provide specific purpose statement
What are you specifically examining in your study?
Three sections of introduction, setting up
Hypothesis 1 – provide background literature that discusses IV and DV1
Hypothesis 2 – provide background literature that discusses IV and DV2
Hypothesis 3 – provide background literature that discusses IV and DV3
Remember to have transitions between paragraphs
Current study section
Detailing your hypotheses
Organization of introduction
The first paragraph is the ‘roadmap paragraph’
Indicates the general topic, and what the problem/purpose is
Provides an overview of what is to come (rest of the paper)
May hint at the hypotheses
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Example structure of an introduction section
HYPOTHESES
A Refresher
Variables (IVs and DVs)
Independent Variable (IV)
In experiments, the variable that is “controlled” (manipulated) by the experimenter
In our case, the IV consists of 1 variable that has two groups.
In correlational research, this variable is simply measured/observed
Dependent Variable (DV)
The variable that is measured/observed to determine the results
Correlational hypotheses vs. group hypotheses
In correlational hypotheses, the aim is to predict how two variables are related
Implies covariation, and not a difference
E.g., As the weather gets warmer, ice cream sales go up (positive correlation).
In Group hypothesis, the aim is to predict how two groups differ from each other
E.g., Daytime classes (group 1) get higher grades than evening-time classes (group 2)
Easy ways to write hypothesis
If you are looking at group differences (like you will be in the research paper for this class).
One level of the IV will have more/less of the DV than the other level of the IV
Those that are in relationships will have greater life satisfaction than those that are single.
A more complete hypothesis specifies both levels of the independent variable
Examples
The formula:
One IV group will have more/less of the DV than the other IV group.
Examples:
Daytime classes (group 1) will get higher grades (DV) than evening-time classes (group 2)
Those that are in relationships (group 1) will have greater life satisfaction (DV) than those that are single (group 2).
Those that report poorer sleep quality (group 1) will be more aggressive (DV) than those that report better sleep quality (group 2)
Methods section
Parts of the methods section
3 parts to a methods section
Participants
Provides as much information about the sample
Number of people, number of men and women, breakdown of ethnicity, mean age and range
Procedure
A step-by-step guide of what the participants went through
how/from where were the participants recruited, what were they paid; anything that is relevant for replicating the study
Measures
Make sure to note which variable was the IV and the DVs
For each variable:
Name of scale, with a citation
Number of items in the scale
The response scale (number of scale points, and how it was anchored),
An example question from the scale.
How each variable was scored
An APA-Style Method Section: Participants Subsection
Figure 16.4 An APA-Style Method Section: Participants Subsection
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An APA-Style Method Section: Procedure Subsection
Figure 16.4 An APA-Style Method Section: Procedure Subsection
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Student example of measures description
You will need 4 paragraphs like this! One for the IV and one for EACH of your DVs
Results section
General APA Guidelines on Writing the Results Section
Your main priority in the Results section is to report on the tests of your hypothesis and tell your reader whether or not you obtained evidence in support of your research hypotheses, or failed to do so
Tie your writing closely to the hypotheses.
Restate the hypothesis near the beginning of the paragraph
Identify the type of test used to assess it
Discuss all the hypotheses in the order in which you presented them in the Introduction
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What Doesn’t Go in the Results Section
Remember that the Results section is not the place to speculate about why you got the results you did (you will do that in the Discussion), nor is it the place to say why you studied what you did (you should have done that in the Literature Review/Rationale) or to say how you did things (you should have done that in the Method section)
Just tell the reader what you found
Try to avoid saying things like, “even though the results were not significant, men did X more than women”. If it wasn’t a significant result, best to not interpret it
Don’t say something that is not backed up by your results
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Reporting Results
Reporting the results of a t-test:
1) First, type of statistical test performed
An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare (your DV measure) _________ in (IV level / condition 1) ________and (IV level / condition 2)________ conditions.
For example:
An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare the amount of hours people watch TV per day for people who own their home and people that do not own their home.
Here, the DV = amount of hours people watch TV per day
Here, the IV = home-ownership
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Reporting Results
2) Second, state the hypothesis
“It was hypothesized that people who owned their own home would watch fewer hours of TV per day than people who did not own their home.”
3) Third, state the findings
“There was a significant difference in the hours spent watching TV per day based on ownership of the home (t (156) = -3.914, p = .002).”
4) Fourth, state the direction of the results
Specifically, people who owned their own home watched significantly less TV per day (M = 2.2, SD = 0.83) than people who did not own their own home (M = 3.8, SD = 1.22).
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Reporting the Results (All put together)
1) An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare the amount of hours people watch TV per day for people who own their home and people that do not own their home. 2) It was hypothesized that people who owned their own home would watch fewer hours of TV per day than people who did not own their home. 3) There was a significant difference in the hours spent watching TV per day based on ownership of the home (t (156) = -3.914, p <.05). 4) Specifically, people who owned their own home watched significantly less TV per day (M = 2.2, SD = 0.83) than people who did not own their own home (M = 3.8, SD = 1.22).
What are the results for our data?
On webcampus, 1 word file have been uploaded, providing the results of the independent t-tests.
You will need to following pieces of information
N, mean, and Std. deviation for each of the groups
t, df, and Sig (2-tailed)
How to find the information
You will report the inferential statistics in the following way:
t(198) = -2.065, p = .040
t(df) = t-value, p = Sig.-value
How to find the information
Reporting the Results (All put together)
…. There was a significant difference in depression based on body dissatisfaction (t (198) = -2.06, p = 0.04). Specifically, people who had low body dissatisfaction reported less depression (M = 2.03, SD = 1.05) than people who high body dissatisfaction (M = 2.31, SD = 0.84).
There was a significant difference in DV based on IV (t(df) = t-value, p = Sig.-value). Specifically, people who had low body dissatisfaction reported less depression (M = X.XX, SD = X.XX) than people who high body dissatisfaction (M = X.XX, SD = X.XX).
For your paper
In addition to writing the results following the template provided above, you will also need to make a table
Be sure to refer to the table in the text; don’t just stick it in without warning
A NOTE ON P-VALUES
In order for a t-test to be significant, the p-value (the Sig.- two-tailed value) must be less than .05
p-value of .45 is NOT significant
P-value of .023 IS significant
Please provide exact p-values
E.g., p = 0.012
If p-value is .000 in table, please write p < .001.
Discussion section
Discussion
In this section the already presented results are discussed and conclusions are drawn from them.
The objective is to provide an interpretation of your results and support for all of your conclusions,
You should discuss your findings in light of 1) past research (generally accepted knowledge, if appropriate) and 2) thoughts and knowledge about your methodology.
It may be appropriate to repeat the MAIN results, but this is not the primary aim of this section.
The significance of findings should be clearly described.
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This is often a difficult section to write, since drawing conclusions from the given data or theoretical results is not always straightforward.
Drawing conclusions is an exercise in logic, requires some knowledge of the literature and some experience of the object being studied.
Discussion
Common Mistakes
Combined with Results
New results discussed
Broad statements
Incorrectly discussing inconclusive results, or incorrectly interpreting the findings
E.g., saying your findings were significant, when they were not
Missing information
Discussion
What should be covered in the discussion?
Did the study confirm/deny the hypothesis?
If not, did the results provide an alternative hypothesis? What interpretation can be made?
Do results agree with other research? Sources of error/anomalous data? If different from other research, why might that be?
Implications of study for field
Suggestions for improvement and future research?
Relate to previous research
Writing the Discussion Section
Decide if each hypothesis is supported, or rejected.
Explain all of your observations as much as possible, focusing on explaining what the observation means.
Decide if the design adequately addressed the hypothesis, and whether or not it was properly controlled.
Try to offer alternative explanations if reasonable alternatives exist.
Discussion Section
First paragraph
State major findings
Middle paragraphs
Base each on a major result - Always focus on your results
Never discuss prior work without reference to your work
More middle paragraphs
Discuss if there are implications of the findings
Are the findings useful in some way?
Discussion Section
More middle paragraphs
No study is perfect: You should also discuss the limitations of the study
What are some problems with the study? What might make us have less faith in the results?
More middle paragraphs
Studies leave us curious: You should also discuss future directions of this study
The results of the study might have sparked ideas that future research might address; what are some of your ideas?
Last paragraph
“In summary…” (2-3 sentences)
“In conclusion…” (biggest message, return to Intro, avoid speculation, avoid “need more work”)
You may suggest future directions, such as how the experiment might be modified to accomplish another objective.
One experiment will not answer an overall question, so keeping the big picture in mind, where do you go next? The best studies open up new avenues of research. What questions remain?
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Discussion Writing - outline
Overview of findings
Paragraph about H1: was it supported or not. How does that compare to previous research? If different, why might that be?
Paragraph about H2: was it supported or not. How does that compare to previous research? If different, why might that be?
Paragraph about H3: was it supported or not. How does that compare to previous research? If different, why might that be?
Implications of your findings - How might the findings be useful? In intervention, prevention, treatment, policy?
Limitations
Future directions
Take-away message
Style in Writing the Discussion Section
When you refer to information, distinguish results generated by your own study from results from previous research.
Refer to work done by specific individuals (including yourself) in past tense.
Refer to generally accepted facts and principles in present tense.
For example, "Doofus, in a 1989 survey, found that anemia in basset hounds was correlated with advanced age. Anemia is a condition in which there is insufficient hemoglobin in the blood."
QUESTIONS?