Summary paper
SONA ALTERNATIVE SUMMARY PAPER INSTRUCTIONS 1
SONA ALTERNATIVE SUMMARY PAPER INSTRUCTIONS 1
SONA ALTERNATIVE ASSIGNMENT (10 points possible)
Carla Abad
Florida International University
Article Summary Paper (10 possible points)
This assignment is an alternative to participating in a research study. You must complete this assignment if you are unbale or choose not to participate in research.
For this assignment, you must choose an article to summarize from the articles that are provided on Canvas.
What is a summary paper?
This paper will require you to read and summarize the major elements of an empirical research paper. I suggest also looking at the example papers, which will give you a nice visual image of APA style that you can mimic in your own paper.
Instructions
Please follow the instructions and guidelines below. If you are unclear about any of this information, please ask.
This summary paper will include the following things:
1. Title page: 1 page (0.5 points)
· Use APA style to present the appropriate information:
· A header must be included and formatted APA style
· The header should include a short title of your creation (no more than 50 characters) that is in ALL CAPS. This header is left-justified (flush left on the page). The header should be a shorter version of the title of the paper.
· There must be a page number on the title page that is right justified. It is included in the header
· Your paper title appears on the title page. This is usually 12 words or less, and the first letter of each word is capitalized. It should be descriptive of the paper and it should be bolded.
· Your name will appear on the title page, make sure to leave an extra space between your title and name
· Your institution will appear on the title page as well
· For all papers, make sure to double-space EVERYTHING and use Times New Roman font. This includes everything from the title page through the references.
· This is standard APA format. ALL of your future papers will include a similar title page.
2. Summary of the Article: 1 ½ page minimum, 3 pages maximum (8 points)
An article summary should briefly summarize, in your own words, the article research question and how it was addressed in the article. Below are some things to include in your summary.
· The summary itself will include the following: (Note – if the article involved more than one experiment, you can either choose to focus on one of the studies specifically or summarize the general design for all of the studies. If you choose to summarize only one of the studies in the article, please state so in the summary).
· Description of the overall purpose of the study (this can be as little as one sentence, and no more than 2 sentences)
· Type of study
· Was it experimental or correlational? How do you know?
· Variables:
· What were the independent and dependent variables? Be specific with these. Define the terms independent and dependent variable and make sure to identify how they are operationally defined in the article.
· If the study you are summarizing has a correlational design, remember that the variables you describe are not an IV or DV (if there is no manipulation, there is no IV or DV!).
· Participants:
· How many were there? How were they recruited? What are some key characteristics of the participants (i.e., gender, ethnicity, age).
· Method:
· Was there random assignment to groups?
· What did the participants do in the study?
· How was data collected (online, in person, archival data, etc.)
· Findings:
· Note the findings (What were their results/findings?). Don’t include the statistical analyses that they did, instead, focus on the overall interpretation for these findings.
· Make sure to cite the paper you are summarizing; I suggest doing so in the first sentence of the paper!
3. References – 1 page (0.5 points)
· Provide the reference for this article in proper APA format (see the book Chapter 14 for appropriate referencing guidelines or the APA PowerPoint posted on Canvas).
· If you cited other sources during either your summary, reference them as well (though you do not need to cite other sources in this assignment – this is merely optional IF you happen to bring in other sources).
· Formatting counts here, so make sure to italicize where appropriate and watch which words you are capitalizing!
4. Grammar and Writing Quality (1 point)
· Few psychology courses are as writing intensive as Research Methods (especially Research Methods Two next semester!). As such, I want to make sure that you develop writing skills early. This is something that needs special attention, so make sure to proofread your papers carefully.
· Avoid run-on sentences, sentence fragments, spelling errors, and grammar errors. Writing quality will become more important in future papers, but this is where you should start to hone your writing skills.
· We will give you feedback on your papers, but I recommend seeking some help from the FIU writing center to make sure your paper is clear, precise, and covers all needed material. I also recommend asking a few of your group members to read over your paper and make suggestions. You can do the same for them!
Other guidelines:
· Page size is 8 1/2 X 11” with all 4 margins set one inch on all sides. You must use 12-point Times New Roman font (Note: these instructions are in 12 point Times New Roman font).
· As a general rule, ALL paragraphs and sentences are double spaced in APA papers. This includes the spacing in your Paper I: Article Summary Paper. It even includes the references, so make sure to double space EVERYTHING
· When summarizing the article in your own words, you need not continually cite the article throughout the rest of your critique. Nonetheless, you should follow proper referencing procedures, which means that:
· Make sure to cite the article you are summarizing; I suggest doing so in the first sentence of this paper!
· No direct quotes are allowed on this paper, paraphrase instead, but make sure you still give the original author credit for the material by citing him or using the author’s name (“In this article, Smith noted that …” or “In this article, the authors noted that…”)
· If you choose to reference any source other than your chosen article, it must be listed in a reference list.
· PLEASE use a spell checker to avoid unnecessary errors. Proofread everything you write. I actually recommend reading some sentences aloud to see if they flow well, or getting family or friends to read your work. Writing quality will become more important in future papers, so you should start working on that now!
If you have any questions about the articles, your ideas, or your writing, please ask! Although we won’t be able to review entire drafts of papers before they are handed in, we are very willing to discuss problems, concerns or issues that you might have.
If you need help with APA formatting, remember the resources you have at hand:
· APA PowerPoint (posted on Canvas)
· APA manual 7th edition (not required for this class, but very useful!)