lab report(psychology) spss

A Twelve to Fifteen Word Title Goes Here and Mentions the IV and DVs of Your Study in the Report

Your Name

La Trobe University

Campus

Abstract

An Abstract is a single paragraph, without indentation, that summarizes the key points of the manuscript in 120 words. The purpose of the Abstract is to provide the reader with a brief overview of the paper. You need to include information on each section of the paper. If a lab report, be sure to inlcude all sections of the report from introduction to conclusion. You should say something about the aims and hypotheses, method, results, whether your hypothesis was supported and the conclusion. References are not needed in the Abstract.

A Twelve to Fifteen Word Title Goes Here and Mentions the IV and DVs of Your Study in the Report

(Exactly as it appears on the Title Page)

This is where the body of your paper begins. This is the introduction to your report.

The introduction should set the scene for the report, provide referenced key definitions, explain what problem you are addressing and why it is important. Refer to section 2.05 of the APA Manual for specifics on writing the introduction.

The main body paragraphs of the essay follow directly on from the introduction. Body paragraphs each contain information on the background literature you have read to help develop your study. This includes information to help the reader understand what you are observing, why and what method will be used to do this. Each body paragraph should include an introductory sentence to highlight its relevance, detail experimental research to provide evidence for the point you want to make, and a concluding sentence to make your final point about that part of your argument leading into the next idea you want to raise.

The last paragraph of the introduction details the aims and hypothesis for the experiment. These should logically flow on from what has been described above (i.e. the reader shouldn’t be surprised you have these expectations because you will have already presented information to justify why you think this might happen). The introduction does not have subheadings, should be in past tense and use the 3rd person (no ‘I’ or ‘we’ – rather “The current study aimed to…”).

Method (APA Level Heading 1)

The Method must contain 3 sections as detailed below (there typically isn’t any writing here between the heading Method and Participants). Refer to section 2.06 of the APA manual for specifics on writing the Method.

Participants (APA Level Heading 2)

This section needs to detail the characteristics of the participants/subjects in your study. Include information that you can accurately describe that is relevant to your study, or define how you made a judgement about that characteristic if you did not collect data on it (e.g. observational studies that measured age).

Materials (APA Level Heading 2)

This section details the materials used in the study to allow someone to replicate it in the future. It does not include pens and paper, but does include information about how the data were collected/recorded. This section could refer the reader to materials in the appendix if needed.

Procedure (APA Level Heading 2)

This section provides all the details about how the study was conducted in order to collect data to test the aim and hypothesis. It also needs to include enough detail to let someone set up the same parameters to replicate the study at a later point. It would also allow a critical reader to evaluate the efficacy of your design in terms of its ability to accurately test the hypothesis (applies to all sections of the Method). The last parts of this section may describe how the data was treated in order to obtain the results.

Data Analysis

This section details the steps and decision making criteria used to analyse the data in an overall sense. It sets up the structure of the Results section.

Results (APA Level Heading 1)

The results section must detail the data that will help you and your reader determine the outcomes of the study. It needs to explain what kind of data it is and typically presents a Figure or a Table to assist interpretation. The Figure/Table should not contain the same kind of information, nor should they include information that is repeated in text. The next paragraph provides an example layout from a previous study. Refer to section 2.07 of the APA manual for specifics on writing the Results.

Figure 1 below depicts the mean refractive error observed between baseline and stress conditions in diopters .

Baseline

Stress

-1.75

-1.5

-1.25

-1

-0.75

-0.5

-0.25

0

0.25

0.5

Condition

Refractive Error (D)

Figure 1. Mean refractive error in dioptres (D) and standard error, for baseline and stress conditions .

Figure 1 demonstrates that mean refractive error was greater in the stress condition in comparison to the baseline condition .

Discussion (APA Level Heading 1)

The Discussion needs to detail the outcomes of your investigation. Refer to section 2.08 of the APA manual for specifics on writing the Discussion.

The first paragraph of the discussion restates the aim and hypothesis of the study and then make a statement as to whether the hypothesis was supported or not.

The next few paragraphs compare the outcomes of your study with those of literature presented in the introduction and possibly new literature to discuss why your results occurred – this is a discussion of the theoretical implications of the study, i.e. about what your results mean for the understanding of the phenomena under investigation.

The next paragraph discusses the main flaws (methodological limitations) that may have impacted the results. It is possible to make suggestions about how to fix these for next time if you wish.

This paragraph makes suggestions about the potential future directions for the study. This may include suggestions about using a different paradigm or method of measurement (be specific about what these may be). It also makes suggestions about what the next question to investigate may be.

The last paragraph of the discussion is the conclusion, and it ties up all aspects of the investigation. Think of it as a summary of the main points of your discussion.

References

American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

To review guidelines for citations of articles that you have read in text and how to list them in the References section at the end of the essay, refer to the APA manual, Library Referencing tool, the FSTE First Year Survival Guide, or the other resources discussed in class. It is ok to google APA format questions but remember to ensure that you are looking at 6th edition APA as it is the latest edition and the only version accepted in the marking criteria.

Take note of the "hanging indent" style for references. The easiest way to create hanging indents is to type your references without worrying about indentation and when you are finished, select all the references at once, right click, select ‘Paragraph’ and then select ‘Hanging’ from the dropdown menu under Specia in the Indentaion section. Click Ok.

On p. 189, the 6th ed. manual says “We recommend that when DOIs are available, you include them”—so if you can’t find it, that’s ok.

APA format is quite detailed and has a number or rules to follow. You should ensure that you check your APA format using the resources discussed in class prior to the final submission of your essay.

�Delete this information – this is for reference purposes only

�Sentence telling the reader what is about to be presented (e.g. the type of data and statistics in the Figure).

�The Figure caption must be formatted like this and be descriptive enough for the reader to know what it means without reading the text.

�This sentence explains the patterns in the data with reference to the Figure. In a report with statistical analysis, the outcomes of the analysis would then be presented next.