Homework For Statistiecs For Psych Sci

PSYS 054 Final Paper Guide

1

PSYS 054 Final Paper Guidei Due Date: May 2nd (the last day of class). Hand in your typed and stapled paper at the front of the room when you come to class; please, no folders or binders. Overall Point Value: 45 points Overall Page length: 10 pages MAX. Points will be taken off for papers that exceed this length. Page length does not include title page, abstract, references, or SPSS output appendix. Spacing: The entire paper must be typed and double-spaced. Format & Writing Style: All papers MUST be in APA format. Please refer to the links on Blackboard for more information regarding APA format and style. When writing, your ideas should be organized into complete sentences and paragraphs, ideas should be fully developed, sentences should be written in a concise manner, and smooth transitions should be included between paragraphs. Unless specified, both uppercase and lowercase letters are used. For this course, please use a 12-point Times New Roman font. Current APA format dictates that you must italicize (and not underline) for emphasis when appropriate. Overall Structure: The typical structure of APA manuscripts includes the following sections listed in the order they need to appear in your paper (omit numbering of sections in your paper).

1.Title Page 2.Abstract 3.Introduction

4.Method 5.Results 6.Discussion

7.References

Finally, please include a copy of your core statistical analyses (SPSS output) as an appendix to your paper. IMPORTANT NOTE: The Final Paper is YOUR OWN WORK AND NO ONE ELSE’S. Identical or unusually high similarities between student papers will be referred to the Center for Student Ethics and Standards, as will inappropriate citations. Lack of understanding of these policies will not be taken into account when referring. If you have questions about proper citation for your paper, consult with Keith or your TA prior to handing in your paper.

PSYS 054 Final Paper Guide

2

Title Page The title page consists of a running head, the title, and the authors’ names and affiliations. Page Numbers: Page numbers appear on every page of the manuscript. Key Features:

• Located in the right hand corner/header. • On every page of the manuscript starting with the title page.

Running Head: This is a shortened version of your title and in publications is used as the header throughout the article. Key Features:

• Located in the upper left hand of the page in the header • 50 character max • On the title page, must include the words “Running head:” and the words that

follow must be in all UPPERCASE letters. • Only the shortened version of the title, but not the words “Running head:”, are

included on every page after the title page. Title: This is the actual title for your paper and APA recommends that it is between 10- 12 words long. The title should be a simple summary of the main idea of the study and should identify the IV and DV of your study. It should not contain any “extra” or superfluous information (e.g., “A study of…”) or have the words “method” or “results” in it. The line after the title contains the name of the author. The line after the author contains your affiliation (University of Vermont). Key Features:

• Located in the middle of the page, center alignment. • In upper and lowercase letters. • Title is roughly 8-12 words long. • Title gives an adequate summary of the main idea and contains reference to the

variables being examined (IVs + DVs). • Title, name, and affiliation are in correct order and on separate lines.

Good Title: Parenting Styles and Children’s Ability to Delay Gratification Bad Title: A Study of Memoryii NOTE: Students will lose credit for unnecessary extra information such as fancy coversheets or graphics.

PSYS 054 Final Paper Guide

3

Abstract

The abstract is a brief paragraph that provides an accurate summary of your study. While the abstract is in the early part of the paper, it is often easier to write once you have written the rest of the paper. The abstract is self-contained so any person reading it should quickly get the “gist” of your study. The abstract is probably the most important part of your manuscript because it is often what determines whether someone will read your study or not. Think back to when you did your literature search on PsycINFO. The studies with clear and concise abstracts were likely to have been very helpful in determining if you should read the article and the confusing abstracts probably left you scratching your head! Key Features:

• Is on a page that is separate and between the title page and introduction. • Is 120 words or less. • Is accurate, self-contained, non-evaluative, clearly written, and to the point.

Listed below is a helpful guideline on what to include in your abstract. However, you do not need to follow this structure explicitly.

1. The problem under investigation, in one sentence, if possible. 2. The participants, in as much detail as is important to the interpretation of your

results. 3. The experimental method, including materials (usually tests by full name) and

procedure. 4. The findings, including statistical significance levels. 5. The conclusions and implications or applications

PSYS 054 Final Paper Guide

4

Introduction

The introduction is typically divided into 3 parts: (1) the problem under investigation, (2) the literature review, and (3) the purpose and rationale.

The introduction introduces the problem under investigation. This usually occurs in the first paragraph. It answers the following questions:

� What is the point of the study? � Are there any theoretical implications?

1. The introduction also includes a discussion of previous literature including

prior relevant findings, relevant methodological issues, and continuity between prior research and your work. This is typically the “bulk” of the introduction.

2. The purpose and rationale for your study is also included in the introduction.

Here you define your independent and dependent variables and make your statement of hypotheses. Some researchers save this information for the end of the introduction (usually a page after the literature review discussing the present study). Other researchers will intersperse their hypotheses throughout the literature review and contain a summary paragraph of them at the end of the introduction. The purpose and rational should answer the following questions:

� What variables did I plan to manipulate? � What results did I expect and why? � What is the logic behind the hypotheses?

When writing your introduction you should start with more general information and then become more specific. Try to visualize the picture of a funnel. Your literature review starts out with a larger, general review of prior research and then gradually narrows ending up with your very specific hypotheses. For a 10 page paper, the length of your introduction should be between 3-4 pages. If you are greatly under or over this page length, you are either including not enough prior research or too much. Furthermore, students will lose credit for superfluous information. An example of this would be would be the inclusion of literature unnecessary to the problem your study investigates. This is the only section of your paper where the name of the section is not used as the heading. That is, the word “Introduction” is not used as a heading. Instead the title of your study is center-aligned at the beginning of your introduction. For the rest of your paper, use correct APA style headings as necessary to organize your paper. Below is the formatting for the different levels of headings. Use as many levels as necessary to organize your paper. You will need headings to label your paper sections (Method, Results, etc.) and subsections (Participants, Materials, etc.) to make your paper easy to follow for your readers.

PSYS 054 Final Paper Guide

5

Level of heading Format

1 Centered, Bold, Upper and Lowercase

2 Flush Left, Bold, Upper and Lowercase

3 Indented, bold, lowercase, ending with a period.

4 Indented, bold, italicized, lowercase, ending with a period.

5 Indented, italicized, lowercase, ending with a period.

Method The method section explains what you did and how you did it. It may seem like a lot of detail, but you want to include enough information so that another researcher could replicate your study. Your method section should be written in the past tense. This section is divided into three sub-sections: (1) participants, (2) materials, and (3) procedure. Participants/Subjects: If you are collecting data from humans (which is the case for all PSYS 054 projects), you will use the heading "Participants" ("Subjects" is usually used with animals). The purpose of this section is to describe your sample. The Participants section is usually only one paragraph. You want to include detailed information about your participants but not information that is so detailed that the reader could figure out the identity of your participants. You should answer the following questions to the best of your ability:

� How many participants? � Are they male or female, or some of each? � How old are they? � Are they of different races/ethnicities? If so, what percentage? � Any other demographics relevant to your study? (e.g., 60% are currently involved

in a romantic relationship) � Where did they come from? How were they selected? � What are the conditions of participants (e.g., payment, extra credit, nothing)?

Materials: In this section you describe what types of things you needed to run your study so that another researcher could replicate it. Here is where you would include any information on surveys and any other equipment that you used. Because many of you are using psychological measures as your only materials you could title this section “Measures”. You should devote 1 paragraph for EACH measure and should include the following information:

PSYS 054 Final Paper Guide

6

� The full name of the measure � Where it came from / who created it � What it assesses � Are you using the full measure, a short form, or a sub-set of items? � Information on how items are measured (e.g., 7-point Likert scale) � Reliability and validity information (if available) � Example of a sample item

Method continued Measure Example: Storm and Stress Scale, General and Target (Holmbeck & Hill, 1988). This measure assesses the extent to which one holds the belief that adolescence is a time of storm and stress primarily in terms of the parent-child relationship. Items are presented in a 7-point Likert format ranging from 1 (never or almost never true) to 7 (always or almost always true). Two-week test-retest reliability is reported at .87, and convergent validity with similar scales is estimated at .80-.85. A sample item is “Teenagers fight a lot with their parents.” Procedure In this section you need to explain exactly what you did and how you did it so your study could be replicated (sort of like a narrative from start to finish). This section needs to be written in paragraphs. For a questionnaire study such as the ones done in this class, your procedure might only be a single paragraph. This section includes the following information:

� Type of research design (e.g., experimental, correlational) � Your instructions to participants � Debriefing (primarily used with experiments)

Results The results section summarizes the data you collected and the statistical treatment of it (both descriptive and inferential). Here you are stating the main results and findings, even if they did not come out the way you thought they would. You should also restate or reference the hypothesis you are testing (e.g., “With respect to the hypothesis that X will affect Y we found that…” or “There was support for the hypothesis that X is

PSYS 054 Final Paper Guide

7

associated with Y”). Remember, you are writing in a way that is reporting the data and statistics as a way to substantiate your claims. Key Features:

• Present group data and not data on individual participants. • Include means, standard deviations, and/or standard errors. • Make reference to your hypotheses. • Make reference to your tables and figures (see Table 1). • Present statistics (in text) including degrees of freedom and the probability level

(e.g., p < .05). Include one space before and after equal signs and less than and greater than signs.

Remember the format for writing up results for prior data viewed in lab? You will generally follow it for writing your own project results section. It is likely that you will only need to write one or two paragraphs for the results section. We are looking for concise and to-the-point writing. Of course, depending on the type of statistical analysis run, your language may change.

We analyzed our results using a (fill in stat test here). There appears to be/does not appear to be a significant effect for (fill in independent variable) for (dependent variable). The subjects in the ___ condition showed more_____ (M = #, SD = #) than subjects in the ____ condition (M = #, SD = #). This does/does not support the hypothesis that (fill in with your hypothesis). [REPEAT AS NECESSARY].

Discussion The discussion section is the conclusion of your research paper. You are explaining your findings in relation to prior research and current theory. You also need to include any limitations of your study (e.g., validity, confounds, directionality concerns). Your discussion section should be at least one page; it is likely that it will be longer. Key Features:

� Include a clear statement of support or nonsupport of hypotheses. � Similarities or differences of results to prior research (refer back to lit. review). � Evaluate and interpret results in reference to current theory. � Discuss the validity of your experimental results. Did your study accurately test

your hypotheses? Do your findings generalize to others? � Suggest the “next step”: What needs to be done in future experiments. � Comment on the importance of your findings.

PSYS 054 Final Paper Guide

8

References References are usually used to develop your introduction and discussion. You MUST include at least 4 references in your paper. However, you can only include a reference if you have cited it somewhere in your paper. All references must be in APA format, and begin on a new page after the discussion section. Watch out! Many but not all psychological journals will use APA format for references, and default imports from Google Scholar or Zotero are often not fully in APA format. Key Features:

• MUST BE IN APA STYLE!!! • Must be in alphabetical order. • Must be double-spaced. • Must have a hanging indent.

The APA Manual has an excellent chapter on how to construct your reference list. It also shows you how to do references for almost any source including journal articles, book chapters, monographs, technical reports, audiovisual media, internet articles, etc. Listed below are a couple of examples for sources that students typically use. Please refer to the APA Manual or related websites for more information on references. Journal Article Hummert, M. L., & Shaner, J. L. (1994). Patronizing speech to the elderly: Relationship to

stereotyping. Communication Studies, 45, 145-158.

Book Chapter Keating, D. (1990). Adolescent thinking. In S. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliot (Eds.), At the

threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 54-89). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University

Press.

iThe information provided in the PSYS 054 Final Paper Guide was prepared from the American Psychological Association (2010) Publication Manual (6th ed.), Washington, D.C. ii Example of good + bad titles taken from Leary, Chapter 15