Final Paper

Running head: FINAL PAPER INSTRUCTIONS 1

Instructions for Paper V: Final Paper (Worth 75 Points)

Ryan J. Winter

Florida International University

PAPER V: FINAL PAPER INSTRUCTIONS 2

Purpose of Paper V (Final Paper)

1). Psychological Purpose

The psychological purpose behind Paper V is to present your final paper. Essentially this

paper will be similar to any article you would find in an academic journal. It will include

a Title Page, Abstract, Literature Review (study one), Methods Section (study one),

Results Section (study one), Brief Discussion Section (study one), Literature Review

(study two), Methods Section (study two), Results Section (study two), Brief Discussion

Section (study two), General Discussion Section, References, and Appendices. The good

news is that for most of this paper you will simply combine Paper I, Paper II, Paper III,

and Paper IV (including any needed revisions) for Paper V. Two new components for

Paper V include the Abstract and a General Discussion section.

The Abstract is one of the first items readers see. You need to convey a lot of

information in this very short paragraph, as the potential reader will decide whether to

read your full paper based on the information in the Abstract. There are several elements

needed in the Abstract about both of your studies, including information about: a). your

research questions, b). your participants, c). your experimental methodology, d). your

findings, and e). your conclusions. Being able to write a precise yet succinct Abstract

takes some effort, so make sure you go through several drafts before settling on your final

version. Make sure to include keywords / key phrases as well (remember entering

keywords into PsycInfo when you searched for articles? The authors actually

recommended those keywords, so if you want to increase the number of times your paper

comes up for readers, use good keywords!)

Your General Discussion section will also be new in Paper V. Here, you will summarize

your results from BOTH studies and draw conclusions, but you will NOT use statistics

again. This section will evaluate both of your studies and see if (and how) they connect

and lead you to general conclusions. That is, your general discussion is the end of your

story, so make sure to tie it back to information that you presented throughout both of

your studies. You can also identify flaws in your study designs as well as propose new

directions for future research in this section.

2). APA Formatting Purpose

Paper V should follow all APA formatting guidelines. See our feedback on prior papers,

use Chapter 14 in your textbook, and look at the instructions on the next page for help

with formatting

3). Writing Purpose

Paper V is your final paper in the course, and it should reflect the skills and knowledge

you have developed throughout the semester. You should be able to convey information

to an educated reader, but one who is unfamiliar with your specific study and the content

PAPER V: FINAL PAPER INSTRUCTIONS 3

area. More importantly, many students use Paper V as their writing sample for graduate

school applications, thus your paper should be grammatically correct and easy to read yet

informative for a reader who may have little to no knowledge of your specific topic. Thus

educate your reader, but keep in mind that your reader is probably intelligent.

Note that the plagiarism limit for Paper V is 50%. I expect less overlap in your lit reviews and

discussions than in the methods / results. As usual, references, citations, and predictions are not

included in the plagiarism limit.

PAPER V: FINAL PAPER INSTRUCTIONS 4

Instructions for Paper V: Final Paper (Worth 75 Points)

Note that these instructions relate to the whole paper, but I concentrate on the Abstract and

Discussion below since those are new elements in this paper. Refer to the instructions for Paper

III: Study Two Literature Review for information on the study one literature review, methods,

results, and discussion and the study two literature review and references. Refer to Paper IV:

Study Two Methods, Results and Discussion for information on the methods, results and

discussion for study two.

1. Title Page: I expect the following format (1 point):

a. This Title Page section will be one (1) page in proper APA format

2. Abstract (7 points) NEW SECTION

a. The Abstract starts on its own page, with the word Abstract centered (not bolded).

b. Make sure your header and page number is still on this abstract page

c. The abstract should be between 150 and 200 words, and must include ALL of the

following elements

i. Identify your general problem or research question

ii. Note your participants

iii. Note your experimental method

iv. Note your findings for both studies

v. Note your conclusions about the studies as a whole

d. Keywords / phrases are required for your paper (at least 5 keywords or phrases)

3. Literature Review (Study One): I expect the following format (6 points):

a. Include your revised literature review from Paper III: Study Two Literature

Review. Those instructions continue to apply to this section (recall that you

revised the study one literature review for Paper III, so that Paper III literature

review will be your most recent version of that study one literature review)

b. The study one literature review must have minimum of two (2) full pages of text (not including the hypotheses) and a maximum of five (5) pages

4. Methods Section (Study One): I expect the following format (6 points): a. Include your revised methods section from Paper III: Study Two Literature

Review. Those instructions continue to apply to this section

b. There is no set minimum or maximum on the length of the methods section, but I would expect at least a page as you detail your materials and procedure. Missing

important aspects of your IVs and DVs or presenting them in a confused manner

will lower your score in this section

5. Results Section (Study One): I expect the following format (6 points): a. Include your revised results section from Paper III: Study Two Literature Review.

Those instructions continue to apply to this section

b. Like the methods section, there is no page minimum of maximum for the results section, though I would expect it to be at least a paragraph or two for each of the

dependent variables you analyzed

6. Brief Discussion (Study One): I expect the following format (1 point): a. Include a brief description of your study one findings (but avoid using statistics)

PAPER V: FINAL PAPER INSTRUCTIONS 5

b. I expect a paragraph or two, revised from Paper III: Study Two Literature Review.

7. Literature Review (Study Two): I expect the following format (6 points):

a. Include your revised literature review from Paper III: Study Two Literature

Review. Those instructions continue to apply to this section

b. The study two literature review must have minimum of two (2) full pages of text (with or without hypotheses) and a maximum of five (5) pages

8. Methods Section (Study Two): I expect the following format (6 points): a. Include your revised methods section from Paper IV: Study Two Methods,

Discussion, and Results. Those instructions continue to apply to this section

b. There is no set minimum or maximum on the length of the methods section, but I would expect at least a page as you detail your materials and procedure. Missing

important aspects of your IVs and DVs or presenting them in a confused manner

will lower your score in this section

9. Results Section (Study Two): I expect the following format (6 points): a. Include your revised results section from Paper IV: Study Two Methods, Results,

Discussion. Those instructions continue to apply to this section

b. Like the methods section, there is no page minimum of maximum for the results section, though I would expect it to be at least a paragraph or two for each of the

dependent variables you analyzed

10. Brief Discussion (Study Two): I expect the following format (1 point): a. Include a brief description of your study one findings (but avoid using statistics) b. I expect a paragraph or two, revised from Paper IV: Study Two Methods, Results,

Discussion

11. General Discussion (12 points) NEW SECTION a. Write the word General Discussion at the top of this section and center it. This

section comes directly at the end of the brief discussion section from study two,

so the general discussion section DOES NOT start on its own page. See the

example paper for some formatting visual hints.

b. At the beginning of this section, give a brief reminder of your predictions from both study one and study two. Then provide a discussion of your results. In

English (not statistics), tell me what you found. In this discussion, you should talk

about all of the following:

i. An explanation of your findings – across both studies, did your results support or not support your hypothesis?

1. If you found support, tie it in with the prior research you cited in your literature review as well as your predictions. You may want to

refer back to your literature review, and re-cite some of the studies

you mentioned there (I really recommend that, in fact!).

2. If you didn’t find any support for your hypotheses, contrast your findings with prior research. You can highlight differences in your

methodologies. You may also find other studies that either support

your results or help explain why you found what you found.

3. If one study found support and the other did not, try to explain the discrepancy.

4. In a nutshell, tell me how both studies help inform the reader about the nature of your variables and how they impact human behavior.

PAPER V: FINAL PAPER INSTRUCTIONS 6

ii. Next, examine study limitations – would other methods have been better? Were there problems with your study that a follow-up study should fix?

iii. Propose future directions for research – If you could do your studies over again, what would you change? Or how might you expand them?

iv. Optional: Talk about the ethics of your study – Did you follow ethical guidelines? Were participants harmed in any manner

c. The general discussion section must have minimum of one (1) full page of text and a maximum of three (3) pages. If it is only one pages, it better be very, very

good! I actually expect to see closer to two pages

12. References: I expect the following format (6 points): a. Include your revised references from Paper III: Literature Review (Study Two)

i. Include any new references you may have cited in the discussion section b. References start on their own page c. Follow all APA formatting rules for the references d. We will mark off per number of error, so really make sure to proofread this. The

same error in six references will leave you with zero points!

13. Appendices (3 points) a. Here, simply include the eight appendices (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H) from

Papers II and IV. Make sure each are clearly labeled. You might have more than

eight, but you should have eight minimum

14. Overall writing quality (8 points) a. Make sure you check your paper for proper spelling and grammar. The FIU

writing center is available if you want someone to look over your paper (an extra

eye is always good!) and give you advice. I highly recommend them, as writing

quality will become even more important on future papers. NOTE that this

writing quality is nearly 10% of your final paper grade, so I suggest you

proofread!

b. You can also visit the Research Methods Help Center for some help or just someone to glance over your final paper.

Other Guidelines for Paper V: The Final Paper

▪ 1). Pay attention to the page length requirements ▪ 2). Page size is 8 1/2 X 11” with all 4 margins set at on inch on all sides. You must use a

12-point Times New Roman font. Double space EVERYTHING

▪ 3). When summarizing articles for your lit review and doing so in your own words, make sure you still cite the original source. Always use proper referencing procedures, which

means that:

o If you are inserting a direct quote from any source, it must be enclosed in quotations and followed by a parenthetical reference to the source. “Let’s say I am

directly quoting this current sentence and the next. I would then cite it with the

author name, date of publication, and the page number for the direct quote”

(Winter, 2016, p . 4).

1. Note: We will deduct points if you quote more than three times in the whole paper, so keep quotes to a minimum. Paraphrase instead, but

make sure you still give the original author credit for the material by citing

it or using the author’s name (“In this article, Smith noted that …” or “In

this article, the authors noted that…”)

PAPER V: FINAL PAPER INSTRUCTIONS 7

▪ 4). 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.

▪ Finally, go look at the supporting documents for this paper. Like prior papers, there is a checklist, a grade rubric, and an example paper for Paper V. All will give you more

information about what we are specifically looking for as well as a visual example of

how to put it all together in your paper. Good luck!