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PSY3RPBWeek11-DAIreviewFinalReportstudentnotes6pp.pdf

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4/10/20

PSY3RPB: PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH PROJECT B •Tutorial 10, Week 11:

DIA Review and Final Report

Coordinator: Dr Melanie Murphy [email protected]

Assistant Coordinator: Aly Alipan [email protected]

ANNOUCEMENTS Monday October 19th is now a University Holiday, as a result the due dates for the Final Report and Module D Quiz have been adjusted as follows:

• Final Report Extension: Tuesday 20th October @ 9am

• Module D Quiz Extension: Tuesday 20th October @ 4pm

** Please note: Project Supervisors will not be responding to questions about the Final Report after 12pm Friday 16th October. Students are advised to post their questions to the LMS discussion board well in advance of this cut off time to ensure they are addressed.

TODAY

• Discuss DAI feedback

• Further discussion of the Results and Discussion sections

• General final report questions

• Split into project groups for focused discussion on sections of report

DAI REVIEW – POINTS RELEVANT TO FINAL REPORT

ABOUT THE MARKING PROCESS

• Assignments were allocated to markers randomly according to surname

• Marking commenced after a representative subset of assignments had been independently assessed by all markers and a meeting with the coordination team was completed to ensure consistent feedback and grading according to the rubric was applied.

• Markers were current PG students in the department with previous experience with teaching and marking statistics and/or had completed the DAI themselves (in addition to marking and tutoring experience in other psych subjects). • Markers had full access to all DAI materials on LMS and were in communication with the

coordination team throughout the marking process.

• Statistical analysis was performed on the returned marking to ensure consistency in grading. • This included examination of the overall frequency distribution, mean, SD, 95% CI and min and max

mark range for each marker, and ANOVA of grades from each marker with and without fails included to confirm the hypothesized equivalence of grades expected due to random allocation of assignments. • No significant differences between marker outcomes were obtained

• Markers provided notes in the event that they failed an assignment, and this was crosschecked by the coordination team to verify the result in accordance with the rubric and assignment instructions.

• Top marked assignments were also cross marked by the coordination team

INTRO TO DAI FEEDBACK

• The next slides detail the overall feedback markers provided to the coordination team after grading their assignment allocation.

• Not all of this feedback will apply to your DAI assignment, but may still be a useful set of reminders to take onboard for the final report. • This feedback is in addition to the personalized comments on

your assignment • Please review these carefully (both in text and summary

comment) when completing your final report.

mailto:[email protected]

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DAI: INTRODUCTION • Markers reported some concern with the following aspects of the introduction in

some assignments: • Use of research evidence

• Many reports would have benefitted from attempting to integrate and synthesise the literature presented in the background • This would provide a concise (i.e. saving word count) examination of key points and set up the direction

of the report

• For the final report: consider key themes in your research area and group them together when presenting the background literature • This applies not only to the provision of key definitions, but also the justification of who and what you are

measuring.

• Disconnection between Background information and report aims and hypotheses • Sometimes the intro often seemed quite different from their aims, resulting in a lack of

continuity of ideas. • When this occurred the report was disjointed and lacked flow as the content did not set up and test a

particular set of expectations or provide answers with respect to these. This then had consequences for assessment of the discussion because the rationale behind the recommendations was unclear.

• For the final report: Make sure each piece of information presented in the introduction has clear links to the aim and hypotheses your study is exploring • This will mean that the introduction is very targeted and will save words by avoiding superfluous

information • For each point you are making, ask yourself “How does this help the reader understand what I’m

trying to do?” • When drafting your hypotheses, look at each discipline-specific term you have included and ask

yourself, “Have I provided a definition for this and explained why it’s important?”

DAI: METHODS

• Markers did not flag any particularly frequent/more general issues arising across reports • Please consider your individual feedback in this section.

• Don’t forget that the use of the materials table is not typical APA, and the materials section of your final report should not be presented in this format (as discussed last week).

DAI: RESULTS • Markers reported issues frequently occurred with the reporting of:

• Demographic statistics • These were often not clearly reported (e.g. student would report the M and SD for study load overall, not listing the

DV measure or the levels of the IV) • For the Final Report: When reporting descriptive statistics, consider at which level of a category you need to report

this information • For example, is it useful to report the mean response to a survey of the sample overall, or should this be broken down

for particular categories or subsets of the participants within the sample?

• Presentation of redundant statistics • For example, number of students ran overlapping correlations and regressions, unaware of the redundancy in such

an analysis. • For the Final Report: Consider carefully the questions you are asking of your data and make sure the analysis

selected is the most appropriate way to address it. This also means not repeating yourself and answering the same question twice, in two different ways.

• General issues reporting results correctly to APA standard

• For the Final Report: Refer to Field and/or Pallant for basic guidance on this

• Leaving out important details like the effect size, post-hoc tests etc. • For the Final Report: Leaving out this information means that the outcome of the analysis might not have been fully

explained, or causes concern about the level of interpretation.

• Interpreting the findings of statistical tests needed more polish, e.g. reporting t-test as having a sig. difference between the IV and DV.

• For the Final Report: Be clear on what is going into the analysis, and what results are coming out in terms of the variables – this will help structure your discussion

• Be clear, concise, and don’t over interpret either!

DAI: DISCUSSION Markers reported similar issues to those discussed regarding the introduction • Many students just provided a summary of their findings and did not compare

them back to relevant literature. • Very few took the next step of trying to explain what those results meant. • For the final report: It is very important to reflect on the results in terms of what you set

out to explore, as described in the introduction. • What do your findings mean in terms of the constructs and theory your variables represent?

• A lot of students spent more time focusing on the methodological limitations (which were rarely discussed using relevant research) than they did interpreting their own findings. • A small sample size was the most cited limitation, students are encouraged to think

more critically about their study and what limitations beyond sample size may be. • For the final report: When designing the study all projects will have considered the

number of respondents/participants required to obtain enough power for the intended analyses. If your study met this number, then you should be reasonably confident that the statistics are robust and an effect would be found if present. • Therefore, significance/non-significance may due due to factors beyond sample size and is

worth critical theoretical examination in the main body of the discussion • When considering methodological limitations, reflect, for example, on the characteristics of the sample,

the nature of the measures, the experimental approach or manipulation (if applicable).

DAI: GENERAL ADVICE Overall, Markers raised the following points; • It was quite concerning how many students disregarded the word count and

exceeded this limit by >100 words • The highest of which was 1000 words.

• This was contributed to by verbose writing, a lack of confidence in deciding between information that was required and what could be excluded, and not using tables effectively to supplement what was in text (e.g. writing all participant demographics including n, M and SDs in-text instead of in a table).

• Writing paragraphs of only1-2 sentences was a common theme. To avoid these issues for the Final Report, the following is recommended:

• Draft, refine, redraft and repeat! • Be critical of your writing – avoid 4am red bull-induced writing on Oct 20th

• At each point reflect on how the information included builds your story; if it doesn’t add something – cut it. • Keep going back to your aims and hypotheses, your description of these will tell you

1) what needs to be explained in the intro, 2) the measures (variables) that need to be operationalised/described in the method, 3) the sequence of results, 4) the questions that must be addressed in the discussion

• Be savvy with your results, you must refer to tables and figures in text, but you don’t need to repeat all the numbers again – just describe the patterns if relevant.

WRITING YOUR PROJECT REPORT

§ You need to demonstrate your competency in describing all aspects of project development, design, analysis and interpretation (like a mini honours thesis)

§ Detailed assessment criteria are on LMS, but we will be looking at:

̶ structure (title page, abstract, intro, method, results, discussion, references, appendices)

̶ content (capacity for inquiry/research, critical thinking, creative problem solving, teamwork, quantitative literacy, ethical awareness)

̶ professionalism (attention to detail, careful word choice, grammar, logical flow, APA formatting)

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WRITING YOUR PROJECT REPORT

§ The students who do best in this assignment are those who start writing early. The difference in quality between a first and second draft is enormous because it means:

̶ You have time to think (consciously and subconsciously) about your work

̶ You have time to get feedback and clarification about things you don’t fully understand

§ All experts (scientists, journalists, musicians, artists, chefs, film- makers, surgeons….) spend a lot of time practicing and preparing drafts or sketches. This report is the culmination of your undergrad degree so we are expecting to see perfection – don’t leave it until the last minute!

FINAL REPORT: POTENTIAL SUBSECTION WORD

COUNTS Total Word Count – 2500 words The following are approximate word counts for each section of the report, each project may have variability in word count within individual sections due to level of explanation required

• Abstract • 120 words (max) – not included in overall wordcount

• Introduction • 750

• Methods • 500

• Results • 500

• Discussion • 750

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION MARKING CRITERIA

RESULTS

WRITING A FORMAL RESULTS SECTION

• The aim of a results section is to provide an objective description of the data, particularly in terms of how the numbers relate to the hypotheses under consideration.

• There are differences in how data should be presented in different contexts (journals versus reports versus theses, in different disciplines and workplaces etc) but universal themes in structure are generally adhered to because all contexts share common aims:

• Accurate presentation of data through in-text explanation, typically facilitated with tables and/or figures.

• Clear and concise presentation of justified analyses summarising the main outcomes of the study.

Statistics are just a form of evidence (a reference) to support your argument.

THE APA MANUAL SAYS

• Summarise the collected data and the analyses to be performed in the proceeding section • Report data in enough detail to justify your

conclusions • Mention all relevant results, including ones that

don’t match your hypotheses

• Don’t include individual data or raw scores • Include measures of effect size when possible

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OTHER THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO INCLUDE

• Recruitment characteristics (esp if these differ from what was described in method) • Maybe a table of who you have in each group • Participant flow • Baseline Data (if applicable)

• Data management and analysis • Main analyses – as planned • Ancillary Analysis – further exploratory analysis not

previously stated but used to follow up findings of interest (maybe diffs between groups etc)

• Intervention or manipulation fidelity • manipulation checks – e.g. counter-balancing worked

• Adverse events (more for clinical trails)

RESULTS (25%) Critical Thinking • Is there logically sequenced, clear interpretation of the

statistical information – numbers, graphs and tables - for the reader? o Is the logic behind analysis selection explained in terms appropriate

to the intended audience? o Are the results presented effectively? o Are statistical outcomes translated in a meaningful way in terms of

concrete information for the reader? o Are the statistical outcomes related back to the context of the

project? o i.e. is it clear what the variables are and where they have come from?

o Are there clear statements of conclusion regarding the outcomes of the analyses?

RESULTS (25%) Quantitative Literacy • Is the relevant statistical information presented in

order to characterise the outcomes and facilitate discussion? o Has the process of data screening and cleaning been explained? o Is information regarding decision-making criteria used for the analyses

reported when appropriate? o Are descriptive statistics characterising the sample included? o Are appropriate inferential statistics used? o Is the layout of tables or figures clear and is all necessary information

provided? o For each of the tests described, are;

1. the assumptions behind each analysis mentioned, 2. important results highlighted in the text and/or in a table or figure (when

appropriate), 3. the results interpreted accurately in light of the data presented?

ADDITIONAL TIPS Results

o Be consistent with the order in which you described the hypotheses in your introduction, think about constructing the results section to present information that tests them in turn in. But …

o Do not address hypotheses in results (i.e. talking about whether they are supported or not) – stick to interpretation of the statistical information in front of you. Leave talking about hypotheses, past research, theory, etc. for the discussion!

o Consider how you are presenting your outcomes. There should be a clear logic apparent (for example, starting simple and building up towards the more sophisticated analyses).

o Use graphs and tables to facilitate explanation, but don’t forget to refer to them in text.

• Voice o Always past tense (you are talking about a study you have already done)

• Shape o Remember the hourglass shape of a report, the results is the most narrow, focused

and specific section, whereas the discussion is the application and generalization of the research findings.

DISCUSSION

WRITING A DISCUSSION SECTION

• What does a discussion section do? • Shows the reader what it all means • Ties up all the elements under investigation • Examines how results fit into the context of current

understanding/theory • Highlights the novelty of the findings • Conveys to the reader what worked and what

didn’t and suggests how to fix this with future research • Considers whether the results are applicable to

the real world

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WRITING A DISCUSSION SECTION

• In the context of a formal report, critical thinking means that you take your results and think hard and critically (not negatively) about what they mean • In psychology, we also express our thoughts about

what our results mean in a very structured and formal manner • This means that any psychologist in the world can

pick up our work and easily understand it or know where to go to find more information about it • The same structure is used in clinical work and in

many workplaces, so don’t underestimate how important this skill is

DISCUSSION (30%) • Inquiry Research

ü Is the key question of the investigation illustrated and the context of the inquiry described (including restatement of aims and hypotheses)?

ü Is a statement of support or lack of support for the hypotheses integrated with a summary of the main results?

ü Are the results effectively interpreted with regard to existing literature?

ü Is the information evaluated relevant in addressing the outcomes of the study?

ü Does a statement of conclusion effectively tie up the findings of the current study?

DISCUSSION (30%) • Critical Thinking

ü Are the theoretical underpinnings of the results elaborated upon, in comparison to findings of current literature in the same field and to findings in the literature more generally?

ü Is the value of the study assessed critically in terms of methodology and theory?

ü Has the generalizability, or external validity, of the findings been examined?

ü Are limitations of the research, which limit the conclusions that can be drawn from the results, addressed?

ü Are potential solutions for methodological issues presented? ü Is the discussion of future research directions effective? ü Is the significance of the research and the implications for the broader

field within which the research is based adequately considered? ü Does the conclusion acknowledge the value of the results and is it

sufficiently detailed with good insight for future applications?

DISCUSSION – STEP 1

•Reiterate aims and hypotheses and then include a statement of support (or otherwise) integrated with a summary of main results.

• Only a paragraph so don’t get too detailed

DISCUSSION – STEP 2 • Relate your findings back to past literature in

context with the original hypotheses • What are the theoretical implications of the

results (whether the hypotheses were supported or not)?

• Consider flow of information in terms of the structure of the results section

• Broader analyses to narrower (but maybe more interesting) findings

• Speculate on why you found what you did • Paragraphs could be (but also maybe not)

structured initially to deal with each hypothesis.

DISCUSSION – STEP 3 • Acknowledge the limitations of your research and

address alternative explanations of the results. • Discuss the generalizability or external validity, of

the findings. • Don’t completely ‘Bag Out’ your own findings • Acknowledge methodological issues but also

consider the strengths of the research and theoretical reasons for why the results were obtained (particularly if hypothesis was not supported)

• Include potential solutions for methodological issues • Be constructive and critical (not negative)

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DISCUSSION – STEP 4 • Include suggestions for future research

• Again, think critically rather than negatively • Although this project was able to

demonstrate ….., future research would benefit from the inclusion of an additional control group…..

DISCUSSION – STEP 5 • Don’t forget to include a strong concluding

paragraph

• From APA Manual “End the Discussion section with a reasoned and justifiable commentary on the importance of your findings. This concluding section may be brief or extensive provided that it is tightly reasoned, self-contained, and not overstated. In this section, you might briefly return to a discussion of why the problem is important (as stated in the introduction); what larger issues, those that transcend the particulars of the subfield, might hinge on the findings; and what propositions are confirmed or disconfirmed by the extrapolation of these findings to such overarching issues.”

ADDITIONAL TIPS FROM THE APA MANUAL

• What is the theoretical, clinical, or practical significance of the outcomes, and what is the basis for these interpretations?

• If the findings are valid and replicable, what real-life psychological phenomena might be explained or modeled by the results?

• Are applications warranted on the basis of this research? • What problems remain unresolved or arise anew because of

these findings? • The responses to these questions are the core of the

contribution of your study and justify why readers both inside and outside your own specialty should attend to the findings. Your readers should receive clear, unambiguous, and direct answers.

ADDITIONAL TIPS • Make sure you reflect on the content presented in the introduction

• Have you dealt with the questions/problems in the literature previously raised?

• Think about the structure and flow • Be consistent from intro aims and hypotheses to results to discussion

• Keeps things simple and easy for the reader to follow • Also is good for word count

• Don’t forget to deal with unexpected findings, this includes non- significance. • These aren’t necessary due to methodological limitations, so check the

literature to see if something else can explain what is going on. • Make sure you have a clear and definite concluding paragraph

• That is within the word count

ADDITIONAL TIPS • Statistics

• Do not repeat statistics in the discussion section, just talk in terms of general patterns.

• Subsections • It may be helpful to set up the discussion with

subsections, particularly if there are a few components to the study, but don’t go overboard – only use if it helps improve clarity – ask your project leader

• Voice • Always past tense (you are talking about a study you

have already done). • Shape

• Remember the hourglass shape of a report, the discussion is at the bottom and the conclusion is the widest point of this.

ADDITIONAL TIPS • New references in the discussion????

• YES, YES, YES, YES, YES • If the literature covered in the intro does not help

account fully for the findings observed, you need to look elsewhere to figure out what is going on – and you should do this and then report it in your discussion.

• Surprising results don’t mean you are a bad scientist, they could lead to previously unanticipated applications and give you extra scope to demonstrate what a great critical thinker you are.

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GLOBAL ASPECTS OF REPORT

FINAL COMPONENT OF RUBRIC

• This mark is awarded by your Project Supervisor.

• It is graded independently to the final report based on your level of engagement and contribution to the project