Writing Project

Writing Project

A research-style paper will be due near the end of the course.  The topic must be something related to motorsports.   The student is expected to investigate an important aspect of motorsports. 

•         The research paper should include historical implications, economic issues, social issues, cultural perspectives and even the science behind the technology being explored. 

•         People, places, events, sanctioning bodies or the specific technology may serve as the focus of the paper. 

•         Students should provide details as to the significance of the contribution and the subsequent impacts on racing. 

•         The assignment should reflect more than one person’s perspective.

•         Written in APA manuscript style, this paper is expected to be a minimum of 2200 words in length and reference at least six different sources, with no more than three Internet only sources. Note that a source found online but also available in print, is not considered an internet only source.

Running head: MANUSCRIPT STANDARDS

The American Psychological Association Standards

For Publication of a Manuscript

James E. Horton

The University of Virginia’s College at Wise

Title Page

The title page should have the short title and page number one in the upper right-hand corner of the page. At the top of the page flush to the left margin, there should be a short title labeled "Running head". The running head should be in all capitols and should not exceed 50 characters, including spaces. Below the label "Running head" and centered in the page, there should be a comprehensive title of the manuscript describing the experiment or research in a manner that summarizes the main ideas. The main title should not be more than 12 to 15 words long. Below the main title one double-spaced line should be the author's full name followed on the next line by the author's affiliation to an institution.

Abstract

The abstract begins on page 2 with the short title and the page number in the upper right-hand corner of the page within the top 1-inch margin 1 double-space distance above the heading. The heading "Abstract" is centered 1 inch from the top of the page. The beginning of the abstract starts 1 double-space below the heading and is typed in block form as 1 paragraph, without indentation. The abstract should contain a comprehensive summary of what the manuscript is about, inform the reader of the purpose of the research, what the authors did, how the authors proceeded with the research, what variables were manipulated, what was measured and how it was measured, what results were obtained, what the authors concluded, and a statement of support or nonsupport of the hypothesis. The abstract should not exceed 960 characters, including punctuation and spaces. Use only digits for numbers in the abstract unless starting a sentence. The abstract should be double-spaced with 1-inch margins on all sides.

The American Psychological Association Standards

For Publication of a Manuscript

The following guidelines are written for a research paper, but are generally applicable to most papers written in APA style. If you are using this as a guide for a report, your headings will be different, but the basic formatting will be the same. Having noted that fact, let us begin the paper in earnest.

The introduction begins the text of the manuscript on a new page with the short title and page number in the upper right-hand corner of the manuscript and the title of the manuscript centered at the top of the page one inch from the top of the page. The title identifies the introduction eliminating the need to label the page. The purpose of the introduction is to introduce relevant research, theories, and literature and relate it to the topic under investigation by the authors. The introduction should clearly identify the points of study and formally present the hypothesis.

The introduction should organize material conceptually by starting with generalities and moving to specific points and the hypothesis. References should be cited within the text and in a separate reference list at the end of the paper. Within the text, if the authors are not specifically mentioned in the quoted or paraphrased material, their names should be enclosed in parentheses at the end of the statement with the year of their publication. If the authors are named in the quoted or paraphrased material, the year of their publication should be enclosed in parentheses after their name. You do not need multiple citations to the same work within the same paragraph if one or more of the following conditions apply: A) the ideas that you are citing occur sequentially within the paragraph (you can cite either the first or last idea); or B) you can identify the work by stating only the author’s last name (i.e., “As Gottesman noted…”. Several works can be listed within one parenthetical text reference in alphabetical order (e.g., “Several studies (Gottesman, 1994, Turkheimer, 1993, Williams, 1994). If several studies are by the same author or group of authors, list them in order of publication, starting with the earliest.

The introduction should also conceptually organize the research and introduce the purpose of the research, how the research is structured, the independent variables and how they are to be manipulated, the dependent variables and how they are to be measured, and the formal hypothesis and how it is to be tested.

The length of the introduction is dependent upon the complexity and depth of the research being presented and upon the amount of relevant research that pertains to the topic, however, the normal length should be about two pages. The next section, which is the Method section, follows the introduction without a page break by typing the section label centered one double‑space below the last line of the introduction.

Method

The method section detailed here is for a single-experiment or research manuscript with two levels of headings. The heading "Method" is centered and is not underlined while the headings "Participants", "Apparatus", and "Procedure" are located at the left margin of the page and are set in italics. The method section should describe in enough detail how the experiment or research was conducted to enable the experiment or research to be replicated.

Participants

The subsection headed Participants should give a brief description of the participants involved in the experiment or research, including the type, gender, age, and number of the participants, how they were selected, and if applicable, demographic characteristics and affiliations of the participants to a University.

Participants A. If you have two groups of participants, you might want to describe them in separate sub-headings. For this sub-heading, you’ll use a normal paragraph indention, set the title of the heading in italics, and follow it with a period. On the same line, you’ll begin your description of this group of participants.

Participants B. You’ll do the same thing for the second group, and any subsequent groups, of participants.

Apparatus

This subsection should describe all apparatus, if any, used in the experiment in enough detail for the experiment to be replicated. It should include manufacture's name, model number, and any special characteristics of any equipment used. Any standard laboratory equipment used should also be mentioned including how it was used.

If the apparatus used was constructed in the laboratory, the material used in construction and detailed dimensions should be given. A drawing of the apparatus may be included in an appendix.

Procedure

This subsection should summarize each step of the experiment or research starting with the method of participant selection and grouping. This subsection should include a description of the independent variables being manipulated and the dependent variables being measured as well as the method of measurement of the dependent variables. Include all pertinent information such as any instructions to the participants, sequence and number of trials, and time intervals between trials.

Results

The results section is used to summarize the analysis of the data, and the statistical information derived from the analysis. Presentation precedence should be given to descriptive statistics such as measures of central tendency, tables and charts.

Tables and figures should not be included in the results section but should be placed on separate pages following the appendix and referenced in the body of the results section with a short description of what is contained in them.

The use of tables and figures is to supplement the text, not to duplicate it. The reiteration of the information contained in the tables and figures should be limited to the most prominent and important information.

The information from the tables and figures in this section is used for the presentation of any statistical testing results such as a t-test, Anova, or other statistical analysis. The statistical presentation should be related to and present the significance levels of the results. Conclusions, inferences and discussion of the results should not be included in the results section but should be placed in the discussion section.

Discussion

The discussion section should evaluate and summarize data. This section should be used to restate the hypothesis, relate the results to the hypothesis, examine, interpret and qualify the results, and emphasize any theoretical consequences of results and validity of conclusions.

The first statements should clearly state support or nonsupport of the hypothesis. The similarities and differences as compared with other studies should be discussed with each statement contributing to the understanding of the original problem.

The discussion section should answer the following questions: What has this study contributed? How has this study helped resolve the original problem? What conclusions and theoretical implications can be drawn from this study?

References

(The reference page is placed on a new page following the discussion section. All references are listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the senior author and first names are reduced to an initial. Use hanging indents for each reference (first line flush with margin, remaining lines indented by .5”) and the name of the Journal or Book is set in italics.)

(Journal reference)

Cardinal, M. H. (1950). Anxiety among displaced children. Bulletin of the World Federation for Mental Health, 2, 27‑35.

(Book reference)

Jefferds, C. B., Jr. (1965). The psychology of industrial unrest. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Underwood, B. J. (1966). Experimental psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

(Chapter in Edited Book)

Gottesman, I. I., Hanson, D. R., Kroeker, T. A., & Briggs, P. F. (1987). New MMPI normative

data and power-transformed T-score tables for the Hathaway-Monachesi Minnesota cohort of 14,019 fifteen-year-olds and 3,674 eighteen-year-olds. In R. P. Archer (Ed.), Using the MMPI with adolescents (pp. 241-297). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Appendix A

Informed Consent Form

The appendix should be used only for information and supplemental material that cannot be placed anywhere else in the manuscript. It should not be used in a consistent manner but only if necessary to include material such as pictures, informed consent forms or lengthy instructions for example. Provide a title page for each appendix item as shown in the above example. If there is only one Appendix omit the identifying capitol letter.

Table 1

Two-point thresholds recorded in millimeters as measured on participants of normal and cold temperature conditions without any masking technique

Groups without interference

Participants Normal condition Cold condition

X1 X2

1 2.5 2.5

2 1.5 2.5

3 2.0 2.0

4 1.5 3.5

5 2.0 3.0

6 2.5 2.0

7 2.0 3.0

8 1.5 2.5

9 2.5

sum X1 = 18.0 sum X2 = 21.0

mean X1 = 2.0 mean X2 = 2.63

n = 9 n = 8

Figure Caption

Figure 1. Sex differences in retention of word list over 14-day period.