Research Methods
for the digitally inclined
by
Stephen R. Schmidt

Preparing a Research Report

I. Goals

II. Overall Structure of the Research Paper

III. Stylistic Considerations

IV. Content of the Major Sections

I. Goals

A. Aristotle: Science has two parts

inquiry: observations, experiments
argument: communication of the findings

Thus, reporting research is an integral part of the research process.

B. Conventions in writing:

Each field has a convention, or a set way, of communicating ideas in the field. The convention

1) lets the reader know what to expect, and facilitates reading of the information.
2) lets the reader know where to look for specific kinds of information
(e.g., who were the research participants).

In psychology, this convention is dictated by the American Psychological Association Publication Manual (4th edition). (1994)

Knowing this format will make it easier to:

read psychological reports
write papers for upper level psychology courses
write your paper in this course
write your Masters Thesis

II. Overall Organization

A. Structure of the research paper (hour-glass)

B. Contrast this structure to ìinverted pyramidî used in journalism

Washington Post

"OPEC Agrees on Oil Production Cuts"

By Bruce Stanley
AP Business Writer
Tuesday, March 23, 1999; 11:40 a.m. EST

      VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- OPEC members agreed today on a plan to cut crude oil production by 2.104 million barrels a day and to maintain the lower levels of output for a full year beginning April 1, oil ministers said.
      The group of 11 oil producing nations approved the plan which includes reductions by non-OPEC producers as well as those in the group in an effort to end a global oil glut and strengthen prices that had languished at a 12-year low as recently as December.
      The agreement reached at an informal meeting of the members was unanimous, said Youcef Yousfi of Algeria, president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
      "The compliance, I am sure, will be 100 percent. And there is a full determination of all countries to commit to this agreement" Yousfi said, before OPEC ministers began a formal meeting at the OPEC Secretariat. He said there were no last minute obstacles to the deal.
        Under the agreement, OPEC nations will reduce oil output by 1.716 million barrels a day, Algerian officials said. Non-OPEC producers like Mexico, Norway, Russia and Oman will reduce production by an additional 388,000 barrels a day.

III. Stylistic Considerations

A. All empirical statements (statements of fact) should include a reference.

Example: males are more aggressive than females

- says who?
- what was the research?
- give a source

B. Writing should be clear, and concise.

- avoid flowery wording

e.g., "A brilliant researcher, exhibiting sheer genius in his writing, Schmidt (1996) ..."

- avoid personal references

e.g., "I spent a lot of time looking for related research, and after many hours at the library, I found an article by . . ."

avoid redundancies

e.g., "In his study, Schmidt (1996) found some interesting findings. In this study, Schmidt (1996) demonstrated . . ."

D. Use proper tense

- when discussing research done in the past, use the past tense.

e.g., Schmidt (1996) found

- when discussing proposed research, use the future or future perfect tense.

e.g., The participants will be told . . .

D. Avoid "sexist language"

e.g., "The participant came into the experiment. He then . . . "

This suggests that the participants were male!

1) Reasons to avoid sexist language

- imprecise meaning
- often involves evaluations/ stereotypes
- distracts the reader from the content

Example: housewife as an occupation

2) How to avoid sexist language

- Change pronouns to plural form

e.g., The participants came into the experiment. They then . . .

- Use parallel terms:

male/ female
husband/wife
boy/girl
man/woman

IV. Content of the Major Sections

A. Overview:

Title page
Abstract
Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
References
Figures/Tables

1. Title page

Title:

State, in a short phrase, the major thesis of the paper.
Include the important independent and dependent variables
Get the readers attention

Examples of good titles:

The trouble with levels: A reexamination of Craik and Lockhartís framework for memory research.

Since the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, has anyone beaten you up? Improving the accuracy of retrospective reports with landmark events.

Author
Affiliation

2. Abstract

Like a short, stand-alone, research report.
Often published separately
Should provide an overall summary
State: purpose, methods, and results
Not an introduction!
Printed first, written last!

3. Introduction

Most important part for engaging the reader. Tell why this research is worth reporting, putting the research into an appropriate context.

Includes:

literature review
hypotheses
how the hypothesis will be evaluated

4. Method

Tell the reader what you did (or plan to do) in sufficient detail so that they could conduct your research.

- like a recipe in a cookbook
- step by step instructions

Method (subsections)

Participants: how many, who they are, how they were selected/recruited.
Apparatus: describe any special equipment
Materials: describe any tests, written instructions, or other verbal materials
Procedure: step-by-step description of how the research was conducted.

5. Results

Simply state the outcome of the research.
How were the data analyzed?
Include summary and inferential statistics.

Example 1 (experiment):

ìThe experimental group took longer to complete the task (M = 32.5 sec) than the control group
(M = 30.5 sec), t(29) = 1.95.î

Expample 2(correlational):

The raw scores from the above sample were subjected to analysis by Pearson product-moment correlational analysis (see Table 1). The results show that the correlation between the hand-size of the male and hip-size of the respective female is +0.44 and is a significant positive correlation (t = 2.29, df = 22, p < .05).
- (Prytula, 1975, Perceptual and Motor Skills.)

6. Discussion

What do the results mean?
Return to the original hypothesis
Discuss the implications (earlier research)
Discuss shortcomings (future research?)
Return to the big picture

7. References

List all papers cited (and only papers cited) in alphabetical order.

References

Benton, D., Owens, D. S., & Parker, P. Y. (1994). Blood glucose influences memory and attention in young adults.

Neuropsychologia, 32, 595-607.

Edited Books/Books

Duncan, C.P., Nelson, J.E., & Frontzak, N.L. (1984). The effect of humor on advertising comprehension. In T.C.

Kinnear (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research (pp. 432-437). Chicago: Association for Consumer Research, XI.

Koffka, K. (1935). Principles of gestalt psychology. New York: Harcourt, Brace.

8. Tables

Table 6

Heart Rate Components (beats/min) as a Function of Humor Rating from Experiment 4.

___________________________________________________

Cartoon              Acceleratory              Secondary Deceleratory
Humor                Component                      Component
___________________________________________________

Low                           .00                                  .73

Medium .43 1.02

High .48 1.22
___________________________________________________

9. Figures (caption on a separate page)

Figure 1. Confidence ratings for high, medium, and atypical targets as a function of lure typicality.