Langston, Research Methods, Lab Notes 2

Langston, Research Methods, Laboratory Notes 2 -- Introduction and Discussion Sections

These rules cover Introduction and Discussion sections consistent with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. You should consult the manual if you have additional questions. Where possible, headings, labels, etc. are presented consistent with the rules. Information in {} is descriptive. Information in <> is a variable that you change for your paper. The rest is sample text.

Global rules:
1. Double space the whole paper. Do not put in extra returns between headers and text.
2. The heading for every page is "Running head: <RUNNING HEAD> <#>" where <RUNNING HEAD> is a summary of the paper title and <#> is the page number. The title page is page 1, number consecutively after that. The title page and all subsequent pages should have the heading.
3. Most of the paper will be in the past tense.

{Introduction} Title {Start on a fresh page. It will be page 3 (the Title Page is 1, Abstract is 2). Center the title at the top of the page. DO NOT write "introduction." Just double space the title like everything else, do not put an extra return. The introduction tells your reader what you're investigating and why that's important. The global organization is an inverted triangle. Start broad, and narrow to a very sharp point (a description of your experiment). It should have three parts (not necessarily labeled):

Introduce the problem: You should always start with a research question. What is it? What's the basic area in which you're working, basic methodology, basic theoretical implications? This is brief (a paragraph or two). It sets up the rest of the introduction and encourages the reader to keep going (by getting them interested in the topic).

Develop the background: Give a brief review of the literature relevant to your experiment. Start with review articles if they're available. These summarize vast areas of the literature, so it's useful for your readers to know about them. Then, describe some of the research that led to your question. Start with stuff that's distantly related, and build to stuff that was specifically used to develop your study. (Keep in mind, however, that distantly related is a relative term. Everything included here should be vitally important to keep from wasting time.) If you can provide a structure, do it (as in "articles with similar questions," "articles with similar methodologies," "articles with similar findings," etc.). Try to give a fair overview for the average reader (someone who has some idea of the area, but isn't necessarily an expert). If there's a controversial issue, discuss both sides. The challenge: Say everything you need to say while saying as little as you possibly can.

State the purpose and rationale: Give the specific details of your experiment. What is the hypothesis? What are your variables? What did you measure and why? What do you expect to find? Why? Be sure to include operational definitions and explain why you're doing what you're doing.}
Discussion {The discussion section starts right after the end of the Results section (a regular double space, no extra returns). It's headed "Discussion" as above. The global format is a regular triangle. Start specific (the exact results you just presented) and build out to more general conclusions. Some basic parts:

Summary: What are the main results of your experiment? Briefly summarize the main points again in plain English. Then, say what that means. It will either be "The hypothesis was supported..." or "The hypothesis was not supported...".

Connection: What does this mean in light of the literature review? Don't repeat what you said before, but evaluate your results. If they're different from other researchers' results, tell me why. If they're similar, just state that. The big question: WHAT HAVE YOU CONTRIBUTED?

Theoretical analysis: What have you contributed to the development of theories in the area. Or, have you addressed one of the controversial topics? What can you conclude? You're broadening your conclusions. You may make some less than concrete statements about the implications, but try to avoid that. You may speculate on where to go with further research and what your data say about what new research will uncover.

A grand summary: What is the take-home message? If I remember just one thing you said, what would you want that to be?

Research Methods Lab Notes 2 Will Langston

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