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Types of Writing in Psychology
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The Essay The
Literature Review The
Research Paper
The Laboratory Report The
Research Proposal The
Poster Presentation
The Essay
Essays are organized paragraphs that answer a question by
summarizing a topic in a clear and logical manner. Essays
have an introduction, body, and conclusion.
Purpose
Suggestions
Links
Sample
Purpose
Frequently, many college level psychology courses require
the ability to complete timed and un-timed essay exams. With
an essay exam, you are writing to demonstrate your knowledge
and understanding of the material.
Suggestions
- Include a good introduction and conclusion.
- Make sure you thoroughly understand the question.
- Be sure to answer all parts of the question.
- Plan and manage your time wisely.
- Make an outline.
In their book Writing For Psychology,
Thaiss and Sanford recommend using the PRO System.
- Understand the question's content and Purpose
- Recall all pertinent information
- Organize the information for clarity
Links
The
Writing Center Guide to Taking Essay Tests
Taking
Essay Exams, a University of Washington Handout
Taking
an Essay Exam, Writing Tutorial Services
Essay
Exam Help, Charles L. Dreveskracht, Northeastern State University
How
to Prepare for an Essay Exam, Center for Teaching Excellence
Understanding
the Assignment in Essay Questions, Writing Across the Curriculum
Definition
of Writing Terms, University of Washington
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The Literature Review
The literature review is a concise summary and evaluation
of research, organized by a topic, that is related to your
objective, thesis, or experiment.
Purpose
Components
Suggestions
Links
Sample
Purpose
Usually, a literature review is contained within the introduction
of an experimental laboratory report. However, some professors
may require you to write a literature review as a separate
assignment.
Components
- A description of information with citations, related to
your topic or research question
- Identification of theoretical conflicts or controversies
related to your research question
- Any needs or questions for further research to address
Suggestions
- Do not just summarize the research chronologically; instead,
organize the research by topic.
- Make sure to narrow down your topic.
- Pick a current topic or area of research.
- Choose a topic that you are actually interested in.
Links
Writing
a Literature Review, University of Washington Psychology Writing
Center
Writing
a Literature Review In the Health Sciences and Social Work,
University of Toronto Health Sciences Writing Center
What
is a Literature Review?, The Union Institute Research Engine
Summarizing
a Research Article, University of Washington Psychology Writing
Center
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The Research Paper
A research paper describes and summarizes a specific topic,
usually a theory or an area of research, by providing a summary,
evaluating the findings and providing suggestions for further
research.
Structure
Steps
Suggestions
Links
Sample
Structure
In their book Writing For Psychology,
Thaiss and Sanford suggest breaking down the research paper
into three sections:
- First section: Overview of topic and identification
of goals of paper
- Middle section: Summary of specific topics and
issues
- Concluding paragraphs: Critical evaluation of
research you have reported
Steps
- Pick a topic.
- Perform research on area through literature searches.
- Organize ideas and develop an outline.
- Write a draft of the paper.
- Proofread and make changes.
- Write final draft.
Suggestions
- Pick a topic that you are interested in.
- Be sure the breadth of the topic is appropriate for the
assignment.
- Support all of your assertions with actual evidence such
as empirical citations or with logical arugments.
Links
Writing
a Research Paper, OWL at Purdue University
Steps
in Writing a Research Paper, Empire State College
A
Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Styles Recommended
by The American Psychological Association, Capital Community
College
Basic
Research Strategy for Writing Papers, MIT Libraries
Writing
a Research Paper, University
of Alberta Libraries
Writing
the Research Paper, Dartmouth College
General
Instructions for Psychology Research Papers (Helpful Tips),
Georgia Southern University
The
Hypertext Research Paper, Psychology Department at Alverno
College
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The Laboratory Report
A laboratory report is a write-up of an experiment or other
research project and has the same components as a published
research study. The purpose of a lab report is to describe
how and why you performed your experiment, what you discovered,
and your interpretation of the final results.
Purpose Components
Links
Sample
Purpose
Writing an experimental lab report is not only a vital skill
for psychology majors, it is an actual requirement for most
psychology degrees. As a student at George
Mason University, it is a necessary that you learn the
proper format and develop good technique for writing lab reports.
These skills are especially important if you plan on attending
graduate school or becoming involved with research. When writing
your lab report, your professors will expect you to follow
the guidelines described in the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association (4th ed.). These standard
guidelines are commonly known as APA
format.
Components
Title Page
Abstract
Introduction
Method
Participants
Apparatus and Materials
Design
Procedure
Results
Tables
Figures
Discussion
References
Appendices
Title Page
The title page should be the first page of your document
and introduces the reader to the title and author of the lab
report.
Components
Title
Author's Name(s)
Institutional Affiliation
Manuscript Page Header
Running Head
Page Number
Title
The title of your laboratory report is a concise description
of the purpose and main focus of the experiment.
Tips
- Make the title specific (identify the topic of investigation).
- Make a statement or ask a question.
- Include the independent variable and dependent variable.
- Keep the length to about 10 to 12 words (never more than
20 words).
Author's Name(s)
Include, in order, the author's first name, middle initial,
and last name.
Institutional Affiliation
Identify where the study was actually performed (e.g., George
Mason University)
Manuscript Page Header
The manuscript page header is a very short abbreviation of
the title. It should appear at the top of every page in the
upper right-hand corner with the page number.
Running Head
The running head is a short descriptive form of the title.
It is typed flush left in all uppercase letters and is limited
to a maximum of 50 characters. The running head should only
appear on the title page.
Page Number
Every page of your manuscript, including the title page should
have the page number in the upper right-hand corner of the
page.
Abstract
Sample Abstract
The abstract is a brief summary that highlights the main
points of your lab report. It is a one paragraph, self-contained,
concise description of the problem under investigation, the
participants, the observational method, findings, and conclusions.
Tips
- Should be approximately 100 words long (A quick and easy
way is to summarize each section with one sentence.)
- Write the abstract after you have written all of the
other sections of your lab report.
- Arrange the information in the same order as the lab
report: Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion.
- Should be one paragraph with no indentions
- Use abstracts from articles in APA journals as models.
- Do not use redundant information.
Tips from the book Writing For Psychology
by Thaiss and Sanford:
- Try to use few function words (do not use any more articles,
conjunctions, or prepositions than needed) e.g., omit "the"
- Use active voice ("Results showed"…not
"It was found that")
- Use clauses and prepositional phrases to limit abstract's
length.
Introduction
Sample Introduction
The purpose of the introduction is to describe your research
question, summarize previous research, explain why your research
was necessary, and state your hypotheses.
In their book, Writing For Psychology,
Thaiss and Sanford recommend including these components in
the introduction in the following order:
- Introduction to the topic
- Concise discussion of previous literature that has addressed
the problem being studied. (See Literature
Review)
- Statement of the hypotheses and how they were derived
from previous research
- Broad overview of the method used in the study
Tips
- Begin by first making an outline
of the progression of research related to your study.
- Support your argument with actual research examples.
- Do not use vague references and subjective phrases like
"I feel" or "I think".
- Do not arrange the research you summarize chronologically;
instead arrange by topic.
Method
Sample Method
The method section is a detailed description of all the
operations performed in the research you are reporting. This
section should provide enough information so that someone
else could later replicate the experiment. The method section
is divided into the sub-sections listed below.
Participants
Apparatus and Materials
Design
Procedure
Participants
This section includes the number of participants used in
the study and where they come from, the selection criteria,
and any other important characteristics like age, sex, education
level, or occupation. The term "subject" is no longer used
when referring to human participants. Only animals are referred
to as subjects.
Apparatus and Materials
Apparatus includes any equipment that you use during the
actual data collection. Materials are the supplies that were
prepared for the experiment such as word lists, puzzles or
questionnaires.
Tips
- Don't just list the apparatus and materials, you should
also describe the function.
- Only include apparatus and materials that were used in
data collection.
Design
In this section describe the experimental design, including;
the type of design (between, within, mixed, etc.), the independent
and dont dent variable(s), and the experimental hypotheses.
Procedure
This section describes sequentially the procedures employed
in the experiment.
What to include in your Procedure from the book Writing
For Psychology by Thaiss and Sanford:
- Important instructions given to participants
- How participants were assigned to different conditions
- What the participants did, step-by-step
Tips
- Describe procedures chronologically.
- Only include procedures for gathering data, not those
for analyzing data.
Results
Sample Results
This section concisely summarizes the data collected and
the results of the statistical analysis.
Components
- Results of the descriptive and inferential stastical analyses.
- Rejection or retention of the null hypothesis
- If an effect is found, the direction of the effect
- If necessary, include a summary table or tables of the
results
- If necessary, include a figure or figures to display
the data
Tips
- Be sure to include the descriptive stastics (e.g., mean)
that your inferential statistics (e.g., t test) are based
on.
- Do not include large amounts of raw data (Place in Appendix.)
- Make sure you include any data in this section that you
are going to comment on in the Discussion
Section.
- Do not interpret your findings; save your interpretations
for the Discussion.
- Do not report the same information twice (e.g., in both
a figure and in the text)
Tables
Tables provide a clear way of presenting exact values such
as means, standard deviations, correlations and probabilities.
Use tables to summarize data when there is too much information
to include in the text.
Figures
Figures are a way to present trends or interactions between
variables graphically. Examples of figures commonly used are
bar graphs, histograms, and frequency polygons.
Discussion
Sample Discussion
This is the section in which you interpret the results of
the experiment and discuss the implications of your findings
based on your hypotheses. You might also suggest further research
and limitations of your experiment.
In the Discussion, you should: (Suggestions from University
of Washington Psychology Writing Center Handout)
- Discuss the results in relation to each of your hypotheses.
- Discuss possible explanations for your results. How do
your results agree or disagree with the ideas that you introduced
in the Introduction? How do your results relate to previous
literature or current theory?
- Identify and discuss limitations in the experimental
design that may reduce the strength of your results.
- Introduce new ideas that your results suggest.
- Generalize your results.
- Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of applying your
results to other groups, species, ages, or sexes.
- Identify another experiment to be done in this research
area.
Tips (From University
of Washington Psychology Writing Center Handout)
- If a result didn't turn out as expected, discuss possible
explanations as to why, including unanticipated shortcomings
in the design, problems such as equipment failure, or even
that the theory tested needs modification.
- Avoid overstating the importance of your findings. Be
modest rather than expansive.
- Stay focused on the research question.
References
Sample References
This section is where you give credit to the sources you
cited in the body of your document. Follow APA
format.
Tips
- List all of the authors you cited in the document in
alphabetical order.
- Use APA format for every
source.
- Double-space between and within each citation.
- Indent the first line of each citation.
- Only list sources that actually appeared in the body of
your paper.
- Do not cite or list sources that you did not read (For
example if you read about a study in another study's report,
you should not use that source.)
Appendices
This section is where you place any additional information
such as raw data, statistical calculations, or stimulus material.
Everything in the appendix must be referred to somewhere in
the body of the report.
Links
Preparing
Your Laboratory Report, by Dr. Jan Kennedy
Guidelines
for Laboratory Reports, Department of Psychology St. Francis
Xavier University
Writing
an APA Lab Report, University of Washington Psychology Writing
Center
Lab
Report Writing Guide, Monash University Department of Psychology
ResearchWriting,
by Douglas Degelman, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology at Vanguard
University of Southern California
How
to Write a Research Report in Psychology, Psychology Department,
University of Pennsylvania
Writing
the Empirical Journal Article by Daryl J. Bem, Cornell University
APA
Lab Report Template from the University of Washington Psychology
Writing Center
How
to Write a Laboratory Report, University of Nottingham Psychology
Department
Psychology
with Style: A Hypertext Writing Guide
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The Research
Proposal
Although writing a research proposal is not a requirement
for all undergraduate psychology classes, it is a necessary
skill if you are considering furthering your psychology education
or participating in an honors program.
Links
Writing
a Research Proposal, Warnborough Online Resource Centre
Writing
Proposals, Writers' Workshop, University of Illinois
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The Poster
Presentation
Poster presentations are becoming an increasingly common
and important way of communicating research and ideas through
the use of visual displays. As a researcher or student in
the field of psychology, you may at some point need to be
able to effectively present information through the use of
a poster presentation.
Links
Developing
a Poster Presentation by Casey Flinn George Mason University
Effective
Presentations, KU Medical Center
Developing
a Poster Presentation, KU Medical Center
Creating Posters
for Humanities & Social Sciences, Marilyn A. Levines
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