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Procedure

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The third subsection of the method section.

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Provides a step by step account of what

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the participants and experimenter did during the experiment.

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Your primary goal in the procedure subsection is to

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describe how you conducted your experiment.

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You should give enough information to allow a

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replication of your method, but do not include unnecessary details.

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Here is a list of detail examples you could include in this section procedure

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1. 2 X 2 design 2. 3. Between-subjects design 4. Recruited participants from various locations on campus 5. Order of presentation of materials 6. Random assignment 7. DV questions embedded among filler questions 8. Debriefing after participation 10. 4 experimental conditions

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The procedure subsection is typically

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the longest of the three components of the method section.

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Its length will vary depending on

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the complexity of your experiment.

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The key point is that experimenters should provide you with the information you need

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to understand what they did in their experiment and how they did it.

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Results

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The third major section of the APA format paper.; Contains information about the statistical findings from the experiment.

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It is your job in the results section to

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decode the meaning of your numbers into words for the reader.

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At the same time you must provide

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the factual, numerical basis to back your decoding.

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As you write the results section, you should assume that

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your reader has a good understanding of statistics.

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Therefore, you do not review basic concepts such as

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how the null hypothesis is rejected.

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The most important information to report is the

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specific findings from your inferential statistics.

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In presenting inferential statistical results, you must

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present the test that was used, the degrees of freedom for the test, the test statistics, the probability level, and a measure of effect size.

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Descriptive statistics

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In order to give a full picture of the data, it is customary to present descriptive statistics in addition to the inferential statistics.

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Descriptive statistics: means and standard deviations typically allow

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readers to get a good feel for the data.

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With a small number of groups, you can present

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the descriptive statistics in the text.

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With many groups, it may be more efficient and clearer to

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present the descriptive statistics in either a table or a figure.

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A figure is a

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pictorial representation of a set of results.

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It is likely that the majority of figures you will use will be

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line graphs or bar graphs.

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It may be easier to see an interaction in a

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line graph

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Be sure to refer to your figures in the text at

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an appropriate place.

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The advantage of a figure over a table is

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accessibility, the data, particularly the significant interaction, seem easier to understand and conceptualize in the pictorial presentation.

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A table consists of

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display of data, usually in numerical form.

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To use a table, your data display should be

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large enough that it would be difficult or confusing to present in the text.

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The advantage of the table over the figure is that

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standard deviations can be included in the table.

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If you use a table in your paper, be sure to refer to it at

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the appropriate point.

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Discussion

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The fourth major section of the APA format paper.

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The discussion contains a summary of the

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experiment's results, a comparison of those results to previous research, and the conclusion(s) from the experiment.

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You should be guided by three questions in the discussion section

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1. What have I contributed here? 2. How has my study helped to resolve the original problem? 3. What conclusions and theoretical implications can I draw from my study?

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Typically, authors answer these three questions by

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1. Briefly restating their findings 2. Comparing and contrasting their findings to previous research cited in the introduction 3. Giving their interpretation of their findings

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Restating results

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Your first task in the discussion section is to recap your results as briefly as possible.

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Typically, you will summarize only your

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significant findings, unless a null finding is particularly meaningful.

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It is important for you to evaluate how your results

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\"stack up\" against previous findings in your area of research you summarized in your introduction.

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Typically, you will have made a prediction before

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the experiment about your expected findings based on your survey of previous research.; You should tell the reader how accurate your predictions were.

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If you correctly predicted your results from

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previous research, the previous research and your study are both validated.

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If your prediction is not borne out, some doubt is cast either

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your research or the previous research may be flawed in some way.

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Interpreting the results

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This portion of the discussion section gives you more of a free hand to engage in conjecture and speculation than any other portion of the experimental writeup.

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It is here that you draw the bottom line to your study

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: 1. What is the overall conclusion? 2. What are the implications of your results for any psychological theories? 3. How can your results be applied in various settings - the laboratory, the real world, our body of psychological knowledge? 4. What new research should grow out of this study?

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There are two important reasons why it is your responsibility to provide a complete list of accurate references to any published works that you cite in your research report

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1. You must give credit to the original author(s) for any ideas and information that you got from reading other works. 2. If you take exact wordings, paraphrases, or even ideas from an author without giving credit for that source, you are guilty of plagiarism.

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You are providing a historical account of

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the sources you used in the event that a reader wishes to read them in their entirety.

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The only references that you list are those from which you

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actually obtained information and cited somewhere in your paper ; If you do not cite a particular source, you should not reference it.

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Periodical Articles

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Author, A. A., Author B. B., & Author C. C. (date). Title of article. Title of periodical, vol, ppp-ppp.

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Books

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Author, A. A. (date). Title of work. Location: Publisher.

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Chapters from edited books

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Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (date). Title of chapter. In C. C. Editor, D. D. Editor, & E. E. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. nnn-nnn). Location: Publisher.

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Website

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American Psychological Association. (2001). Electronic reference formats recommended by the American Psychological Association. Retrieved September 6, 2002, from http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html

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Although we expect that most of your references will be

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to periodicals, books, and chapters in edited books, the PM has 30 examples of other types of references you might use.

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These other references include

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technical and research reports, proceedings of meetings and symposia, doctoral dissertations and master's theses, unpublished works and publications of limited circulation, reviews, and audiovisual media.

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No matter what type of material you wish to reference, the PM will

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have a format for you.

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Most published articles do not contain an appendix because of

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space limitations.

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Appendices are more common in

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student papers.

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Typically you include information that might help readers understand

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some details of your study that would be distracting in the body of the paper.

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Author Note

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A note at the end of an experimental report that contains information about the author or paper for readers' use.

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Headings

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APA-format papers use a different type of heading for each section of the report.

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The major sections of the report, such as

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the introduction, method, results, and discussion are introduced by a level 1 heading.

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Subsections within these main sections are introduced by

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lower-level headings.

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The participants, apparatus, and procedure subsections of the method section are generally introduced by

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a level 3 heading.

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Level 3 headings are

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left-margin justified, are italicized, have the first letter of each major word capitalized, and occupy a line by themselves.

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Should you need to further subdivide these subsections, use a

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level 4 heading.

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A level 4 heading is

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indented five spaces, underlined, has only the first word capitalized, and ends with a period.

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A level 4 heading does not

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occupy a separate line.

APA Procedure

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