Research Designs &
Reading and Writing
with APA Style
Psych 231: Research
Methods in Psychology
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Today’s office hours shortened (2-2:30)
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Exam 1 is 1½ weeks away
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This week’s labs:
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Download and read the Assefi & Garry (2003) article before
labs
Bring the article to labs
Announcements
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Case studies
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Correlational
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Intensive study of a small set of individuals and their
behaviors
Looking for a co-occurrence relationship between two
(or more) variables
Experimental
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Investigating the cause-and-effect relationship between
two (or more) variables through the manipulation of
variables
Quasi-experimental
• Experimental designs with one or more non-random variables
Types of research designs
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Intensive study of a single person, a very
traditional method. Typically:
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Descriptive (and non-experimental).
Interesting (and often rare) case. Fits well with clinical work.
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Phineas Gage
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Sept 13, 1848 Explosion propelled a
railroad tamping rod through his brain
Changed personality
This view has a number of disadvantages
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There may be poor generalizabilty
There are typically a number of possible confounds and
alternative explanations
Case Histories
See: Oliver Sacks’
books for some
other great
examples
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Measure two (or more) variables for each
individual and see if the variables co-occur
(suggesting that they are related)
?
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or
Used for:
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or
Predictions
Establishing Reliability and Validity
Evaluating theories
Problems: Shouldn’t make casual claims
Correlational Methods
We’d like to say:
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causes
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To be able to do this:
There must be co-variation between the two variables
The causal variable must come first
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or
Directionality problem
• Happy people sleep well
• Or is it that sleeping well when you’re happy?
Need to eliminate plausible alternative explanations
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Third variable problem
• Do Storks bring babies?
•
Neyman (1952) reported a strong positive correlation
between number of babies and stork sightings
Causal claims
Source: Kronmal (1993)
r = 0.63
•
Do Storks bring babies?
•
Neyman (1952) reported a strong positive correlation
between number of babies and stork sightings
Storks and babies
•
Is killing storks and effective method of controlling birth rates?
Theory 1: Storks deliver babies
Theory 2: Underlying third variable
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Manipulating and controlling variables in
laboratory experiments
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Must have a comparison
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At least two groups (often more) that get
compared
One groups serves as a control for the other
group
Variables
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Independent variable - the variable that is manipulated
• Allows for the testing of causal hypotheses
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Dependent variable - the variable that is measured
Control variables - held constant for all participants in the
experiment
The experimental method
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Manipulating and controlling variables in laboratory
experiments
Advantages
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Precise control possible
Precise measurement
possible
Theory testing possible
Can make causal claims
Disadvantages
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Artificial situations may
restrict generalization to
“real world”
Complex behaviors may
be difficult to measure
The experimental method
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The Literature
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Why Review it?
What is it?
How do you read it?
How do you write it?
Reading and Writing with Style (APA)
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What are the underlying motivations for doing a review
of the literature?
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Getting ideas.
What has been done? (what has not been done?)
Understanding the relevant theories.
What variables are important?
What methodologies have been used?
Avoid past mistakes.
Why review the literature
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Primary Sources - essentially reading the original
report
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Journal articles
Edited books (sometimes)
Professional meetings
Electronic publishing (fairly new, pluses and minuses)
Faculty members & other personal communications
Secondary Sources - reading a report of the report
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Literature Reviews
 Psychological Bulletin, Annual Review of Psychology
Text books
Citations in books and articles
What is the literature?
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Primary Sources - essentially reading the original
report
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Journal articles
Edited books (sometimes)
Professional meetings
Electronic publishing (fairly new, pluses and minuses)
Faculty members & other personal communications
Secondary Sources - reading a report of the report
Advantages
• Good starting place
• Often reviews a lot of
relevant literature
• Relatively brief descriptions
Disadvantages
• Somebody else’s description
• May be incorrect
• May be biased
• Not enough detail
What is the literature?
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What are the goals of a research article?

For the reader to:
 Know about the research
 Understand what was done
 Allow further testing & replication
 Be convinced by the research (hopefully)
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Standardization of research report format
 APA style
 Organization and content reflects the logical thinking in
scientific investigation
 Standardization helps with clarity
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Read with a critical eye
Write with clarity in mind
Reading a research article
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Writing the paper is the routine part of the research
process
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Just the facts
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Forces you to commit to your evidence and conclusions
The facts are just part of the argument that the author is
making
What you say is all that is important, how you say it
isn’t important
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Good writing leads to higher chance of accomplishing your
goals
Misconceptions about Scientific writing

Psychological writing tends to differ from
other academic writings
• Not a creative writing exercise
• Presenting an argument based on data and logical
reasoning
• Try to avoid using direct quotes, restate things
in your own words.
• Avoid digression
• Footnotes are rare, they’re used to elaborate/clarify
a point. Try to do so in the text.
• If long digressions, use the appendix
Writing style
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The ultimate resource for APA style is the
APA Publication manual
New 6th ed.
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Chapter 8 of your textbook is good too.
Also websites to help too.
Writing resources
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A great book for Psychological writing
Sternberg, R. J. (2003). The
psychologist’s companion: A guide to
scientific writing for students and
researchers. Cambridge University
Press, NY.
Writing resources
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To ease communication of what was done
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Forces a minimal amount of information
Provides a logical framework (for argument)
Provides consistent format within a discipline
• People know what to expect
• Where to find the information in the article
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Allows readers to cross-reference your sources
easily
Why a structured format?
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Communicate with clarity
Major goal: Clarity
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Communicate with clarity
Major goal: Clarity
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Communicate with clarity
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Write for the reader
• Think about your audience, what do they already know,
what don’t they know
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Avoid overstatements
• Be conservative in your claims
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Emphasize the positive
• Focus on how the data supports a theory not just on
how it refutes another theory
Major goal: Clarity
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Communicate with clarity
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Avoid
• Jargon when possible
• Slang and colloquialisms
• Sexist and biased language
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Try to be concise
• Don’t use a whole paragraph when two sentences will
do
• Longer papers don’t mean better papers
• Eliminate unnecessary redundancy
• Use simple words (sentences) rather than complicated
words (sentences)
Major goal: Clarity
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Communicate with clarity
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Use concrete words and examples
Check your work!
• Read it over, make sure that you say what you mean to
say
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Use a consistent format (APA style)
• It helps your reader understand your arguments and
the sources they’re built on.
• It also helps you keep track of your sources as you
build arguments
Major goal: Clarity
• Title Page
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Abstract
Body
References
Authors Notes
Footnotes
Tables
Figure Captions
Figures
Adolescent
AdolescentDepression
Depression1 2
Running
Head: ADOLESCENT
DEPRESSION
We explored
attachment in a family
context
by applying family systems principles to the
investigation of multiple attachment relationships
within families. This study focused on maternal
adult attachment with respect to family of origin Adolescent Depression 29
experiences. We examined associations between
References
maternal adult attachment and three levels
of
Depression
Attachment
familyAdolescent
functioning
including and
individual
maternal
Barnett,
P. A.,
& Gotlib, I. H. (1988). Psychosocial
depression symptoms, dyadic
marital
satisfaction
Ima
G.functioning.
Student
andWe
Soyam
Eye
functioning
and
depression:
Distinguishing among
and family
unit
found
that attachment
security with respectantecedents,
to particularconcomitants,
relationships and
was consequences.
Purdue
University
Psychological
Bulletin,
differentially associated
with different
levels104.
of
Beck, A. T. (1978). Beck Depression Inventory.
family functioning.
San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Benoit, D., Vidovic, D., & Roman, J. (1991, April).
Transmission of attachment across three generations.
Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society
for Research in Child Development.
Benoit, D., Zeanah, C. H., & Barton, M. L. (1989).
Maternal attachment disturbances in failure to thrive.
Infant Mental Health Journal, 3, 185-202.
Benoit, D., Zeanah, C. H., Boucher, C., & Minde, K.
(1989). Sleep disorders in early childhood: Association
with insecure maternal attachment. Journal of the
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
31, 86-93.
APA style: Parts of a research report
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The basic parts of a research article:
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
Title and authors - gives you a general idea of
the topic and specifically who did it
Abstract - short summary of the article
The anatomy of a research article
Running head – will go on each
page of published article,
no more than 50 characters
Running Head: ADOLESCENT DEPRESSION
1
Title should be maximally
informative while short
(10 to 12 words recommended)
Order of Authorship sometimes
carries meaning
Adolescent Depression and Attachment
Ima G. Student and Soyam Eye
Topnotch University
Affiliation – where the bulk of
the research was done
Title Page
 Published title pages will look a bit
different, but you’ll find these pieces
of information. Typically the body of
the article will begin as well.
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Abstract: Short summary of entire paper
•
•
•
•
•
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
100 to 120 words
The problem/issue
The method
The results
The major conclusions
Recommendation: write this after you’ve
finished the rest of the paper
Good first contact, but remember that it is short
on detail
 Shows up in PsycInfo
 Gets skimmed before reading the article
Abstract
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Hourglass shape
Start broad
Background
Literature Review
Body
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Hourglass shape
Narrow focus
Statement of purpose
Specific hypotheses
(at least at conceptual
level)
Body
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Hourglass shape
Most focused
- Methods
- Results
Body
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Hourglass shape
Broaden
Discussion
Conclusions
Implications
Body
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Introduction - gives you the background that
you need
 Issue and Background
• What is it? Why is it interesting/important?
 Literature Review
• What has been done? What theories are out there?
 Statement of purpose
• What are you going to do and why?
 Specific hypotheses (at least at conceptual level)
• What do you predict will happen in your research?
Body
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Introduction - gives you the background that
you need
 Reading checklist
1) What is the author's goal?
2) What are the hypotheses?
3) If you had designed the study, how would YOU have done it?
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Writing checklist
• Be cohesive
• Be relevant (why are the reviewed studies relevant?)
• Work on the transitions (make the flow logical)
Body
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The basic parts of a research article :

Method - tells the reader exactly what was done
 Enough detail that the reader could actually replicate the
study.
 Subsections:
 Participants - who were the data collected from
 How many, where they were selected from, any special
selection requirements, details about those who didn’t
complete the experiment
 Apparatus/ Materials - what was used to conduct the study
 Design
 Suggested if you have a complex experimental design, often
combined with Materials section
 Procedure
 What did each participant do? Other details, including the
operational levels of your IV(s) and DV(s), counterbalancing,
etc.
Body

The basic parts of a research article :

Method - tells the reader exactly what was done
 Reading checklist
1 a) Is your method better than theirs?
b) Does the authors method actually test the hypotheses?
c) What are the independent, dependent, and control
variables?
2) Based on what the authors did, what results do YOU expect?
• Writing checklist
• Is it clear why the procedures were selected?
• Are any assumptions explicit and defended?
• Is the level of detail sufficient for replication?
Body
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Results (state the results but don’t interpret them
here)
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Verbal statement of results
Tables and figures
• These get referred to in the text, but actually get put into their
own sections at the end of the manuscript
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Statistical Outcomes
• Means, standard deviations, t-tests, ANOVAs, correlations, etc.
Body

Results (state the results but don’t interpret them
here)
 Reading checklist
1) Did the author get unexpected results?
2 a) How does the author interpret the results?
b) How would YOU interpret the results?
c) What implications would YOU draw from these results?
• Writing checklist
• Is it clear how the hypotheses are tested by the analyses?
• Would a graph or table help clarify the results?
• What questions might the reader still have, and how could
I answer them in this section?
Body
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Discussion (interpret the results)
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Relationship between purpose and results
Theoretical (or methodological) contribution
Implications
Future directions (optional)
 Reading checklist
1 a) Does YOUR interpretation or the authors' interpretation
best represent the data?
b) Do you or the author draw the most sensible implications
and conclusions?
• Writing checklist
• Have you stated your most convincing argument?
• Do the conclusions follow straightforwardly from the
results?
Body
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References


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Author’s name
Year
Title of work
Publication information
• Journal
• Issue
• Pages
Adolescent Depression 29
References
Barnett, P. A., & Gotlib, I. H. (1988). Psychosocial
functioning and depression: Distinguishing among
antecedents, concomitants, and consequences.
Psychological Bulletin, 104.
Beck, A. T. (1978). Beck Depression Inventory.
San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Benoit, D., Vidovic, D., & Roman, J. (1991, April).
Transmission of attachment across three generations.
Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society
for Research in Child Development.
Benoit, D., Zeanah, C. H., & Barton, M. L. (1989).
Maternal attachment disturbances in failure to thrive.
Infant Mental Health Journal, 3, 185-202.
Benoit, D., Zeanah, C. H., Boucher, C., & Minde, K.
(1989). Sleep disorders in early childhood: Association
with insecure maternal attachment. Journal of the
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
31, 86-93.
When something odd comes up, don’t
guess. Look it up!
The rest
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References
Authors Notes (new guidelines put these on
title page)
Footnotes
Tables
Figure Captions
Figures
The rest
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These are used to
supplement the text.
To make a point clearer for
the reader.
Typically used for:
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The design
Examples of stimuli
Patterns of results
Figures and tables
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Clarity
Acknowledge the work of others (avoid
plagiarism)
Active vs. passive voice

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Active: Summers and Jordan (2009) hypothesized
that speakers use to much passive voice
Passive: It was hypothesized by Summers and
Jordan (2009) that speakers use to much passive
voice
Checklist - things to watch for
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Avoid biased language

APA guidelines:
• Accurate descriptions of individuals (e.g., Asian vs. Korean)
• Be sensitive to labels (e.g., “Oriental”)
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Appropriate use of headings
Correct citing and references
Good grammar
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APA style checklist
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Checklist - things to watch for