Running head: THEORY AND RESEARCH
Note: The words “running head” are included in the header on the title page. On the following
pages of the paper, the words “running head” are removed from the header. To format the
header, following these instructions:
1. Click on the header
2. Under the Design tab, checkmark “Different First Page”
3. Then, type in the appropriate headers on the title page and abstract page
The Relationship between Theory and Research
Michelle Guthrie Yarwood
Penn State University
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THEORY AND RESEARCH
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Abstract
Your abstract goes here. The abstract should be 250 words or less. In the Abstract, the first
sentence of the abstract is not indented. In the abstract, you will provide a brief summary of the
content you will be discussing in your paper. I would recommend one or two sentences that
describe 1) past literature (no references needed) 2) hypothesis 3) method and 4) proposed
statistic.
Keywords: applied social psychology, theory, research
THEORY AND RESEARCH
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The Relationship between Theory and Research
Do not place an “Introduction heading” here. Just start writing. After the first
introductory paragraph, you might consider using APA headings to organize the information in
your literature review. This section should be written in the following order: 1) Topic & Context
2) Literature Review 3) Literature Advancement 4) Hypotheses. For the Literature Review
section, you could select headings that prepare the reader for the upcoming content. This will
help to organize your information within the literature review.
This is the beginning of the paper. Ensure that you have the correct font, double-spacing,
etc. From this point forward, the first sentence of each paragraph should be indented.
If you are talking about an idea from the book (or any source) an in-text citation is
necessary. Example of an in-text citation: Applied social psychology is subsumed under the
field of social psychology (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012).
Later in the paper, if you would like to use an in-text citation mentioned previously in
your paper, ensure to shorten the citation using “et al.” Only use et al. if 3 or more authors exist.
Research methods and theory are dependent on each other (Schneider et al., 2012).
THEORY AND RESEARCH
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Below are the appropriate formats for APA Headings. Level 1 heading is the major heading, then
level 2 headings are subsumed under Level 1 headings.
Level 1 Main Heading
Level 2 Heading
Level 3 Heading.
Level 4 Heading.
Level 5 Heading.
Below, are the appropriate headings for the method section. These sections should parallel the
sections in the rough draft rubric. The method section should be written in future tense. In the
Method section, you may use the terms “I” or “we.” For example, “I will recruit undergraduate
students from the psychology subject pool.”
Method
Participants
Describe your participants here.
Materials
Describe the materials you are using here. For each of the measures, you should have a
separate paragraph with a Level 3 heading to describe it (see “Personality Traits” heading
below). For example, I plan to explore the relationship between people’s personality traits and
their locus control. Two measures will be utilized - one to measure the Big Five traits
personality and a second measure of locus of control.
Ten Item Personality Measure (TIPI; Gosling, Rentfrow, & Swann, 2003)
THEORY AND RESEARCH
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Describe the measure you choose to assess personality here. You could indicate whether
the scale is categorical/dimensional, how many points (5-point Likert scale), direction
(individuals who score high on this scale are high in Extraversion, individuals who score low on
this scale are high in Introversion). Make sure to include the in-text citation for the researchers
who developed the measure.
Locus of Control (Rotter, 1966).
Describe the measure you choose to assess locus of control here.
Procedures
Proposed Statistics
A paragraph describing how you will analyze your hypothesis. The statistics you select should
match the hypothesis. For instance, if you hypothesize a correlation between two variables, then
your proposed statistic should be a correlational analysis.
Conclusion
A paragraph summarizing the following: 1) past literature 2) the gap and your advancement 3)
your method and 4) your expected findings (hypothesis).
THEORY AND RESEARCH
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References
References begin here in ABC order. Refer to APA book, OWL website, or OWL blog to see
types of references. After the first line, subsequent lines should be indented.
For every in-text citation in the paper, ensure a matching reference exists in the reference page.
Only include references that are included within the text of the paper.
Reference page should be double-spaced.
For the journal title, only the first word and words after colons are capitalized.
Ensure the journal and book titles are italicized. Volume numbers, not issue numbers are
reported in the reference.
For Empirical Journal Article:
Knee, C.R. (1998). Implicit theories of relationships: Assessment and prediction of romantic
relationship initiation, coping, and longevity. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 74, 360-370.
For Chapter in an Edited Book
Grolnick, W. S., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1997). Internalization within the family: The selfdetermination theory perspective. In J. E. Grusec & L. Kuczynski (Eds.), Parenting and
children's internalization of values: A handbook of contemporary theory (pp. 135-161).
Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc.