PSYC 200
Week #4
Formal & APA Language Guidelines and
Basic Research Methods
Agenda
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Attendance
Assignments due
Language guidelines (grammar)
Basic Research Methods
Assignments Recap
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Single article summary
Gramlich ch. 7-8
APA ch. 3
POP QUIZ
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http://tinyurl.com/25llyft
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https://docs0.google.com/document/edit?id=1l
7NnPGgleQVM72t5BMsI1k9oK2dvYLdF64
V71K16YK8#
APA LANGUAGE STYLE
GUIDELINES
Quick APA Language Guide
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Word choice and usage – the right word in the
right place
Removing bias
Grammar / Punctuation
Common phrases
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Avoid these!!
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Feel, believe, think, prove, stated, wrote, said
Replace with:
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Hypothesize, conjecture, reason, support, found,
suggested
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage
Avoid Wordiness
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Clear & Concise
Write like a poet
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Make every word count
Avoid unnecessary transitions
Say what you want to using one word instead of
two
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Say it with one word rather than two
Say it with one word, not two
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage
Informalities and Slang
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No contractions—ever!
No colloquialisms
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Sky-high, bright idea, and the like
others?
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage
Using Conjunctions Correctly
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Since vs. Because
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Andrew has been excited about going to the zoo since last
Thursday.
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The dog salivated because Pavlov rang the bell.
While vs. Although
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Although I enjoy watching baseball on television, I would
rather be at the stadium.
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While Jack cleaned the garage, Mary dusted the living room.
Or vs. Nor
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The girl was allowed to have either a piece of candy or a sticker.
Neither the doctor nor the nurse could find the patient’s chart.
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage
Referring to People
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Do not use “You” to refer to the reader.
Do not use “We” to refer to general groups or
society.
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Use “One”
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If one chooses to engage in criminal activity, then one
must be ready to accept the consequences.
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One should not equate correlation with causation.
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage
Me, myself, and I
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Can you use first person?
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YES!!
Use the appropriate first person pronoun when
referring to yourself or the author(s) of your
paper.
Consider using passive voice
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I gave the survey to 70 participants
Seventy participants received the survey
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage
They All Sound the Same...
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They’re, There, and Their
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They’re going to the store this afternoon. (contraction
= they are)
I just returned from Dublin, have you ever been
there? (place, direction)
Their house is white with blue shutters. (possession)
To, Too, and Two
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Kent is moving to Massachusetts.
I want to go too.
He is taking his two dogs with him.
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage
They all sound the same...
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It’s and Its
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Whether and Weather
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It’s Jake’s birthday today. (It is)
Its hair was matted and mangled. (possession)
It does not matter whether or not Mandy stays for dinner.
The weather is supposed to be cold and damp.
Then and Than
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Men are more likely than women to watch UFC.
The students were instructed to clear their desks then begin the
examination.
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage
Often Forgotten.....
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Who vs. Whom
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Who vs. That
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Who is the person with the white lab coat?
With whom did you leave the key?
Individuals who study, often find exams to be easy.
Companies that give employees better benefits have higher
productivity.
The vase that broke is in the cardboard box.
Times when..., Places where...
Affect vs. Effect
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Psychology students often learn about the Hawthorne effect.
Amy wants study how energy-drinks affect performance and
cognitive ability.
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage
Anthropomorphizing
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Do not give human traits or abilities to
inanimate or non-human objects/creatures.
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Do not write
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The article shows...
 Instead try...Deci and Ryan indicate
The research explains...
 Instead...Pavlov explains
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage
Removing Bias
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One must be conscientious of how individuals
and groups are identified.
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Do not over generalize
Gender bias
Racial/Ethnicity bias
Mental health or disability status
Age
Quick APA Language Guide - Bias
Sexist Language
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When referring to an object that could be
either male or female (e.g., a participant, a
client, etc.) you MUST not exclude a gender.
For example, “When a therapist begins a
session, she introduces herself first.”
Try,
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“…the therapist introduces his or herself…”
“…self-introductions come first…”
Or: Make it plural  “When therapists begin
sessions, they introduce themselves first.”
Quick APA Language Guide - Bias
Irregular Plurals
Singular
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Plural
 Data
 Phenomena
Hypothesis
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Hypotheses
Phenomenon
Datum
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar
Irregular Plurals
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Singular Form
Child
Mouse
Foot
Offspring
Formula
Datum
Stimulus
Index
Hypothesis
Criterion
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Plural Form
Children
Mice
Feet
Offspring
Formulae
Data
Stimuli
Indices
Hypotheses
Criteria
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar
Abbreviations
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That is…
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And so on…
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Notes, books, pencils, etc.
For example…
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Study for your class; that is, if you don’t want to fail.
Study for your class (i.e., if you don’t want to fail)
For example, students in PSYC200.
…(e.g., students in PSYC200).
And other people (things) [used when have many
authors]
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…was found (Johns, et al., 2002).
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar
Dirty Grammar
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They’re always there to hurt their grade
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Plural possessives
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their, there, and they’re
Individual, individuals, individual’s, and
individuals’
Pronoun shifting
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Someone cannot be a they
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar
Parallel Construction
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Each statement must be able to stand alone and still be
grammatically correct.
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The student is required to read 30 pages of text, write a
report, and memorize a list of vocabulary words.
 to read
 to write
 to memorize
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar
Dirty Grammar
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Make ‘em parallel
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My experience with psychology is mostly from
attending classes, working with children, and to
read books.
If you can’t pull it apart, then it ain’t parallel
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..from attending classes
..from working with children
..from read books
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar
Dirty Grammar –
Comma use
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I expect to gain much experience in this class, and hope to
find out a direction for my career.
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I expect to gain much experience in this class, and I hope to
find out a direction for my career.
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I expect to gain much experience in this class
hope to find out a direction for my career
I expect to gain much experience in this class
I hope to find out a direction for my career
Mostly, whenever possible, use, or otherwise utilize, a comma
on introductory phrases
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At that time, I wanted to be a counselor
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar
Resources for help
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The ALC – writing center
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(410) 837-5383
alc@ubalt.edu
www.ubalt.edu/alc
Your peers
Your texts
Quick APA Language Guide
APA SCAVENGER HUNT
INTRO TO RESEARCH
METHODS
Research Methods
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There are 6 basic categories of scientific
method that virtually all research falls into
Research
Non-Experimental
Naturalistic Observation
Experimental
Quasi-Experimental
Field Study
Survey
Relational Research
Experimental
Research Methods –
Naturalistic Observation
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Addresses most basic scientific question:
“What is out there?”
Requires operational definition of events to be
observed
Observer must be unobtrusive, and
design must be nonreactive
Research Methods –
Field-Based Research
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Like naturalistic observation, conducted in
real-world settings
Goal is to establish natural relations among
events
Observer must be unobtrusive, but methods
are intentionally reactive
Research Methods –
Survey Research
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Appropriate to the study of private behaviors
Two primary styles:
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Interviews (structured/unstructured)
Questionnaires (structured/unstructured)
Research Methods –
Relational (Correlational) Research
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Goal to verify systematic (usually linear)
relations among events
Strengths/directions of relations
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generally expressed in form of correlation
coefficient (rxy)
Research Methods –
True Experiment
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Goal: to establish a cause-effect relationship
among events
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Does low-fat diet cause decrease in cancer risk?
Does exposure to violent video games cause
increase in violent behaviors?
Does spaced study cause increase in memory
accuracy and retention?
Do genetic variations cause sexual preference?
Research Methods –
True Experiment
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Requires:
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random assignment of participants to at least two
equivalent conditions
manipulation of one factor (independent variable, or IV)
in one condition (experimental), leaving it unchanged in
other condition (control)
measurement of one other factor in both conditions (factor
called dependent variable, or DV; measurement
instrument called dependent measure, or DM)
Research Methods –
True Experiment
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Concludes:
 if groups are NOT equivalent with
respect to DV, and
 if the difference between the groups is so big it
probably did not happen by chance, then
 manipulation of the IV caused the difference in
the DV
Research Methods –
Quasi-Experiment
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Goal also to establish cause-effect relations
among events
Required when random assignment is not
possible, because
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must use pre-existing groups, or
IV impossible to manipulate directly, or
IV unethical/illegal to manipulate directly
Research Methods Review
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Name 6 categories of scientific research
Review and Next Steps
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Review
Next week assignments
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APA Practice Test #1
Reading
Editorial style (the minutiae)