Writing Reports on Psychological Research

It is important for psychologists to share the results of their research. The report of an experiment must be clear and accurate. The ideas should be presented in a logical order.

The report should begin with the title. The title should be short, but it should not be too general. It should give the main idea of the study. For example, "Short-term Memory" is too short and too general. The title should be more specific, for instance, "The Effect of Auditory and Visual Information on Short-term Memory."

If the report is for a journal, an abstract should follow the title. The abstract is a summary of the report. It should be 100 words. It should give information about the problem which was studied, the methods which were used, and some of the more important results.

The next section should be the introduction to the report. The introduction should begin with reference to other studies on this topic or related topics. Next it should state the particular problem or objective of the study. Finally it should include any hypotheses the experiment had, that is, the results the experimenter expected before the study was begun.

After the introduction, there should be a section which describes the methods used in the experiment. Generally, the subjects are described first, then the apparatus or equipment which was used, and finally the exact procedure which was followed. The procedure should be carefully described in chronological order. All the details must be included so if other experimenters want to repeat this experiment, they will have the necessary information.

Then the results of the study should be presented. This section should include all the data and the charts, tables, or graphs the researcher needs to present the data clearly.

The next section is a discussion of the results. It can tell how the results prove or disprove the hypothesis. It can also show the relation of the results to those of other experiments. It may include suggestions for future studies.

At the very end, there should be a bibliography. The bibliography should list all the books and articles which are mentioned in the report.

Short Answer Questions

1. What's the purpose for psychologists to write research reports?
2. How many sections should a research report include at least?
3. What is an abstract?
4. Why should the means of the experiment be presented carefully in a research report?
5. What is a hypothesis?

(Keys.)