Research Report

Chapter 15

Research Report – APA Format

Title Page Running head – BRIEF TITLE, positioned in

upper left corner of no more than 50 characters in length including letters, spaces, and punctuation.

Full title of article, centered on the 1st page and typed in both lower and upper case letter.

Authors typed in lower and upper case letters, centered below full title.

Research Report - Abstract Page number and very short title

appears in upper right-hand corner of every page except for pages containing figures.

Abstract – about 120 words, summarizes objective, methods, procedures, results, and conclusion/implications.

Research Report - Introduction

Starts out for general and becomes increasingly specific to your question.

Intro leads into statement of the variables to be studied in this study.

Cite relevant and not tangential literature.

Cover topics specifically related to your methods.

State purpose of your study & hypothesis.

Research Report - Introduction

What is the question? What has been done? What will you do? What do you expect (hypothesis)?

Research Report - Methods Detailed description of your methods and

procedures. Research design Participants – selection procedure &

inclusion/exclusion criteria Measures Procedures Statistical analytical plan

Enable reader to evaluate the validity of your study.

Research Report - Methods Participants:

Sample size you aimed for Inclusion criteria Exclusion criteria Recruitment procedure (including how

consent obtained) Anything you did to help ensure retention

of participants.

Research Report – Measures or Apparatus

Apparatus – model and where bought it from

Measure – references, brief reliability & validity data

Custom-made equipment should be fully described and a drawing or picture of the apparatus included.

Research Report - Procedure

Details from moment of first contact with participant to last contact.

Experimental instructions When and how measures conducted Control techniques

E.g., randomization procedure

Research Report - Results Participant characteristics, participation

rate, and attrition rate unless these were reported in the methods. Descriptive statistics

Results related to hypotheses Inferential statistics Include statistical values of test and p

values. Decide on tables, figures to be included

Research Report - Results Figures & tables

Explain main findings of the figures and tables in text format

Tables that include means should also include variance index and cell sample size.

Evidence in support of internal/external validity of the study. Can also be presented as tables or figures

Tables & Figures Why show a figure?

Tell us more about our data – distributions

Tell us more about our results Helps communication

CIDS: Frequency Distribution of ICD Shocks

Total number of all shocks to 12 months

Of 143, 86 received no shocks, 39 received 1- 4 shocks,

and 18 received 5 or more shocks

Total number of all shocks to 12 months

66541311876543210

Fre

quen

cy

100

80

60

40

20

0

CIDS: Quality of Life Outcomes -Certainty of Surviving VT/VF

50525456586062646668707274767880

ICD Amiodarone

Baseline6 Months12 Months

ANVOVA - treatment effect p < 0.0001Linear time by group, p < .05

Research Report - Discussion

Hypotheses confirmed or not Interpret and evaluate research findings. Integrate findings with other relevant

published research Report of interpretation of important data

that speak to the internal/external validity. Evaluate significant short comings of study Next steps for follow-up research

Research Report - References List all citations used in the paper

in the reference section. Follow APA format for publications

in APA journals.

Research Report – Author Notes

Printed on separate page Authors and their affiliations Funding information when relevant Special circumstances (e.g.,

dissertation) Acknowledgements Address of corresponding author

Research Report - Footnotes Typed on separate page Typed in order they appeared in

the report Each footnote is preceded by the

appropriate superscript arabic numeral.

Writing Style Be precise Avoid jargon, wordiness, and

redundancy Generally do not refer to yourself

as “I” Avoid plagiarism

However, present other’s findings in your own words (don’t quote).

Language Avoid demeaning attitudes and

biased labels Use precise language (e.g., gender

is better than sex). Avoid pejorative or stereotypical

labels, including subjects Use active voice rather than

passive voice

Writing Style Use abbreviations sparingly and define

them before using them, and try to use only abbreviations that are familiar to the reader (e.g., IQ).

Do not start a sentence with a number and use the word rather than the number for numbers less than ten.

Measurements are expressed in metric

Manuscript – Order of Sections

Title page Abstract Text References Author notes Footnotes Tables Figure captions & then Figures

Common Failings in Published Research Papers

Data collection procedure not carefully controlled

Design weaknesses Lack of description of study limitations Research design did not address the

research question Inappropriate method of sample

selection

Common Failings in Published Research Papers

Results not clearly presented Inappropriate statistical analyses Poorly written Assumptions upon which the study was

based was unclear Method used to conduct the study was

not clearly described or described at all.

Thank you. You have been a great class!