APA Style

1

Overview

• A few preliminaries

• Organization of APA-style research papers

• APA Style References

• APA Style Citations

2

Preliminaries

3

Sources of Info on APA Style

• Read APA-style papers in journals and edited collections

• Gives you the “feel” of APA style articles (tone and format, terseness, levels

of detail, etc.)

• BUT, older articles may not be in modern APA format. Some journals aren’t

in APA format at all (e.g., medical journals, bio journals...). And some

articles just aren’t very good...

• Goodwin, Appendix C (basic overview)

• Publication Manual of the APA 5th Edition (do NOT use 4th Ed.)

• Careful of websites, which might have outdated info

• Ask prof or TA

4

Types of APA Documents

• Empirical research report

• This is the most common type of APA-style publication

• Use this format (with slight modifications) for research proposal

• Other types of APA-style articles

• Review articles, including meta-analyses

• Theoretical articles

• Methodological articles

• Case studies

• Theses and Dissertations

5

Terminology: Justifications & Cases

This is left justified

This is right justified

This is fully justified text (you should never use this, it is ugly)

THIS IS ALL CAPS

This is sentence case

This Is Title Case

6

General Formatting

• Double-space everything

• Never use bold text

• Use the same plain font throughout (Times New Roman 12 point)

• Include a right-justified header with page number and an abbreviated version

of the running head for publication on every page

• Margins must be 1” all around

7

Tense

• If you were reporting research already done, you’d use past tense (“We tested

30 individuals and found...”)

• For your proposal, speak in FUTURE tense (“We plan to test 30 individuals

and we anticipate that we will find...”)

• When discussing other people’s previous work, use past tense (“Rosen (1977)

found that...”). However, the implications of past studies can be put in present

tense (“Rosen’s findings imply that people are generally trustworthy.”)

8

Word Processing Tips

• Learn to insert page breaks. In MS Word, it’s Insert --> Break --> Page Break.

Use this to separate sections, rather than hitting enter repeatedly.

• Learn to create proper indents by using those little doo-hickeys on the ruler at

the top instead of jamming tabs in everywhere (it’ll save you hassles in the end)

• Learn to create a header. In MS Word, it’s View --> Header and Footer. Then:

• Type your header text, and add a couple of spaces

• Add the page number by clicking #

• Right-justify by hitting

9

Organization of APA Style Documents

10

Sections of an APA-Style Research Report

• Title Page

• Abstract

• Introduction (may have subsections

if needed for organization)

• Methodology

• Participants

• Materials

• Design & Procedure

• Results

• Discussion

• References

• Appendices

• Author’s Note

• Footnotes

• Tables

• Figure Captions

• Figures

Main body

(no page breaks)

11

Sections of an APA-Style Review Paper

• Title Page

• Abstract

• Main body: May have several sub-

sections, but their specific names

are not formalized.

• References

• Appendices

• Author’s Note

• Footnotes

• Tables

• Figure Captions

• Figures

12

Sections of an APA-Style Thesis or Dissertation

• Title Page

• Abstract (300 words allowed)

• Several chapters, each of which may have the format of a research paper or a

review paper

• Figures and captions are included in text instead of at the end

13

Title Page

Header: Contains abbreviated running head and page number, right justified

Running head declaration: Left justified, a few lines down.

Starts with the words “Running head:” followed by the

full running head for publication in ALL CAPS.

Title: Centered, Title Case, near the top-middle of page.

Should be descriptive. Double-spaced.

Author Names: Centered. In order of contribution. First

author is a coveted position. Decide on one format of your

name and use it always.

Author Affiliations: Centered. For multiple affiliations, use

asterisks as shown. If all authors have same affiliation, no

asterisks are necessary

14

Running Head for Publication

• It is the set of words that will appear on every page of the published version of

your paper. It need not be the same as the running head you use on the

manuscript, which will normally be shorter.

• This appears, left justified, above the title

• It should look like the following:

Running head: MY VERY COOL RUNNING HEAD

• The words “Running head:” should be there, and the running head itself should

be in ALL CAPS.

15

A Good Title

• Full title appears in two places--title page and start of intro--centered and in

plain text (no bold, underline or italics). Use same font as everything else.

• First impressions are important, so think carefully about your title

• Avoid redundant phrases like “A study of...” or “An experiment on...”

• Title should be self-contained, understandable, complete, and (as much as

possible) concise.

• “A Study of the Effects of Marijuana” Effects on what? Why tell me it’s a

study, I know it’s a study!

• “The Effects of Marijuana, a Psychoactive Plant of the Genus Cannabis

Sativa, on the Mental Disorder Known as Psychosis in a Sample of College-

Aged Individuals of the Genus Homo Sapiens” Unnecessary detail!

16

Your Good Name(s)

• Author names on a paper are very important, because publication (for better or

worse...) is the currency of academic success.

• Choose one form of your name (e.g., Charles A. Collin) and use it every time. If

you keep changing between forms (e.g., C.A. Collin, Charles Collin, C. Collin...)

you confuse people trying to look for your work.

• Normally, the order of authors is very important. Order indicates degree of

contribution. However, on your research proposals, it won’t make a difference,

so use alphabetical order by last name.

17

Affiliations

• The institution where most of the work was done. In your case, just put

“University of Ottawa (PSY2174X)”

• With multiple authors from different institutions, list all their affiliations and use

asterisks to indicate who is from where.

18

Abstract Page

Header: Contains running head and page number, right justified

Heading, just the word “Abstract” at top of page, centered.

Abstract appears on its own page.

Learn to insert page breaks. In Word: Insert --> Break --> Page Break

Body of abstract. Single paragraph, no indent.

No more than 120 words. Accurate, self-

contained, concise summary of the paper.

Appears on its own page.

19

Abstract

• A summary of the whole study in

120 words or less

• A single non-indented paragraph

• One or two sentences each for:

• Background & Question

• Hypotheses

• Method

• Results

• Discussion/Implications

• The most important single

paragraph in the whole paper. It

should be:

• Accurate: Do not include any info

not in the main body of the paper

• Self-contained: Define all

acronyms and any unique terms.

Avoid citations and quotes

• Concise: Make every word count.

Avoid empty phrases and

redundancies

20

Introduction (1/2)

• Starts with the title (exact same one as on title page) centered at top of page.

• Body of intro is a series of plain text paragraphs.

• First few paragraphs:

• Overview of the problem you’re addressing and its importance

• Quick backgrounder on key concepts if necessary

• Short description of your research strategy

• Finally, tell me what you’re going to tell me

21

Introduction (2/2)

• Bulk of intro:

• Discuss the most relevant previous studies regarding your research

question (and/or related questions)

• Develop the background: What are the theories in this area, what

methodologies have been used, what are the key concepts?

• Note: Use some kind of logical order here (chronological, point/

counterpoint, etc.)

• Concluding few paragraphs:

• Describe your rationale (what will this study add to our knowledge?)

• Clearly define your hypotheses and why you have them.

22

Theoretical Rationale & Hypotheses

• Rationale = “Reason for existence”. What is the point of your study? If you’re

looking at gender differences in conformity, why are you doing so? What do

you expect to find? Why do you expect to find that? What will your study tell

us that’s new?

• Make sure your hypotheses match the format of your study. If you’re proposing

a factorial design, tell me about why you think there will be an interaction (or

why not). If a correlational study, what kind of correlation are you expecting

and why?

23

Methodology

• Has at least three subsections:

• Participants [or Subjects]: People are “Participants”; Animals are “Subjects”

• Apparatus [or Materials]: Use “Materials” when there aren’t any machines or

devices involved (e.g., a survey study)

• [Stimuli]: Optional. Use only if your study involves relatively complex stimuli

(different kinds of pictures, sounds, etc.)

• [Design]: Optional. Can be wrapped up with Procedure into “Design &

Procedure” if desired. Use a separate “Design” section if your design is

particularly complex (e.g., 3 x 4 x 2 mixed factorial design)

• Procedure [or Design & Procedure]

24

Methodology-Participants Subsection

• Describe the people (or animals, or families...) you’re going to study

• How many?

• How are you going to recruit them?

• How are you going to assign them to groups?

• How are they going to be paid/rewarded?

• For people, describe age range, sex ratio, and any other relevant

characteristics

• For animals, describe species, genus, method of obtaining, etc.

• BE DETAILED: Err on the side of too much detail rather than too little (this

goes for the whole paper).

25

Methodology-Apparatus Subsection

• Describe the materials you’re going to need: Special room set-ups,

questionnaires, stimuli, measurement devices, etc. etc.

• Do not mention basic clerical supplies (pencils, paper, etc.) or data analysis

software. These are implicit.

• Complex and novel materials should be described in detail, possibly

including illustrations or diagrams in Figures (or an Appendix).

• For questionnaires, if you are using a previously-designed one, give its full

name and a citation. If you are designing your own, include the full

questionnaire in an Appendix.

• Again, err on the side of more detail rather than less.

26

Methodology-Procedure Subsection

• First, describe the type of research: Survey study, correlational lab study,

Experiment, etc. etc. and describe the variables being studied.

• If correlational, give all variables being measured.

• If experimental, give all IVs and their levels, as well as all DVs. Also

mention if IVs are within or between. Be especially clear here.

• Bulk of this subsection describes in detail what happens to each

participant.

• Give enough detail for me to go and do your study.

27

Procedure Opening Paragraph Examples

! Our proposed study is a 3x3x2 factorial quasi-experiment, where the

variables are induced anxiety level (high, medium, or low; within-subjects), trait

anxiety (high, medium, or low; subject variable) and induced self-efficacy (high

or low, between subjects). Induced anxiety will be manipulated by...

! Our proposed research design is a survey study that will examine the

variables of political orientation, socio-economic status, and altruism. These

will respectively be measured using the Whetstone Political Attitudes

Questionnaire, 3rd Ed. (WPAQ-3), the Kilborne Employment and Savings Index

(KESI) and an altruism measure of our own design entitled the Smith-Baiyul

Kindness Survey (SBKS). See Appendix for the complete SBKS.

! Our proposed study is a correlational lab study examining the variables of

aggression and stress. Aggression will be measured by the length (in seconds)

of a punishment administered by the participant to a confederate. Stress will

be operationally defined in terms of blood-pressure, measured by a standard

blood pressure cuff.

28

(Anticipated) Results

• Normally, this is where a study’s data and analyses are discussed.

• For the proposal, discuss anticipated results. And tell me what kinds of

analyses you plan to do (t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson’s r...)

• If desired, a Table or Figure (i.e., graph) can be used to illustrate what you think

the results will look like, however:

• Be very careful to emphasize that these are not actual data.

• Be qualitative rather than quantitative. Don’t put any numerical values on

the Y axis of a graph, for instance. Put words like “higher” and “lower” in

tables rather than specific values.

• Graphs and tables do not get inserted into text, but get put at the end of the

document (see below)

29

• NOTE: For proposal, give no specific numbers, just qualitative predictions.

Example of Graph

EFT CBT

Depression Axiety Disorder

Therapy Type

Decre

ase in

Rep

ort

ed

Sym

pto

ms

30

Example of Table

• NOTE: For proposal, give no specific numbers, just qualitative predictions.

31

Discussion

• Last part of the main body of the text, and in some ways, the most important.

• Assuming you find what you anticipate, tell us why we should care:

• What will this mean for the problem you’re addressing?

• What would your results say about the theories proposed by others?

• How would the results of previous studies have to be reinterpreted in light of

your study? Re-discuss some of the studies from the intro.

• Are there any practical implications to your anticipated findings?

• What are the limitations of your study?

• Are there any ethical concerns?

• What should be done next?

32

Subheadings

• Any of the sections of the main body of the text (Intro, method, results,

discussion) can have subheadings if this helps to clarify things.

• Example: If you are measuring two or more DVs, you might discuss each under

its own separate subheading in the results section, such as Reaction Time Data

and Response Accuracy Data

• The introduction and discussion sections can sometimes be better organized if

subheadings are used.

33

References Section

• NOT a bibliography. Give a reference for every work you cite. Do not give a

reference for any work you don’t cite.

• References section starts on a new page (Insert --> Break --> Page Break)

• APA format is very picky, mind your p’s and q’s (and commas, and

ampersands...)

• Some common mistakes:

Don’t use abbreviated journal titles

Italicize volume numbers, and don’t include “vol.” or “v.”

Article titles must be in sentence case, like this.

Journal Titles and Book Titles Must be in Title Case and Italicized, Like This.

34

Collin, C.A., Rainville, S.J.M., & McMullen, P.A. (2002). Subordinate-

level object recognition relies on high spatial frequencies.

Perception & Psychophysics, 34, 121-134.

Hanging Indent

Last name, Initials (periods), comma, “&” between last and 2nd-last author

Date, in parentheses, followed by period

Article titles are in

sentence case, like this

Journal and Book Titles Are In

Title Case, Like This. Italicize

journal name and volume

Note use of commas

and periods here

35

Appendix or Appendices (Optional)

• This is a good place to put the text of instructions (if these are esp. important),

the text of a questionnaire, a list of stimuli, etc.

• If you have one Appendix, just refer to it in the main body as “the Appendix”.

• If several appendices, refer to them by letter “Appendix A”, “Appendix B”, etc.

• Make sure you refer to all Appendices somewhere in the main body!

• An appendix is not normally where your figures and tables go.

36

Author Note

• This appears on its own page.

• Give author affiliations

• Note special authorship status (e.g., “The authors share equal responsibility

for the content of this article”)

• Provides acknowledgments to granting agencies, helpful colleagues,

research assistants, etc.

• Note any perceived conflicts of interest

• Note if the data in this study was previously published

• Provide a mailing address and email address where the first author can be

contacted

37

Author Note Example

38

Footnotes

• In APA style, Footnotes go at the end of the paper1

• Footnote indicators should appear in text as small uppercase numbers2

• The footnotes section starts its own page.

39

Footnotes Example

40

Tables

• Tables are one way to summarize data. More precise than a graph, but less

“user friendly”.

• Each table goes on its own page.

• Follow formatting carefully, remembering that for proposals, data in tables

should be entirely non-numerical.

• Tables should be cited in text by their number:

“Hypothesized results for the proposed experiment are shown in Table 1.”

“We predict a greater effect of CBT therapy on depressive symptoms and a

greater effect of EFT therapy on symptoms of anxiety (see Table 1).”

41 42

43

Figure Caption Page

• Each figure (e.g., picture, graph) requires a caption to explain what it presents

• These captions DO NOT appear with the figures themselves, but instead all the

captions for the figures in a paper go on one page.

• The Figure Captions section starts on a new page.

44

Figures

• Each individual figure goes on its own page.

• You cannot use other people’s tables or figures without their permission (i.e.,

you can’t “quote” a table)

• Cite all figures in text. “Anticipated results are shown in Figure 1.”

• Follow guidelines for clear figures (e.g., 3/4 rule, equivalent symbols, etc.)

45

Example Proposal Figure

EFT CBT

Depression Axiety Disorder

Therapy Type

Decre

ase in

Rep

ort

ed

Sym

pto

ms

46

APA Style References

47

References - Journal Articles

• Journal article (most frequent type)

Mellers, B. A. (2000). Choice and the relative pleasure of consequences.

" Psychological Bulletin, 126, 910-924.

Klimoski, R., & Palmer, S. (1993). The ADA and the hiring process in

" organizations. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 45(2),

" 10-36.

Wolchik, S. A., West, S. G., Sandler, I. N., Tein, J., Coatsworth, D., Lengua, L.,

" et al. (2000). An experimental evaluation of theory-based mother and

" mother-child programs for children of divorce. Journal of Consulting and

! Clinical Psychology, 68, 843-856.

Collin, C. A. (in press). Spatial frequency effects in face recognition. Science,

! 290, 1113-1120.

Issue number, include only if

paginated by issue. Do not italicize

“et al” means “and others”. Use only if 6+ authors

48

References - Books

• Whole Book (rare)

Mitchell, T. R., & Larson, J.R., Jr. (1987). People in organizations: An

! introduction to organizational behavior (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

• Whole Edited Book (very rare)

Gibbs, J. T., & Huang, L. N. (Eds.). (1991). Children of color: Psychological

! interventions with minority youth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

• Article or Chapter from Edited Book (fairly common)

Bjork, R. A. (1989). Retrieval inhibition as an adaptive mechanism in human

" memory. In H. L. Roediger & F. I. M. Craik (Eds.), Varieties of memory &

! consciousness (pp. 309-330). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

49

References- Non-scholarly periodicals

• Magazine article (very rare)

Kandel, E. R., & Squire, L. R. (2000, November 10). Neuroscience: Breaking

" down scientific barriers to the study of brain and mind. Scientific American

! Mind, 2, 56-65.

• Newspaper article (also very rare)

Schwartz, J. (1993, September 30). Obesity affects economic, social status.

" The Washington Post, pp. A1, A4.

• Newspaper article, no author

New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (1993, July

" 15). The Washington Post, p. A12

50

References - Secondary sources

• Secondary source: A study cited in a study you’re reading.

• Example: You’re reading an article by Smith (2000), she mentions Liu and

colleagues (1996), which has a very relevant finding for your proposal.

• Whenever possible, go find Liu et al. (1996), read it, and cite it directly.

• In the rare case that this is not possible (e.g., Liu et al is in Chinese), do a

“secondary citation” along the lines of “Liu and colleagues (1996, as cited in

Smith, 2000) found that blah blah blah...”.

• In the references, list only Smith’s article, since you did not read Liu et al’s

article.

• Why should secondary citation be avoided whenever possible?

51

References - Web Pages

• Avoid these in general (wikipedia, much as I love it, is not a scholarly reference

source)

• Where possible, give author and date. If author is unknown, start with title of

article. If date is unknown, use “n.d.”.

GVU’s 8th WWW user survey (n.d.). Retrieved August 8th, 2007, from

" http://" www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1997-10/

• Why should these be avoided wherever possible?

52

Use Mainly Scholarly References

• Don’t cite or quote textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.

• Avoid secondary citations whenever possible, seek out the original paper.

• Minimize citations from web pages, newspapers, personal communications,

and other informal (non-scholarly) sources

• Cite mainly empirical journal articles. Articles from edited collections, theory

articles, methodological articles, etc. are good too.

• When citing an article/chapter from an edited book/collection, cite only the

article/chapter, not the whole book

53

APA Style Citations

54

Citations

• Citations # References!

• Citations appear in the main body text (and occasionally elsewhere). They

briefly identify the studies you have used in your research and let the reader

find the full reference in the references section.

• Use citations liberally. They should be used whenever you quote someone’s

writing or paraphrase their ideas.

• Most citations appear in the intro, with quite a few in the discussion as well. A

few may appear in other sections, as well.

55

Citation Format

• If paraphrasing from an article by Kurt Vonnegut, published in 2001:

Vonnegut (2001) suggests that the only fundamental moral rule is that we must be kind to one

another.

It has been suggested that the only fundamental moral rule is that one must be kind to others

(Vonnegut, 2001).

• If quoting from the same source

It has been suggested that only fundamental moral rule is “Damn it, you have to be

kind!” (Vonnegut, 2001, pg. 42).

56

Citation Format - Multiple Authors

• If cited material has 1 to 2 authors, always give all author names:

Hamilton and Fiske (2001) tested only males, as did Smith (1988). [. . .] When

one considers that the previous literature examined only males (e.g., Hamilton

& Fiske, 2001; Smith, 1998), it is clear that past work lacks generalizability...

• If cited material has 3 to 5 authors, list all of them the first time, but use “et al”

thereafter

Garfield, Hamilton, Fiske, and Angelou (2001) showed that [. . .] As previously

mentioned, a study by Garfield et al (2001) demonstrated that...

• For 6+ authors (rare), use “et al” for all citations.

57

Citation Format - Unusual Authors

• Group as author: Give full group name for first citation, and an abbreviation

thereafter

A report by the National Institute of Mental Health ([NIMH], 1999) showed...

National statistics have shown the prevalence level to be 1:1000 (NIMH, 1999).

• No author: Use part of title as citation

Several newspaper articles noted that the event was traumatic (“Students Shaken...”, 1999;

“University Mourns...”, 1999; “Campus Grieves...”, 1999).

58

Citation Format - Avoiding Confusion

• Two authors with same last name: Give initials to differentiate

J.M. Goldberg and Neff (1961) as well as M.E. Goldberg and Wurtz (1968) studied...

• Two works by same author in same year: Use a, b, c... to distinguish

Several recent studies by Johnson (2006a, 2006b, 2007) show that...

Many classical studies have shown that learning suffers under these conditions (Skinner, 1955a,

1955b, 1958; Watson, 1922, 1923; Zeno & Parkes, 1944).

•

59

Citation Format - “and” vs. “&” (ampersand)

• Use “and” outside of parentheses

Collin and McMullen (2002) showed that...

• Use “&” inside parentheses

It has been shown that... (Collin & McMullen, 2002).

•

60

Citation Format - Quotations

• For short quotations, use quotation marks. Give the page number!

Collin’s famous Second Maxim of Human Behaviour states that “No matter how complicated you

think it is, you’re oversimplifying” (Collin, 2002, p. 7).

• For longer quotations, offset the quoted material (indent on both sides):

The first paragraph of Melville’s (1851) Moby Dick provides an interesting example of the

anomie that drives some towards difficult or solitary professions:

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no

money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would

sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off

the spleen and regulating the circulation (pp. 21-22).

Similar motivations have been noted by a number of researchers investigating...

61

Using “et al” in Citations

1st

Citation

Later

Citations

1-2

Authors

Give all

names

Give all

names

3-5

Authors

Give all

names

Use

“et al”

6+ AuthorsUse

“et al”

Use

“et al”

62

Miscellany

63

APA Format - Numbers

• Generally, use digits for numbers 10+ and spell out lower numbers. But there

are many exceptions:

• In the abstract, use digits for all numbers

• If comparing several numbers, use digits (e.g., “We found significant results

in 5 out 21 cases...”)

• Always use digits for decimal numbers (e.g., “We found a mean of 3.5...”)

• Always use digits for number preceding a unit of measurement (“Subjects

were asked to study the material for 2 hours.”)

• There are many other rules (see APA guide, pp. 122-130) but in general use

your judgment, with a mind towards keeping things clear and easy to read:

“We asked 37 participants with a mean age of 21.2 ± 2.34 (M ± SD) to fill out

eight questionnaires, each of which involved twelve 7-point scales...”

64

Tips for Writing a Good Proposal (1/2)

Write in Proper Clear English: In my experience, about 75% of students cannot write at the

level I expect for 2nd year university students. I see an unfortunate number of students who have

pervasive problems with poor sentence structure, grammatical errors, misused words, etc. Pay

attention to the quality and clarity of your writing. Your content may be brilliant, but this won’t

mean much if I can’t understand what you’re trying to get across. Research ideas are hard

enough to figure out without having to deal with poor writing.

Thoroughly Explain Your Rationale: The most important thing about any study is that it

have a good theoretical rationale. Your readers must be convinced that what you’re doing is

important and will address the problem you set out to study. Pretend that someone is looking

over your shoulder and constantly asking “why are you doing that? What’s the point? Why that

way?” about your research design. Remember that the rationale may often seem implicitly

obvious to you, but you must spell it out for your reader. To reiterate: It might seem as if your

research idea is just inherently interesting, and that the justification for your particular method of

studying it is obvious, but that is not enough. You have to tell the reader why this research needs

to be done, and why it is good to do it in this way.

Be Original: There’s no point going over the same ground someone else did. Your proposal

must extend the previous research or take it in some new direction. Ultimately, it should add

new and relevant information to our knowledge about the phenomenon you are studying. Having

said that, it need not be radically new. An incremental addition to existing knowledge is what

I’m looking for.65

Tips for Writing a Good Proposal (2/2)

Be Detailed: A person should be able to take your proposal and go do your study. Little

details that seem obvious to you may not be to your reader.

Be Clear: There are no marks in science (or in this class) for fancy vocabulary. Rather,

clarity is of the utmost importance. The ideas you will be expressing will be complex, and you

must try to be kind to your reader and make it as easy as possible for him or her to understand

you.

Be Meticulous: You are describing complex ideas, so don’t let your reader be distracted by

poor grammar or spelling. Make sure every sentence is solid. Follow APA formatting rules with

great care. Use the same plain font throughout (Times New Roman is a good choice, Courier is

not), double-space everything, don’t use any bold text anywhere, and go over your citations and

references with a fine-toothed comb.

Remember this is Proposal: DO NOT describe your study as if it had already taken place.

You are proposing a piece of research you plan to do in the future, so it should be discussed in

future tense. Note that this means you should never describe results quantitatively (in numbers)

but rather qualitatively (in words). Don’t say “We anticipate that group 1 will have a mean IQ of

102.3 while group 2 will have a mean IQ of 115.2” but rather something like “We anticipate that

group 1 will have a lower mean IQ than group 2.”

66

Finding Older References

• When researching your topic, many newer references will be available for

download

• Older ones will not, you will have to get the journals off the library shelves and

photocopy them.

• Many older journals have been moved to off-site archives. Ask at the

circulation desk if you can’t find a journal volume

• Always ask a librarian! They can get you almost anything, no matter how old or

obscure, given enough time.

67