Psychology: Research Proposals and Reports 1

Research Proposals and Reports

Psychology
The goal of psychology is to better understand the mind and behavior.
Although there is considerable psychological variation among individualsso
much that no two people are ever completely alikethe scientific methods
employed by research psychology allow for the discovery and prediction
of stable patterns across human populations. Nevertheless, because any
given thought or behavior is typically the product of multiple interacting
factors, the claims of research psychology should be viewed as probabilistic
claims (whats most likely to be the case in the studied demographic). This
differs from claims of most other scientific fields, which are often considered
absolutes (such as the claim that each water molecule consists of two
hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom).
Writing a psychology research paper is like writing about a mystery waiting
to be solved. In a mystery, there is an existing circumstance that leads a
detective to devise questions and an overall hypothesis that may address
the truth of the situation at hand. This is the same process followed in
psychological research. When crafting your report, keep in mind that:
The introduction should address the situation, pre-existing evidence,
and questions or hypotheses that pertain to the methods the writer
will complete to seek further insight.
The methods section relates to a detectives testing of those
hypotheses, which is essentially gathering additional evidence.
The results and discussion section(s) should provide further
information pertaining to the relevance of the hypotheses, and will
provide a reference point for further investigation.
Audience
Your primary audience is your professor and classmates. However, you
should write so that anyone in the field of psychologyor even a general
academic audiencecan understand your research and the purpose of the
report.
Writing Process Tips
Read Carefully
Read multiple articles before writing a research proposal or report in order
to gain an accurate understanding of that area of research and to create a
sensible research question or hypothesis.
Ask yourself, How many articles have I actually read for this assignment? Am
I ready to dive into the writing, or should I read up on this some more? You
would not want to get stuck in a rut and have to backtrack simply because
you thought it would save time and energy to read less and write sooner.

The purpose of writing research

proposals or a report is to
design and analyze behavioral
data according to psychologys
methods, and to relay that
information as a psychologist
would. The trick is to do this
without relying on jargon or writing
that isnt clear.
A Brief Overview of Research Proposals and Reports
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Psychology: Research Proposals and Report 2
Annotate
Consider writing an annotated bibliography for articles read early in the
assignment process (before writing the proposal or report). Writing an
annotated bibliography essentially consists of taking a few minutes to
summarize an article you just read, specifically mentioning aspects that
potentially pertain to your research proposal or report. Writing an annotated
bibliography can save time and energy when writing a literature review. An
annotated bibliography is an effective way to keep track of findings and to
learn what further research can be done to develop that research area.
Recycle
Keep in mind that writing a research proposal completes the first few steps
of writing a research report. The proposal outlines an introduction that
references previous findings and the question that inspired the hypothesis, as
well as a methodology for an experiment.These are the first few sections of a
complete research report.
However, when actually completing the research, you may experience
changes that lead to alternative methods, and it will be necessary to rewrite
your methodology section to accurately describe your research process.
Organizing a Proposal or Research Report
A research proposal and research report are similarly organized. A proposal
can transform into a report upon completion of the results and discussion
sections, but the report needs to portray the actual methods completed if
different from the proposals ideas.
Introduction and Literature Review
This section includes a description of the current issue at hand and references
existing research about this issue.The section needs to include a rationale for
the researcha discussion of why the topic matters and is worthy of research.
In addition, it includes questions for which you will seek responses throughout
your research (whether you just propose the experiment or actually complete
it). Questions need to be mirrored in the discussion section, where responses
to those questions will be provided.
Finally, you must include a hypothesisa theory-based prediction that could
possibly be disproved by your research. For example, the theory might be that
three year-old children are self-sacrificing. Your prediction might be that three-
year-old children will give up their toys when approached by other children.
This kind of prediction could lead you to a specific hypothesis related to your
chosen research methods.
Methods
The methods section describes how the study is to be conducted. This section
is to the point and steps-based.
Results (for Report only)
The results section of a report should include the following information:
Responses to research questions.
Statistical analysis.
Data illustrations.
Summary of results interpretation.
Discussion (for Report only)
The discussion addresses the questions from the introduction; it provides

Writing an annotated
bibliography is a great
way to get organized and
knowledgable on your topic.
The Methods Section
Includes:
Sample size, demographic
characteristics of subjects,
and how they are recruited
and assigned to experimental
conditions.
Designstudy type, condition
descriptions, group assignments,
etc.).
Materials/apparatuses used.
Procedureswhat process was
followed.
Measureshow data is collected/
scored/compared.

Psychology: Research Proposals and Reports 3

responses to those questions based on the experimental findings. The
discussion section also:
Explains the meaning of the data described in the results section.
Addresses the question So what is next? and how the results
advance the field of psychology in general.
Notes any limitations to the research. Was the sample size too small
to yield effective results? Was the sample truly random, or did a
selective sampling impact the research results?
Research Proposal Summary
There is not a set organization for the summary of a research proposal, but
the following elements are generally included:
A restatement of why the research question is important.
A description of how the proposed methods are different from ones
that have been used before. (What exactly makes the proposed study
unique?)
A description of any potential limitations of the proposed methods,
followed by a defense of their use. (Given the limitations, why is this
study still worth pursuing?)
A discussion of the implications of the findings of the proposed study,
whatever they may be.
Prompts for Writing Consultations
Is the thesis clear?
Does the introduction effectively address the study as a whole, without
addressing the results and discussion? Sometimes an introduction
includes an actual outline of whats covered throughout the reporta
statement that begins this report describes....
Is it clear that the writer has done enough background reading on the
issue?
Does the literature review address previous research results and
show why the research is worth pursuing at this point?
Is it clear why the writer did what he or she did in the study?
Does the introduction include specific, clearly identifiable questions to
be addressed in the research?
Do the questions in the introduction appear again in the results and
discussion sections? The results section should provide data-specific
results for those questions, and the discussion section should further
analyze the meaning of those results. If the introduction questions
are not brought up again,the writer should consider whether they
are necessary to include at all, or need to be attended to more in the
results and discussion sections.
The report should be predictable after the introduction in that it should
follow the pattern described throughout this guide. Is this the case?
Are all the elements of the introduction/methods/results/discussion
sections complete?
Is there sufficient evidence provided throughout the report? Does the
writer show readers the reasoning/results of the research?
Are soucres cited correctly according to APA style?
Does this paper follow the professors expectations for formatting?

Take Notice of Voice/Tone

The writing should be formal, but
not too jargony. It should be
understandable by psychology experts
and non-experts alike.
Format Accurately
APA standards (citations,
manuscript format, titles,
headers, etc.) must be adhered
to. The Publication Manual of
the American Psychological
Association is the defnitive guide
to APA style, but the following
website is also helpful: http://
www.dianahacker.com/resdoc.
There are specifc sections of the
report identifed by headings, but
it is important to remember that
the report is a coherent whole,
with each section providing useful
information that connects to other
sections.
Quotations are expected to
support opinions about research
fndings (both own research results
and from pre-existing research)
with evidencethe key factor to
relaying experimental information.