PS28C Psychometrics

1
PS28CPsychometrics

• Tutorial 2
• The Fundamentals of APA Style

2
Introduction

• Tutorial will teach how to
• Format the paper for this course
• Cite journal articles, books, websites and any
  other source of information you use
• Create a reference list
• Avoid accidental plagiarism

3
Why Use The APA Style?

• Using APA style serves to
• Provide a standard look and feel to papers
• Ease readers access to your references
• Protect against accusations of plagiarism
• Increase your academic credibility

4
Standard Look and Feel

• Following the APA style provides a common look
  and feel to your research paper
• Eases process of communication with readers
  familiar with APA style
• Helps to convey the logic of your arguments and
  their supporting evidence

5
Standard Look and Feel

• Helps readers know where to find vital
  information in your manuscript
• Helps you keep track of your references and
  supportive evidence

6
Ease Access to Evidence

• Psychologists are a community of researchers with
  a shared set of norms and values
• One norm is method of citing research
• APA style eases readers ability to find the
  research that you cite

7
Protects Against Accusations of Plagiarism

• Very easy to accidentally plagiaries
• Plagiarism is not attributing findings, ideas or
  opinions to their original authors
• Plagiarism may result in serious sanctions
• APA style provides a means to avoid plagiarism
  through proper citation of others work

8
Gives Credibility to Your Work

• Psychologists are a community of researchers with
  norms and values regarding research
• Using APA style shows that you understand these
  norms and values
• Abiding by the accepted practices gives
  credibility to your work

9
Sources of Information on APA Style

• APA style is very detailed and specific
• Need to learn and master basic principles of APA
  style
• Several sources of information on APA style

10
Sources of Information on APA Style

• TA for tutorial
• Course instructor
• Online websites
• http//www.apastyle.org/
• Ameoba Web on the Psychology Subject Portal
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_
  apa.html
• http//www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/social_sciences/
  manfor.html
• http//www.crk.umn.edu/library/links/apa5th.htm

11
Elements of APA Style

• Three major elements in APA style
• Formatting your paper
• Citing research in your paper
• Creating a reference list
• Need to master all three

12
Formatting the Paper

• Paper should contain these sections
• Title page
• Abstract
• Body of report
• References
• Appendices
• Footnotes and endnotes
• Tables
• Figures and Figure captions

13
Formatting the Paper

• According to APA style your paper should
• Be typed
• Be double spaced
• Have a margin of 1 inch on top, bottom and left
  and right sides of paper
• Have each new section start on a new page
• Be numbered on top right side starting with title
  page

14
Title Page

• Title page should have
• A page header
• A running head
• The title of the paper
• Your contact information including your name and
  the name of this department and university

15
Abstract

• Page where abstract appears should
• Have the page header
• The word Abstract as a title
• A brief summary of the paper
• First word not indented
• Single paragraph

16
Body of Report

• Main section of your report
• Should contain the following sections
• Introduction and literature review
• Method (Participants, Measures, Procedure, etc.)
• Results
• Discussion

17
Body of Report

• APA allows for 5 levels of headings
• Most often only use 2 levels of headings (Levels
  1 and 3)
• If you need to have 3 levels of headings use
  levels 1, 3 and 4
• Consult APA Style Guide if you need more than 3
  levels of headings

18
In Text Citations

• APA style provides several guidelines on citing
  other research in the body of the text
• Follows author-date format
• Authors last name first, followed by a comma and
  the date of publication
• Complete reference appears in reference list

19
In Text Citations

• General format
• Smith (2003) reviewed several studies of child
  development
• A recent paper reviewed literature on child
  development (Smith, 2003)
• In 2003, Smith reviewed literature on child
  development

20
In Text Citations

• If there are two authors use this style
• (Smith Jones, 2003)
• If there are three to five authors use this
  format
• (Smith, Jones, Williams Keller, 2003)
• If six or more authors
• (Smith et al., 2003)

21
In Text Citations

• Subsequent citations of papers with 3 or more
  authors use this format
• (Smith et al., 2003)
• When there is no author, then use a few words
  from the title
• (The Lost Generation, 2003)
• If the paper has no date use this format
• (Smith, n.d.)

22
In Text Citations

• If you report on a study cited by someone else
  use this format
• Smith found that some children were lonely (as
  cited in Jones, 2004)
• Some children were lonely (Smith, 2003 as cited
  in Jones, 2004)

23
Quotations in Text

• If the quotation is less than 40 words enclose in
  double quotation marks and include in paragraph
• If longer then 40 words
• Place in separate block of double spaced text
• Indent text five spaces from left side of page
• Do not use quotation marks

24
Reference List

• Reference list should be on separate page
  following discussion section
• References should appear as a centered title at
  the top of the page
• Title should be in same font and style as the
  rest of the paper
• Do not place title in bold, italic, or underlined
  typefaces

25
Reference List

• Common set of elements for all references in the
  reference list
• Authors name
• Date of publication
• Title of the work
• Source of publication

26
Reference List

• Standard format is name, date, title,
  publication, volume, pages
• Smith, A. L. (2004). Loneliness among Caribbean
  males. Journal of Gender Issues, 25, 228-282.
• References are listed in alphabetical order by
  author

27
Reference List

• Order by date of publication if same author has
  written several different papers
• Smith, A. L. (2004). Loneliness in Jamaica.
  Caribbean Journal of Psychology, 2, 24-35.
• Smith, A. L. (2003). Loneliness in the Caribbean.
  Journal of Caribbean Psychology, 23, 223-245.

28
Reference List

• Journal article downloaded from library database
• Smith, E. Jones, J. J. (2004). Loneliness
  among Caribbean peoples. Journal of Loneliness
  Studies, 34, 24-55. Retrieved March 12, 2004
  from EBSCO database.

29
Reference List

• Example of a referencing a complete book
• Williams, P. Q. (1997). Loneliness A sourcebook
  of current theory, research and practice. New
  York, Prentice Hall.

30
Reference List

• Example of a referencing a chapter from an edited
  volume
• Morris, E. J. (2003). Loneliness among
  university students. In L. A. Peplau D.
  Perlman (Eds.), Loneliness A sourcebook (22-45).
  New York Prentice-Hall.

31
Reference List

• An example of referencing a paper published in an
  online journal
• Peplau, L. A. (2002, April 12). Loneliness.
  Practical Measurement, 20. Retrieved March 12,
  2004, from http//www.practicalmeasurement.com

32
Questions

• Questions about APA Style?

33
Exercise

• Search the web for papers on your topic
• Create a reference page listing these papers