APA Format

1
APA Format
2
Learning Objectives

• Identify the 7 major sections of a research paper
  as required by APA format
• Identify common errors in using APA format

3
Major Sections of the Paper

• There are 7 essential sections 3 short 4 long.
• Short sections
• Title page title, authors, etc.
• Abstract 1 paragraph gist of paper
• References list of works cited

4
Long Sections

• Introduction lit review, research question or
  hypothesis
• Method what you did
• Results what you found
• Discussion what it means

5
Next Sections in the Order that they appear in
the Paper
6
1. Title Page

• First page of APA format paper
• Components
• 1. Page header
• 2. Page number
• 3. Running head
• 4. Title
• 5. Author(s)
• 6. Affiliation(s)

7
Title page example
2
1
3
4
5
6
8
2. Abstract

• Single paragraph description of study
• Usually contains info about
• Research question or hypothesis
• Participants
• Methods
• Findings
• Summary statement/conclusion

9
Abstract Format

• 1. Page header and page number top right
• 2. Abstract is centered, A is capped
• 3. Abstract has own page
• 4. Paragraph is blocked, not indented
• 5. No more than 150 words.

10
Abstract Example
1
3
Individual differences 2
2
4
Abstract
An objective assessment of exploration of cats
that were presented a novel environment was
compared to owners assessments of their cats
curiosity (N34 neighborhood cats). The novel
environment consisted of a carpeted maze
11
3. Introduction

• Contains
• Thesis statement broad description of the
  problem
• Review of relevant literature
• Research question or hypothesis

12
Introduction format

• Title repeats, Introduction implied.
• Header and page 3
• Indent paragraphs
• Citations for previous studies.
• Citations follow APA format (tons of rules for
  citations).

13
Sample Introduction
Individual Differences 3
Individual Differences in Cats in Our
Neighborhood
Curiosity is often thought to have killed
the cat (Paws Claws, 1999). But is it more
likely to have killed some cats than others?
Can we reliably distinguish differences in how
curious our feline friends really are?
14
4. Method

• Contains
• Participants who (aka subjects)
• Apparatus equipment, mazes, etc.
• Materials surveys, vodka, whatever
• Procedure what actually happens

15
Participants (in Methods, aka subjects)

• How many (N?)
• Demographics (sex, age, race, time on the job,
  etc.)
• Who they were from the study standpoint (business
  executives, Ford mechanics, psychiatric patients,
  students in research methods)

16
Procedure (in Methods)

• Step-by-step account of what happened
• Details are enough for replication, but no
  unnecessary detail
• Procedure is flush left and underline, cap the P
  only

17
Sample Method
Individual Differences 16
Method
Participants
A total of N32 neighborhood cats agreed to
participate after intense negotiation. There
were 10 male and 22
18
5. Results

• Contains
• Type of analysis used (e.g., ANOVA, t-test,
  correlation, chi-square)
• Statistical findings
• Statistical test used (e.g., F test)
• Statistical significance levels (e.g, plt.05)
• Means, correlations or other statistics (e.g.,
  SD5)
• Reference to tables and figures that show the
  findings (e.g., see Table 1)

19
Results format

• Results R is capped and word is centered third
  major section (intro, method, results,
  discussion)
• Put results either in (a) text or (b) tables and
  figures, not both. If its in a table, you dont
  need to repeat it in the text.

20
Results example
Individual Differences 20
Results
Results for both owners and cats
curiosity scores are summarized in Table 1. The
boxplots for both distributions can be seen in
Figure 1.
21
6. Discussion

• Contains
• Recap of study question or hypothesis
• Conclusions that can be drawn from the study
• Comparison of current results with the literature
  (previous studies)
• Study limits and future research agenda

22
Discussion Format

• Discussion has capped D and word is centered (4th
  main section).
• Use left flush heading to separate major sections
  of the discussion.

23
Discussion example
Individual Differences 20
Discussion
Are some cats more curious than others?
According to our results, the answer appears to
be yes. As can be seen in Table 1, clear
evidence that
24
7. References

• Contains
• Complete list of works cited
• No works that were read but not cited
• Reference format is complicated and detailed.
  Rules available in detail from APA and Smith
  Davis

25
Appendices

• APA articles will sometimes have an appendix or
  two. This is technical work for specialists.
  May include mathematical proofs, unpublished test
  items or surveys other details.
• You will have these as part of your projects.