Finishing up APA

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Finishing up APA Ethics

• Psych 231 Research Methods in Psychology

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Announcements

• Exam 1 Coming up soon (Monday, Sept 19 thats 1
  week from today!)
• CITI ethics assignment is posted (see link on
  syllabus)
• Not due until week 7, but since ethics is covered
  on Exam 1, I recommend checking it out sooner
  rather than later

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Writing resources

• The ultimate resource for APA style is the APA
  Publication manual

New 6th ed.

• Chapter 8 of your textbook is good too.
• Also websites to help too.

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Misconceptions about Scientific writing

• Writing the paper is the routine part of the
  research process
• Forces you to commit to your evidence and
  conclusions
• Just the facts
• The facts are just part of the argument that the
  author is making
• What you say is all that is important, how you
  say it isnt important
• Good writing leads to higher chance of
  accomplishing your goals

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Writing style

• Psychological writing tends to differ from other
  academic writings
• Not a creative writing exercise
• Presenting an argument based on data and logical
  reasoning
• Try to avoid using direct quotes, restate things
  in your own words.
• Avoid digression
• Footnotes are rare, theyre used to
  elaborate/clarify a point. Try to do so in the
  text.
• If long digressions, use the appendix

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Why a structured format?

• To ease communication of what was done
• Forces a minimal amount of information
• Provides a logical framework (for argument)
• Provides consistent format within a discipline
• People know what to expect
• Where to find the information in the article
• Allows readers to cross-reference your sources
  easily

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Major goal Clarity

• Communicate with clarity

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Major goal Clarity

• Communicate with clarity

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Major goal Clarity

• Communicate with clarity

• Write for the reader
• Think about your audience, what do they already
  know, what dont they know
• Avoid overstatements
• Be conservative in your claims
• Emphasize the positive
• Focus on how the data supports a theory not just
  on how it refutes another theory

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Major goal Clarity

• Communicate with clarity

• Avoid
• Jargon when possible
• Slang and colloquialisms
• Sexist and biased language
• Try to be concise
• Dont use a whole paragraph when two sentences
  will do
• Longer papers dont mean better papers
• Eliminate unnecessary redundancy
• Use simple words (sentences) rather than
  complicated words (sentences)

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Major goal Clarity

• Communicate with clarity

• Use concrete words and examples
• Check your work!
• Read it over, make sure that you say what you
  mean to say
• Use a consistent format (APA style)
• It helps your reader understand your arguments
  and the sources theyre built on.
• It also helps you keep track of your sources as
  you build arguments

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APA style Parts of a research report

Adolescent Depression
1 Running Head ADOLESCENT DEPRESSION
Adolescent Depression and Attachment Ima
G. Student and Soyam Eye Purdue
University

• Title Page

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The anatomy of a research article

• The basic parts of a research article
• Title and authors - gives you a general idea of
  the topic and specifically who did it
• Abstract - short summary of the article

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Title Page
Running head will go on each page of published
article, no more than 50 characters
Running Head ADOLESCENT DEPRESSION
1

Adolescent Depression and Attachment Ima G.
Student and Soyam Eye Topnotch
University
Title should be maximally informative while
short (10 to 12 words recommended)
Order of Authorship sometimes carries meaning
Affiliation where the bulk of the research was
done

• Published title pages will look a bit different,
  but youll find these pieces of information.
  Typically the body of the article will begin as
  well.

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Abstract

• Abstract Short summary of entire paper
• 150-250 words
• The problem/issue
• The method
• The results
• The major conclusions
• Recommendation write this after youve finished
  the rest of the paper
• Good first contact, but remember that it is short
  on detail
• Shows up in PsycInfo
• Gets skimmed before reading the article

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Body

• Hourglass shape

Background Literature Review
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Body

• Hourglass shape

Statement of purpose Specific hypotheses (at
least at conceptual level)
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Body

• Hourglass shape

- Methods - Results
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Body

• Hourglass shape

Discussion Conclusions Implications
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Body

• Introduction - gives you the background that you
  need
• Issue and Background
• What is it? Why is it interesting/important?
• Literature Review
• What has been done? What theories are out there?
• Statement of purpose
• What are you going to do and why?
• Specific hypotheses (at least at conceptual
  level)
• What do you predict will happen in your research?

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Body

• Introduction - gives you the background that you
  need

• Reading checklist
• 1) What is the author's goal?
• 2) What are the hypotheses?
• 3) If you had designed the study, how would YOU
  have done it?

• Writing checklist
• Be cohesive
• Be relevant (why are the reviewed studies
  relevant?)
• Work on the transitions (make the flow logical)

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Body

• The basic parts of a research article

• Method - tells the reader exactly what was done
• Enough detail that the reader could actually
  replicate the study.
• Subsections
• Participants - who were the data collected from
• How many, where they were selected from, any
  special selection requirements, details about
  those who didnt complete the experiment
• Apparatus/ Materials - what was used to conduct
  the study
• Design
• Suggested if you have a complex experimental
  design, often combined with Materials section
• Procedure
• What did each participant do? Other details,
  including the operational levels of your IV(s)
  and DV(s), counterbalancing, etc.

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Body

• The basic parts of a research article

• Method - tells the reader exactly what was done
• Reading checklist
• 1 a) Is your method better than theirs?
• b) Does the authors method actually test the
  hypotheses?
• c) What are the independent, dependent, and
  control variables?
• 2) Based on what the authors did, what results do
  YOU expect?
• Writing checklist
• Is it clear why the procedures were selected?
• Are any assumptions explicit and defended?
• Is the level of detail sufficient for
  replication?

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Body

• Results (state the results but dont interpret
  them here)
• Verbal statement of results
• Tables and figures
• These get referred to in the text, but actually
  get put into their own sections at the end of the
  manuscript
• Statistical Outcomes
• Means, standard deviations, t-tests, ANOVAs,
  correlations, etc.

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Body

• Results (state the results but dont interpret
  them here)

• Reading checklist
• 1) Did the author get unexpected results?
• 2 a) How does the author interpret the results?
• b) How would YOU interpret the results?
• c) What implications would YOU draw from these
  results?
• Writing checklist
• Is it clear how the hypotheses are tested by the
  analyses?
• Would a graph or table help clarify the results?
• What questions might the reader still have, and
  how could I answer them in this section?

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Body

• Discussion (interpret the results)
• Relationship between purpose and results
• Theoretical (or methodological) contribution
• Implications
• Future directions (optional)

• Reading checklist
• 1 a) Does YOUR interpretation or the authors'
  interpretation best represent the data?
• b) Do you or the author draw the most sensible
  implications and conclusions?
• Writing checklist
• Have you stated your most convincing argument?
• Do the conclusions follow straightforwardly from
  the results?

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The rest

• References
• Authors name
• Year
• Title of work
• Publication information
• Journal
• Issue
• Pages

Adolescent Depression 29
References Barnett, P. A.,
Gotlib, I. H. (1988). Psychosocial
functioning and depression Distinguishing among
antecedents, concomitants, and
consequences. Psychological Bulletin,
104. Beck, A. T. (1978). Beck Depression
Inventory. San Antonio, TX
Psychological Corporation. Benoit, D.,
Vidovic, D., Roman, J. (1991, April).
Transmission of attachment across three
generations. Paper presented at the
Biennial Meeting of the Society for
Research in Child Development. Benoit, D.,
Zeanah, C. H., Barton, M. L. (1989).
Maternal attachment disturbances in failure to
thrive. Infant Mental Health Journal,
3, 185-202. Benoit, D., Zeanah, C. H.,
Boucher, C., Minde, K. (1989). Sleep
disorders in early childhood Association
with insecure maternal attachment. Journal of
the American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 86-93.
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The rest

• References

• Authors Notes (new guidelines put these on title
  page)
• Footnotes
• Tables
• Figures and figure captions

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Figures and tables

• These are used to supplement the text.
• To make a point clearer for the reader.
• Typically used for
• The design
• Examples of stimuli
• Patterns of results

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Ethics

• Ethics people should be treated as ends not
  means

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Ethical Responsibilities in Research

• Two basic categories of ethical concerns
• Need to consider the rights of our participants
  in our research
• Need to behave ethically as scientists and
  practitioners

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Ethical Responsibilities in Research

• Consider ethics at each step
• What measurement techniques will be used?
• How are participants selected?
• What methods may be used on the participant
  population?
• What design is appropriate?
• How are the data analyzed?
• How are the results reported?

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Using humans in research

• For the most part the researcher has the power

• You know what is going to be done to the
  participants
• Participants may feel like they have to do it

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Monitoring of ethics

• Institutional Review Board
• IRB Criteria
• Minimize risk
• Benefits gt Risks
• Equal opportunity sampling
• Informed consent
• Documentation of consent
• Data monitoring
• Privacy Confidentiality

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APAs code of ethics

• Respect for persons
• Basic courtesy
• Informed consent
• Debriefing
• Avoid deception
• Beneficence
• Protection from harm
• Cost/Benefits analysis
• Confidentiality
• Justice
• Freedom from coercion

www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html
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Informed consent

• Information to allow a person to decide if they
  want to participate
• Basic purpose of the study
• Participation is voluntary
• Risks involved
• Benefits involved
• Rights to refuse or terminate participation
• Assent - guardians if participants are not
  competent
• e.g., children, developmentally disabled people

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Using deception in research

• Passive deception
• Withholding information about the study
• Active deception
• Deliberately misleading participants

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Using deception in research

• Avoid it when possible
• Alternatives to deception
• Role-playing
• When not possible to avoid
• Make sure that you are up front with all possible
  risks
• Potential results must be worth it
• Must debrief participants as soon as possible
  (either right after participation or as soon as
  project is over)

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Costs/Benefits analysis

• Costs all potential risks to the participants
• Physical harm
• Psychological harm
• Loss of confidentiality
• Benefits the good outcomes
• Direct benefits to participants
• Benefits to knowledge base
• Benefits to world at large

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Scientific Integrity

• Fraud prevention
• Replication repeat a research study to validate
  results
• Peer Review critical analysis of research by
  peers in the same area
• Plagiarism taking credit for anothers work or
  ideas
• Avoided by citing the ideas or words of others

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Ethical responsibility to science
Ethics in Science Quiz
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Ethical responsibility to science
Ethics in Science Quiz

• Fabrication of results
• Little or no attempt to minimize demand biases
• Reformulating your theory as you go
• Falsifying credentials
• Plagiarism
• Little or no attempt to minimize confounds
• Deliberately hiding (significant) errors in
  published work
• Little or no attempt to minimize demand
  characteristics

DT
QT
NT
DT
DT
QT
DT
QT
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Ethical responsibility to science
Ethics in Science Quiz

• Throwing out data
• Reorganizing order of report of experiments
• Violations of underlying statistical assumptions
• Strategic graphing of the data
• Duplicate publications (presented as new)
• Selective reporting of the results
• Leaving out some bad experiments (not bad
  results)

QT or DT
depends reason for throwing out
NT
QT
QT
DT
QT
NT