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SebastianPennacchio
ResearchEssay
Prof.BrianGraves
3/26/2016
PsychologyUnraveled:TheArtofWritinginPsychology
Psychology,thestudyofbehaviorandmindthatembracesallaspectsofthehuman
experience.Itisanacademicdisciplineandasocialsciencewhichseekstounderstand
individualsandgroupsbyestablishinggeneralprinciplesandresearchingspecificcases.People
inthecommunityofpsychologyalsowritecompelling,detailedpapers,mostlyonresearchthey
havedonethemselves.But,whatistheprocesstheygothroughtowritesuchpapers,intermsof
invention(prewriting)?Whateffectdoestheirresearchandtheirintendedaudiencehaveonit?
Theprocessesvaryaccordingtotheindividual,butIwilltrytoexplaininthisessaythegeneral
waypsychologistsuseinventionintheirwritingandthoughts,andtherolethatresearchandthe
intendedaudienceplay.
Researchonthewritingprocesshasincreasednoticeablyinrecentyears.Thisinterestis
sanctionedgiventheimportanceofwritinginanycareerandtheconcernthatschoolsarenot
efficientlypreparingstudentsinwriting.Thisisexciting,sincewritingforpsychologyisa
completelyuniqueexperience.Combiningelementsofsocialanalysis,math,andnaturalscience,
youwillfindthatyourtopicsmayjumpfromaliteraryanalysistoanexperimentaldesigntoa
statisticalcomputation,allinonepaper!Thegoalofpsychologicalwriting,aswithanyother
science,istoanalyzeandconveyempiricalinformationinaclearanddirectmanner.Professors

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forcollegelevelpsychologycoursesexpectstudentstohaveanddeliverafirmgraspof
communicationforbothscientificdataandliteraryanalysis,tocombinetheorywithapplication
continuallyasstudentsengageintheirownresearchprojects,andtobeabletowritefora
numberofdifferentformsofwritinginaflexiblemanner(
Piotrowski,2012).
Thetermprewriting,orinvention,canbedefinedasthefirststageofthewritingprocess
andthepointatwhichwediscoverandexploreourinitialideasaboutasubject.Thisphaseof
creatingthedocumentisusefulindefiningcognitivestrategiesthatwritersemploy.Thesteps
involvedwithinthisphaseincludesthewritercollectinginformation,planningideas,translating
ideasintotext,andreviewingideasandtextinacomplexmixedpattern(Kellogg,1990).If
writersadoptaneffectivestrategyforextensiveplanningduringprewriting,itmayaffecthow
effortlesslythetextisproducedandhoweffectivelythefinalproductcommunicateswithits
intendedaudience.
Thereareacoupleofdifferentstrategiesthatpsychologistsusewhentheybegintheir
freewritingprocess.Thisincludesfreewriting,whichmeansthatyouwritewithoutliftingyour
penfromthepaper,justeverythingyoucanthinkaboutthetopicofyourassignment,evenifitis
irrelevanttothetopic.Freewritinggetsourmindsintothemodeofwritingaswellastriggers
ideasorconnectionsyoumightnothavecomeupwithotherwise.Anothergoodstrategycanbe
brainstorming.Thisinvolvesgettingintoacomfortablepositiontojustthinkaboutallthe
differentwaysyoucanapproachyourtopic.Youcanlistallofyourideaspertainingtothetopic,
thenlookoveryourlistagainandthinkaboutquestionsemergingfromtheimportantideasyou
listedtogeneratemoreideas.Lastlyisconceptmapping.Forthosewholearnvisually,makinga
diagramofyourtopicishelpfulasitpresentsyourpointsfromgeneraltospecific,showinghow

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eachrelatestothecentralidea.Youcanstartwiththeoveralltopicorthesisinthecenterofthe
paperinabubble.Fromthatcenterbubble,listthemainsubtopicsyouplantoaddressencircling
themaintopic,branchingoutfromit.Aroundeachsubtopic,listexamplesorevidenceyoucan
addasmanysubbubblesasyouthinkisnecessary.
Now,dependingonthetopicyouchoose,itwillaffectacertainpartofthepopulation
thatrelatestoit.Itissometimesadifficultprocessforpsychologiststochoosewhattopicthey
wanttostudy,buttheytendtoconductresearchontopicsthatareeitherinterestingtothemselves
ortothepsychologycommunityasawhole.Currently,ithasbeenshownthatthemajorareas
ofincreasingresearchemphasisinrecentyearsare:Evidencebasedtreatments,veterans/active
military,multiculturalandethicalissues,andnaturaldisasters.Areasofdecreasingemphasis
were:Graduate/internshiptrainingandeducation,managedcareissues,andprofessionalrole.In
addition,severaltopicalareashavemaintainedequalemphasisoverthepast2decades,i.e.,
forensic,health,suicide,chronicpain,ruralpractice,andinterpersonalviolence.(
Piotrowski,
2012).
Psychologistsalsouseawiderangeofresearchmethodswhileconductingtheirstudies.
Themethodsvarydependingonthesourceoftheinformation,howthatinformationissampled,
andthetypesoftoolsthatareusedwhencollectingdata.Methodsalsovarybywhetherthey
collectqualitativedataorquantitativedata.Somemethodsarelongitudinalstudies,casestudies,
crosssectionalstudies,etc.Whileeachmethodcanspecializeincertainstudies/situations,more
oftenthannotpsychologistswillusemultiplemethodsthatareapplicabletotheirstudyinorder
togetmorewellroundedresultsandcreategreaterinternal/externalvalidity.

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Now,whenitcomestoscholarsinthisdiscipline,theytendtothinkandanalyzeinterms
ofwhatcontextofpsychologytheyarein,likeaclinicalsettingoraresearchlabtonameafew.
Inaclinicalcontext,youwillthinkOkIhavepeopleindistress,howdoIhelpthem?.
Inaneducationalcontext,itsHowcanIhelpstudentslearnbetter?.Corporatecontext,How
canIgetmorepeopletobuymyproduct?.Sothecontextthatapsychologistisinwill
oftentimesmotivatethequestionshe/sheisasking.Allofthem(corporate,educational,and
clinicalpsychologists)havesomethingincommonTheymostlyusethesameresearchmethods
listedabove.Therearepartsoftheworld,however,thatusedifferentkindsofresearchmethods
(comparedtowesternculture)inordertoobtainresults.Thisisfine,butoftentimesthecase
resultsinnothavingenoughconcreteinternalandexternalvalidity,forcingmajorpsychology
journalsandpsychologiststobeskepticalofthem(Cox,2015).
Theoverallpurposeofthesepapersthatpsychologistswriteistoveryclearly
communicatespecificideasandtoexplainwhathappenedinaparticularprojectorareaof
research.Becauseofthedesireforclarity,thesepapersarenotoftenfluffeduporeasytoread.
Theyarepackedwithforcefulcontentandargumentsthatshowtheuseofclarityand
thoughtfulnessonthepartofthepsychologist.Thesepapersaresuccessfullycreatedthrough
carefuldecisionmakingaboutwhattopictowriteabout,extensiveresearchonthetopicathand,
andincorporationofdifferentprewritingstrategiesinordertocreatethebestpaperandresults
thatbenefitnotonlyitstargetaudience,butthepsychologycommunityasawhole.

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References
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Piotrowski,C.(2012).Researchareasofemphasisinprofessionalpsychology:Pastandcurrent
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