A Research Report:

A research report is a typed report of 6 to 12 pages in length dealing with a topic covered as part
of the course content. A research report consists of research that you do on the topic as well as
your interpretation of this information, including applicability to your teaching assignment. For
example, explain how you will use the information that you learned, or do the material
researched impact on your teaching pedagogy, discipline methods, curriculum development,
assessment, etc. This latter requirement is the key to writing successful papers in the program -
always relate how you will use the information learned in your classroom.

[Dr. Jorgen Combs]

Writing a Research Reports

In Psychology, as in other sciences, the results of research need to share. Scientists work in a
community of others who share an interest in certain topics. The outcomes of one research
project can serve as an important reaction activator within this community, stimulating
discussion and further research.

Researchers in Psychology follow a certain structure in reporting their findings. This structure is
included in guidelines prepared by the American Psychological Association (APA). Although
there have been minor modifications in these guidelines, the same basic structure has been used
by psychologists for several decades.

Following APA guidelines, a research report is organized into seven main sections: Title,
Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, and References.

Title Page

The first page of your report includes four items:

Title: Your title should be less than 15 words long and should include the major variables in your
project. Taken alone, it should give a reader a good sense of what your research was about, using
the simplest wording possible. The following are two possible models for titles:
" (Dependent variable) as a function of(Independent variable) " or " The relationship
between(Dependent variable) and (Independent variable) ".

Author: Your name, written First name, middle initial, last name.

Institutional Affiliation: This is the name of your school, college or research institution.

Running Head: This is an abbreviated title for your paper, with a maximum of 50 characters
written in all capital letters that will appear at the top of the other pages in your report.

Abstract
The Abstract is a one paragraph summary of all components of your research project, including:
the problem or question studied, participants, research procedures, findings, and conclusions. It
is probably the single most important element in your research report, since most people read it
first to decide if they want to continue on and read the complete report. The Abstract should be
about 120 words long, or 960 characters, including spaces and punctuation. Even though it
appears early in the report, it generally is drafted last by the researcher.

Main Body of Research Report

The detailed description of your project and its outcomes begins on Page 3. Usually the full title
is repeated at the top of this page. The full report includes the following sections:

Introduction: This section has no heading. It has three components: First, a general statement of
the research question; second, a summary of past research that is related to the topic of interest;
and, third, a brief statement of the rationale for and purposes of the present study and the
hypotheses.

Method: The heading for this section is centered. The Method section is intended to provide a
detailed description of how the research was conducted, in part to allow replication of the study
by other researchers. It usually has three or four sub-sections:

Subjects or Participants: This contains a description of the number of individuals participating

in the study, important demographic characteristics (such as age and gender), how individuals
were selected and how they were organized into groups.

Design: This section is sometimes included. It contains a detailed definition of the independent
and dependent variables and a rationale for the organization of participants into different research
groups, where this occurred.

Materials or Apparatus: This section is included if special equipment or research materials

were used. If only paper and pencils or pens were used for data collection, this information is
integrated into the "Procedures" section.

Procedures: In this section, the researcher describes. chronologically, exactly how they carried
out the research. It is one of the most important parts of the report, since it provides a context for
understanding the results obtained and also a basis for replication.

Results: In this section, the researcher describes, but does not explain, the findings. It usually
begins with a presentation of the most important results and includes the outcomes of statistical
analyses of the data. All major findings should presented, even if they do not agree with the
original hypotheses. If there is a large amount of quantitative information, tables and graphs
should be used to organize and summarize the data. For the most part, numbers represented in
tables should not be repeated in the text.

Discussion: This section gives the researcher an opportunity to analyze and discuss the findings.
The section usually begins with a restatement of the major findings. This is followed by a
discussion of the results as they relate to the original hypotheses and to past research. It is also
appropriate in this section to consider any limitations of the research conducted. Were there
factors which, in retrospect, might have biased or restricted the performance outcomes? Finally,
the researcher may want to suggest follow-up research projects which might be conducted. This
final element can be an important one, since it serves as a connecting point to future research,
just as the literature review connected to past work.

Internet Resources

There are a number of Internet/World Wide Web sites which provide detailed discussions of the
process of writing a research report in Psychology. One of these includes:

www.apa.org

www.mla.org

Different Styles of making of research report

1. APA (American Psychological Association) Style:

Much of the APA's style guidance covers fairly clear-cut issues, such as
punctuation and formula presentation.

There also exists a large segment of information that deals with the style and
function of more complex expression. Knowing how to write without bias, for
instance, or what constitutes ethical publication can elude newcomers and
longtime authors alike.
APA Style offers extended discussions of some of these complex issues.
We've also included some of the nuts-and-bolts advice on how to reference
electronic media. Standards are changing so rapidly that they also merit
focused, in-depth discussion.

The electronic media and reference sections are updated regularly by APA.

The tips for writing a research report are given by APA as follows:

Removing Bias in Language

Disabilities

Race & Ethnicity

Sexuality

Electronic Media

Electronic Media and URLs

Electronic Media Spelling Guide

Authorship Aids

Ethics of Publication

Determining Authorship: Students

2. MLA (Modern Language Association) style:

All fields of research agree on the need to document scholarly borrowings, but
documentation conventions vary because of the different needs of scholarly disciplines.
MLA style for documentation is widely used in the humanities, especially in writing on
language and literature. Generally simpler and more economical than other styles, MLA
 style features brief parenthetical citations in the text keyed to an alphabetical list of works
cited that appears at the end of the work.

MLA style has been widely adopted by schools, academic departments, and instructors
for over half a century. The association's guidelines are also used by over 1,100 scholarly
and literary journals, newsletters, and magazines and by many university and commercial
presses. The MLA's guidelines are followed throughout North America and in Brazil,
China, India, Japan, Taiwan, and other countries around the world.

MLA Citation Style:

Book

Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. Star Trek Chronology: The Historyof the
Future. New York: Pocket, 1993.

Journal Article

Wilcox, Rhonda V. "Shifting Roles and Synthetic Women in StarTrek: The Next
Generation." Studies in Popular Culture 13.2 (1991):53-65.

Newspaper or Magazine Article

Di Rado, Alicia. "Trekking through College: Classes Explore Modern

Society Using the World of Star Trek." Los Angeles Times 15 Mar.1995: A3.

Book Article or Chapter

James, Nancy E. "Two Sides of Paradise: The Eden Myth According to

Kirk and Spock." Spectrum of the Fantastic. Ed. Donald Palumbo.

Westport: Greenwood, 1988. 219-223