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Five Basic Sections of a Research Paper. 1) Abstract 2) Introduction 3) Method 4) Results 5) Discussion. Order of APA Paper Sections. The order of the sections of the manuscript are as follows: A.Title Page B.Abstract C.Introduction D.Method E.Results F.Discussion
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Five Basic Sections of a Research Paper • 1) Abstract • 2) Introduction • 3) Method • 4) Results • 5) Discussion
Order of APA Paper Sections • The order of the sections of the manuscript are as follows: • A.Title Page • B.Abstract • C.Introduction • D.Method • E.Results • F.Discussion • G.References • H.Other Sections • Appendix • Tables • Figure captions • Figures
Title Page • The title page formally announces the title and running head of your lab report. • The title page contains: • The article title • Author name(s) • Author affiliation • Manuscript page header • Page number • Running head
Abstract • The abstract is the "Reader's Digest" version of the paper • Its purpose is to show the reader the research at a glance. • Condensed format. • Abstracts must be condensed yet stand alone. The abstract should be understandable to someone who has not read the paper. • Order. • Each section of the paper requires 1 to 2 sentence in the abstract. Information is arranged in the same order as the sections in the lab report: Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. • Single paragraph. • Abstracts should be presented as one paragraph.
Introduction • The goal of the introduction is to justify your study. • Introduce the research question • Summarize the research done to date • Not just the studies whose results you agree with. Identify studies that support an opposite finding, and explain what might underlie the differences. • Explain what work has yet to be done (your study). • At the end, state your hypotheses.
Method • The Method section is a detailed breakdown of your experiment. • Give the reader enough information to be able replicate the experiment. • The Method section is often divided into subsections (for example: ) • Participants and Design • Materials • Procedure • Measures
Note: Current APA style requires ITALICS where you see underlining here.
Results • This section presents the statistical analysis of the data collected. • States what stat procedures were used and the results of the analyses • The Results section is the most condensed and standardized of all the sections in a paper • Statistical results are presented but not discussed in this section. • As predicted, children who viewed the aggressive model were significantly more aggressive than children in the no-model condition t (18) = 4.03, p < .01. The mean aggression score in the model group was M = 5.20 and in the no-model group was M = 3.10. • Discuss results in the Discussion section.
Note: Current APA style requires ITALICS where you see underlining here.
Note: Current APA style requires ITALICS where you see underlining here.
Discussion • In this section, interpret your results by relating them to your hypotheses. • Use words to explain the quantitative information from the results section. • Discuss the results in relation to each hypothesis. • Discuss possible explanations for your results. • Do the results agree or disagree with the ideas that you introduced in the Introduction? • How do the results relate to previous literature or current theory? • Identify and discuss limitations of the study. • Generalize your results.
References • Must contain complete citations for all sources mentioned in the paper • Use APA format • Capitalization, spacing, punctuation, and underlining must be exactly as specified.
Appendix, Tables and Figures • Appendix • Put information that would be distracting in the body of the paper (like questionnaires or a list of stimulus items) • Tables and figures often represent results more clearly and concisely than does text. • Tables • Often statistical information (correlations, means, etc) are placed in a table. • Figures • AKA Graphs • A separate page with Figure Captions is provided before the figures
Note: Current APA style requires ITALICS where you see underlining here.
The Hourglass Method • INTRODUCTION • Starts out very broad, ends up narrowly focusing on your specific study and its hypotheses • METHOD • Very narrow, detailed, technical, and specific. • RESULTS • Still narrowly focused on the specific results of the specific tests you performed to test your hypotheses. • DISCUSSION • Starts out very narrow, summarizing your results; then becomes broader as you discuss the implications and limitations to your research; ends up broadly conveying the 2-4 most important things you want your readers to remember from your research.