Captain Psychology

Methods

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What To Include In A Research Paper

Here’s what to include:

A modified research paper is required. Select any theorist, concept or idea covered in the course and explore it in more depth. The topic is up to you.  9

One approach is to select single topic, such as the brain, reinforcement or memory, and a thorough investigation of the topic. Another approach is to compare and contrast two approaches or theorists (Skinner vs. Bandura).

The paper should include seven parts: title page, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references. This is a format for a typical journal article in psychology journals. All of these should be written in 3rd person and follow APA format. In addition, add a writer’s note at the end.

The title page is a single page which gives the name of your paper and your name.

The abstract is a single page and should give a short (less than 150 words) overview of the paper. “Abstract” is a section title and is centered.

The introduction has the title of the paper (centered), followed by the body of the paper (left justified). It does not say “introduction” anywhere on the page. In research, the introduction is a literature review; a thorough summary of what others have done before. Research builds on the previous work of others. In our case, it is a summary of what you knew about the topic before you did your work. It’s a bit awkward to write this in 3rd person but do your best.

Methods is where you describe what you did. Did you spend an afternoon Googling the topic, did you use the PsychInfo database,  or did you do something else? If your reader wanted to replicate your work, what would they do? “Methods” is a section title and centered.

Results is where you describe what you found. This is the main part of the paper. Tell what you found: “Forkish proposes that… but Chan concludes…” “Results” is a section title and centered.

“Discussion” is a section title and is centered. Discussion includes any conclusions you reached and future recommendations of where you would head next to find out more about the topic. What avenues would you have liked to follow further? Essentially, this is giving your reader a head start by telling them what they should do next.

“References” is a section title and is centered. Reference should be a list of 5-7 sources to used. This can include books, articles, and websites.

“Writer’s Note” is a section title and centered. Though not typical of a research report, add a writers note. This should be in first person, and should describe your personal interests or reactions to the paper’s content. Let me know how your thinking has changed.