EmpiricalResearchActivity(ERA)

Psychologyisasciencethatusesthescientificmethodtoobserve,describe,predictandexplain behaviour.Aspsychologystudentsyoutoowillrelyonthescientificmethodtoconduct experimental(empirical)researchtoexaminequestionsofinterest.Aftertheresearchhasbeen conducted,itiswrittenupasanempiricalresearchactivity(ERA)followingspecificformatting guidelines.AnERAisstructuredasfollows: TITLE* ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION* METHOD Participants Materials/Apparatus Procedure RESULTS DISCUSSION REFERENCELIST* APPENDICES* Thosesectionsmarkedwith*alwaysstartthetopofanewpage.Theothersectionsbeginwitha headingbelowtheprevioussection.TheabstractandintroductionDONOTrequireheadings.The abstractsimplybeginsunderneaththetitleandtheintroductionstartsattheverytopofthenext page.TheappendicesandadesignsubsectionoftheMethodsectionaretheonlynoncompulsory partsofanERAreport. THIRDPERSON ERAsmustbewritteninthe3rdperson.ThismeansnopersonalpronounssuchasIorwe.For example,insteadofWefoundthat...youshouldwrite,Itwasfoundthat. PASTTENSE ERAsrefertotheexperimentinthepasttense.ThismeansyoudescribewhatDIDhappen,not whatwillhappenintheexperiment.Forexample,insteadofTheaimofthisexperimentistoyou shouldwrite,Theaimofthisexperimentwasto. CORRECTINTEXTCITATION Wheneveryoumakereferencetoanotherauthor,theoristorpieceofresearchyoumust acknowledgewheretheinformationcamefromfollowingAPAguidelines.Forexample,students withlowattendanceexperiencedifficultywhencompletingSACs(Thompson,2007).Clarkeand Donohoe(2008)investigatedtheperformanceofYear12studentsbymeasuringthenumberof... PLAINANDSIMPLELANGUAGE ERAsarescientificreportssonoemotiveorjournalisticlanguageshouldbeused.Beobjective!For example,TheresultswereterrificvsTheresultswerestriking. NODEFINITIVECONCLUSIONS Inscience,nothingisproven.Thehypothesisiseithersupportedorrejectedbasedontheresults. 1

TITLE
Thetitleshouldconciselysummarisethemainideaofthestudyinnomorethan1012words.Do notuseabbreviationsinthetitle,anddonotwastewordsbyincludingredundantstatementslike AstudyoforAnexperimentalinvestigationof.Titlesoftentaketheformtheeffectofx (independentdependentvariable)ony(dependentvariable).
GOODEXAMPLES Therelationshipbetweenselfesteemand academicperformanceinprimaryschool children Theeffectofselfesteemmanipulationonschool childrensacademicperformance AreplicationofthePrisonersDilemma gamecooperationandcompetition Leftbrainfunctioningversusrightbrain functioning Recognitionofemotionsfromfacialexpressions BADEXAMPLES Astudyofissuesrelatingtoselfesteemat school o notveryinformative Schoolchildrensperformanceonacademic testsandhowthisisaffectedbyselfesteem o toolongthroughwastingwords shouldbemoreconcise

ABSTRACT
AnabstractisaSINGLEPARAGRAPH(100150words)SUMMARISINGthewholeofthestudy. Itisanoverviewofthestudythatenablesthereadertounderstandthequestionbeingaddressed, andwhattheconclusionswere.AlthoughtheabstractappearsatthebeginningoftheERA,it shouldbewrittenlast.AnabstractisNOTanintroductiontothepaper.Youraimisnottoentice thereadertocontinuereading,buttosimplyinformthemaboutwhattoexpect. TheabstractshouldprovideaconcisesummaryofeverysectionoftheERA: 1. Asummaryoftheintroductionincludingtheaimandhypothesis. 2. Characteristicsoftheparticipants. 3. Theexperimentalmethodincludingprocedure(andnamesoftestsusedifapplicable). 4. Theresults(includingstatisticalsignificancelevels). 5. Asummaryofthediscussion(e.g.,conclusionsandimplications).
GOODEXAMPLE Currentliteraturesupportsacorrelationbetweenself esteemandacademicperformance,buthasfailedto clarifythecausaldirectionofthisrelationship.Inthe presentstudy,82children(40maleand42female)aged between8and10wererandomlyassignedtoreceive eitherahighorlowselfesteemmanipulation,using Berrys(1994)Falsefeedbacktask.Subjectswho receivedthehighselfesteemmanipulationwerefound toscoresignificantlyhigher(p=0.02)onasubsequent academicassessmenttaskthanthoseinthelowself esteemgroup,suggestingacausaleffectofselfesteem uponacademicperformance.Thestudyhoweverdoes notruleoutthepossibilityofabidirectional relationship,whichshouldbeinvestigatedinfuture research. BADEXAMPLE Weperformedanexperimentuponschoolchildrento seeiftheirscoresonanacademicachievementtest wouldbedifferentdependingoniftheyhadjust receivedanexperimentalmanipulationdesignedto lowertheirselfesteemortoraisetheirselfesteem.We usedataskdevisedbyBerrytomanipulateselfesteem, bygivinghalfthechildrenverypoorfeedbackoftheir performanceonataskandtheotherhalfverygood feedback.Thechildrenthendidanacademic achievementtestofshortanswerandmultiplechoice questionsforanhour.Whenweanalysedtheresults, wethenfoundthatthegroupwhohadreceivedthe positivefeedbackperformedbetterontheacademic achievementtestthanthegroupthathadreceivedthe negativefeedback.Thisprovesthatyoulevelofself esteemcausesyourintelligence.


Theabstractprovidesacompletesummaryof themostimportantaspectsofthepaper,from thepurposeofthestudy,tosubjectsand methods,results,conclusionanddirectionsfor futurework. Theabstractisagoodlength(110words)and wordsarenotwasted. Sentencesarewrittenconcisely,andeach sentencecontainsvaluableinformation. Itiswritteninthe3rdperson(nopersonal pronounssuchasIorwe)andreferstothe experimentinthepasttense(whatDIDhappen, notwhatwillhappen,intheexperiment). Thereisnotmentionoftheproblemunder investigation. Notenoughinformationaboutthesubjectsat theveryleastyoumustreportthenumberof subjectsandwhotheywere(adults,college students,primaryschoolchildren,etc). Abittoomuchinformationonthemethod dontneedquitethatmuchdetail. Theconclusionisentirelyunjustifiable. Theabstractislongerthanthepreviousonebit containsmuchlessinformation.Itisnot writtenconciselyandwordsarewastedand statementsarerepeatedunnecessarily. Theabstractincludespersonalpronouns (we). Youmustuseaproperintextcitation,eg. Berry(1994),ifyouciteotherworkinthe abstract.

INTRODUCTION
Introductionisabadtermforthissection,asitismuchmorethananintroductionasyouwould findinanessay.However,theintroductioniswritteninproseandshouldflowinthewayanessay does,thatis,usingsentencesandparagraphsinsteadofdotpoints.Yougenerallystartthe introductionquitebroadly,andthennarrowdownuntilyoureachyourspecifichypothesis.

Introducethebroadareaofresearch

1. Describethebroadareaofresearch(context)ofyourstudyandwhyitisimportant.

Establishthespecifictopic

2. Describethespecifictopicyourstudywillexploreandwhyyouhavechosenit.

Discusspreviousresearchofdirectrelevance

3. Describepreviousresearchthathasbeendoneaboutthespecifictopicthathasdirect relevancetoyourstudy.BesuretodescribewhatthepreviousresearchersDID(eg,brief summaryoftheirprocedure),whattheyFOUND(eg,briefsummaryoftheirdescriptive statistics),andwhattheyCONCLUDED(eg,briefsummaryoftheirfindings).

Identifytheaim

4. Specifythequestionthatyourstudyistryingtoanswer.Yourstudyshouldbetryingto achievesomethingnew,toansweraquestionthatisyettobeanswered.Thisiswhereyou identifyhowyourresearchdiffersfromthepreviousresearch.Becarefulhoweverthatyou doNOTrepeatinformationherethatwillbeinyourMethodsection. a. YoumaybeginwithTheaimofthisresearchwasto

Statethehypothesis

5. Inthefinalsentenceortwoyouwillclearlystatewhatyouexpecttofindinyourstudyand WHYyouexpectit.Thatis,youMUSTprovideaclearjustificationforyourhypothesis.This isusuallybaseduponthepreviousresearchdiscussedearlier.Youshouldstateyour hypothesisformallyandclearly. a. YoumaybeginwithItwashypothesisthat Example1:Basedupontheliteraturereviewed,itwashypothesisedthatparticipants exposedtoahighselfesteemmanipulationwouldperformbetteronanacademic assessmenttaskthanthosegivenalowselfesteemmanipulation. Example2:Theliteraturereviewedabovesuggeststhatparticipantswhoundergoa highselfesteemmanipulationwouldperformbetterthanthosereceivingalowself esteemmanipulation,onasubsequentacademicassessmenttask.

METHOD
Themethodsectiondescribesindetailhowyourstudywasconducted,enablingthereaderto assessthequalityofthedesignandmaterialsused.Itmustcontainthefulldetailsofthestudy,so thatthereadercouldreplicateit.Themethodsectionistheonlypartofareportthatcontains specificsubheadingsyouareexpectedtouse.Theyarepresentedinthefollowingorder:

Participants

Beginthemethodsectionwithadescriptionoftheparticipantsthattookpartinyourstudy. Includeinformationonmajordemographiccharacteristicssuchasgender,age,education level,etc. Ensureyoursampleisrepresentativeoftheresearchpopulationasoutlinedinthe operationalisedhypotheses.Thevalidityofyourstudymaybecompromisedifyoursample isnotrepresentative,ortheprocessbywhichparticipantswereselectedcreatesbias. Includeinformationonhowtheparticipantswereselected(e.g.,random,stratifiedor opportunitysampling).

BADEXAMPLE Theparticipantsinthestudywereundergraduate psychologystudents.Therewere80ofthemandthey rangedinagefrom19to52,withtheaverageagebeing 21yearsold.30ofthesubjectsweremale,and50were female.Theyallparticipatedaspartoftheassessment fortheircourse.For80%ofparticipants Wastesalotofwordsbutcontainsthesame informationasthegoodexample(52words,as apposedtoonly23words)

GOODEXAMPLE 80undergraduatepsychologystudents(30maleand50 female)withanaverageageof21(agerangeof1952) participatedforcoursecreditwererandomlyselected. For80%ofparticipants,Englishwastheirfirstlanguage, withtheremainingparticipantshavinganequivalent levelofEnglishlanguageproficiency.Twoparticipants wereunabletocompletealltasksandtheirdatawas discarded. Containsparticipantinformationimportantfor thestudy.E.g.,abreakdownoflanguageability ifyourstudyinvestigateslanguage. Writtenextremelyconcisely,whilestill maintainingaflowbetweensentences.

Materials(orApparatus)

Thenextsubheadinginthemethodsectiondescribesthespecificmaterialsthatwereusedin thestudy.Thisincludesadescriptionofanypsychologicaltestsorquestionnairesused (oftenwithabriefevaluationofthequalityofthetest/questionnaire),anycomputer programsandhardwareused,etc.Notethatyoudonotexplainhowyoursubjectsusedthe materials,butsimplylistwhatmaterialswereusedinthestudy. Forexample,thematerialssectionforthestudyWhateffectdoestelevisionviolencehaveon childrensaggression?maybe:Thestimuliconsistedof9weaponpictures(3guns,3clubsand 3swords),9plantpictures(3fruits,3treesand3flowers),18aggressivewordsand36non aggressivewords.Thesewerepresentedaspicturewordpairs(thatis,primetargetpairs)on anAppleMacintoshcomputer.

Procedure

Theproceduresummariseseachofthestepsinvolvedinrunningaparticipantthroughthe experiment.Theprocedureisusuallyalittlelongerthantheothersections.Rememberthat enoughinformationmustbegivensothereadercanreplicateyourstudy.Thisincludes: a. Theexperimentaldesignbywhichparticipantswereallocatedtothecontrolgroupor experimentalgroup(e.g.,independentgroupsdesign,matchedparticipantsdesign, repeatedmeasuresdesign). b. Theactualproceduretheparticipantsworkthroughintheexperiment.Forexample, summarisingtheinstructionsgiventoparticipants.Youcanbebriefiftheprocedure isfairlysimply(e.g.,Allparticipantsweregiven20minutestocompletethe questionnaireindividuallyinaquietroom).However,itisrecommendedthat instructionsarewrittenverbatim. c. Detailsofthewaytheparticipantsweredebriefedattheendoftheexperiment. AlthoughthefollowinginformationmaynotappearinthecompletedERA,itmustbe consideredwhenplanningandconductingtheexperiment: a. Theresearchmethod(e.g.,experiment;casestudy;observation;survey;correlational study)andtypeofdata(e.g.,qualitative,quantitative,longitudinal,snapshot). b. Howtoavoideffectsfromextraneousandconfoundingvariables(e.g.,placeboeffects, singleblindprocedure,experimentereffects,doubleblindprocedure). c. Howtoobserveethicalprinciples(e.g.,informedconsentprocedures,confidentiality, voluntaryparticipation,withdrawalrights,deception,debrief).

RESULTS
YouonlyreportanddescriberesultsintheresultssectionyoudoNOTinterprettheresultshere (leavethatforthediscussionsection).Writeveryconciselyinthissection.Yoursentencesstill needtobeinproseratherthaninpointform,butallyouaredoingisdirectlyreportingthe relationshipbetweenthedifferentpartsofyouridea.Norawdataisincludedintheresultssection asitshouldbeincludedintheappendix.

Introducethedata

1. Summarisethedatacollected(e.g.,whichdescriptivestatisticssuchasthemeasuresof centraltendencyincludingmean,mode,medianwereused).

Presentthedata

2. Presentthesummariseddataasatableorfigure. a. Nevershowexactlythesamedatainbothatableandfigure.Mostimportantly,never includedatainatableorfigurewithoutdirectlyreferringtoitinthetextofthe resultssection. b. Allgraphsmusthavetheaxesclearlylabelled(usuallytheindependentvariablealong thehorizontalxaxisanddependentvariablealongtheverticalyaxis).Thetitlefora tableappearsabove,andthetitleforafigure(e.g.,graph)appearsbelow.

Discussthedata

3. Usedescriptivestatisticstosummarisewhatthetableorfigureshows.

Investigatethedata
4. Statehowinferentialstatisticswereusedinthestatisticalanalysis. a. Rememberthatwecannottellanythingrelevantaboutthedifferencebetweentwo numbersinapsychologicalexperimentwithoutcomparingthemstatistically,soyou mustALWAYSincludeyourstatisticalevidencewhenpresentingtheresults.For inferentialstatistics(ttests),includethedirection(eg,higher/lower)oftheeffectin thetextifappropriate(eg,groupAhigherthangroupB),andthelikelihood probability(thepvalue,egp=0.64).
Results ThemeanpercentageofcorrectlyrecalledwordswascalculatedandpresentedinFigure1below.

Percentageofcorrectly recalledwords

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415 Positionofwordonthelist

Figure1:Percentageofcorrectlyrecalledwords AsshowninFigure1above,thehighestpercentageofcorrectlyrecalledwordswerefromtheendofthelist(words11 15)withthemeannumberofwordscorrectlyrecalled80%,thenthebeginningofthelist(words15)at45%,and thesmallestpercentageofwordswerecorrectlyrecalledfromthemiddleofthelist(words610)at25%. Thewordswerethendividedintotwogroups,GroupA(words15demonstratingprimacyeffect,andwords1115 demonstratingrecencyeffect)andGroupB(words610).Themeanpercentageofwordscorrectlyrecalledineach groupwascalculatedanditwasdeterminedthatGroupAhadasignificantlyhigherpercentageofcorrectlyrecalled wordsthanGroupB.Atestofsignificancewasconductedtodeterminewhetherthisdifferenceoccurredbychanceor becauseoftheindependentvariable.Attestshowedthatthedifferencewasstatisticallysignificant(p0.05).

DISCUSSION
Thediscussioniswhereyouinterpretyourresultsandtheirimplicationsforthepreviousresearch youreviewedintheintroduction.

Wasthehypothesissupportedorrejected?
1. Writeastatement(conclusion)indicatingwhethertheresultssupportorrejectyour hypothesis.Thismustbeinthefirstsentence,andshouldstatequiteformallywhetherthe mainhypothesespresentedattheendoftheintroductionaresupportedorrejectedbythe results.Notethatfindingsofanexperimentcannotprovethehypothesistheymerely supportordonotsupportit.

Howdidtheresultssupportorrejectthehypothesis?
2. Verybrieflyidentifyhowthedescriptiveandinferentialstatisticssupportedorrejectedthe hypothesis. a. Astatisticallysignificantresultisaresultforwhichtheprobabilitythatchangetothe DVhappenedbychance(extraneousvariablesandnottheIV)islessthan5% (p<0.05).Sometimesitispossibletosaythattheprobabilityisevenlowerthanthis. However,thisdoesnotmeanthatthehypothesiswasproven.Itisonlypossibleto concludethatthehypothesiswas(orwasnot)supported,albeitstrongly.

Howdidyourmethodandresultsdifferfrompreviousresearch?

3. Relateyourfindingsbacktothepreviousresearchfromintheintroduction,showingwhat yourstudyhasaddedtothebroaderbodyofknowledge.Comparemethodsandresults.

Werethereanylimitationstoyourstudy(extraneousorconfoundingvariables)?

4. Identifylimitations/problemswiththestudy,andsuggestdirectionsforfutureresearch. Couldthestudybeimprovedinanyway?Didanythinggowrongorwassomething overlooked?Havetheresultsbroughtupnewquestionsthatfutureresearchcould investigate?YouneedtoIDENTIFYthelimitation,itspossibleIMPACTonyourstudy,and howitcouldbeAVOIDEDinthefuture.

Canyourresultsbegeneralised?

5. Concludewhethertheresultsfromthesamplecanbegeneralisedtotheresearchpopulation. a. Considerthetestofsignificance,thesamplesize,howrepresentativethesamplewas oftheresearchpopulation,whethertheextraneousvariableswereconfounding variables,andtheactualtopicstudied(physiologicalorpsychological).

REFERENCELIST
Rememberthisstartsthetopofanewpageafteryourdiscussion.AllreferencesusedintheERA mustbeincludedinalphabeticalorderintheReferenceListfollowingAPAformatting specifications. ExampleofintegralandnonintegralreferencesusedwithinbodyofERA
How does biology relate to psychology? Coon (2006) claims, all of your thoughts, feelings, and actions can be traced back to electrical impulses flashing through the spidery branches of nerve cells within the brain (p.54). Nerve cells, also called neurons, carry information from the environment to the nervous system, and from the nervous system to muscles and organs (Westen et al, 2006). The human nervous system has three main functions to receive information, to process information and to coordinate a response to information (Grivas & Carter, 2005, p. 237). Sub-divisions of the nervous system include the central nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system. Rawlings et al (1999) highlight the importance of the central nervous system describing it as the command centre for all the complex commands, decisions and evaluations that determine behaviour (p. 184). The peripheral nervous system is likewise essential to the functioning of the nervous system, as explained by Marieb (1998):
The peripheral nervous system, composed primarily of nerves, is an essential part of any functional nervous system. Without it, the central nervous system would lack its rich bank of information about events of the external and internal environments (p. 490).

By understanding the biological basis of psychology we can investigate how and to what extent can the environment modify the predetermined capacities of an organism (Gazzaniga, 1973, p. 4). Weiten (1992) also considers the impact of heredity on behaviour to be an important consideration.

Exampleofareferencelistforthereferencesusedabove
Reference List

Coon, D. (2006). Psychology: A Modular Approach to Mind and Behavior. Tenth Edition. Belmont CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Gazzaniga, M.S. (1973). Fundamentals of Psychology: An Introduction. New York NY: Academic Press. Grivas, J. & Carter, L. (2005). VCE Psychology Units 1 & 2 (4th Ed.). Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. Marieb, E.N. (1998). Human Anatomy & Physiology. Menlo Park CA: Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company. Rawlings, M., Skouteris, H., Barry, C. & Rawlings, D. (1999). Heinemann Psychology One. Port Melbourne VIC: Heinemann. Weiten, W. (1992). Psychology: Themes and Variations: Second Edition. Pacific Grove CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. Westen, D., Burton, L. & Kowalski, R. (2006). Psychology: Australian and New Zealand Edition. Milton QLD: John Wiley & Sons Australia.

APPENDICES
Ifyouhaveadditionalinformationrelevanttothestudybuttoodetailedorotherwiseinappropriate toincludeinthebodyofthepaper,youmayincludethisinanappendix,startingthetopofanew pageafteryourreferencelist. Forexample,ifyoudevelopedanewquestionnairefortheexperiment,youwouldmention thatyoudidsointhemethodsectionandthenmightincludethefullquestionnaireinan appendixattheend.Aswithtablesandfigures,youNEVERincludematerialinanappendix withoutreferringtoitsomewhereinthetextofthepaper. o Forexample,inthemethodsectionyoumightdescribethequestionnaireyouve developed,thensay(SeeAppendixAforthefullquestionnaire). IMPORTANT:NotethatitisHIGHLYUNLIKELYyouwouldnevereverneedtoincludeanappendix inaVCEERA.Addingonetoincludeadditionalgraphsormaterialslooselyrelatedtothestudyis inappropriateandwillbemorelikelytoloseyoumarksthangiveyouanymore.