PSYC 3141
PREPARING YOUR LABORATORY
REPORT (revised 2006)
Psychological report writing involves making
public your research findings, enabling others to learn about what you have
done. In this way, society benefits from scientific research by allowing others
to revise, expand, or criticize the work.
The format and style used to prepare lab
reports is the same as is used to prepare articles for publication. This format
is standardized and is detailed in the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (5th ed.). The following is an abridgement of the
major rules for the preparation of scientific reports.
Organization of Reports
There are seven sections to a report. Their
headings appear centered on the page. Under some of the major sections, there
are subsections which are located at the left margin and are italicized. The
seven sections are: Title, Abstract, Introduction (no heading), Method,
Results, Discussion, and References.
Title Page
After the manuscript page header and page
number, the running head should be given. This is typed flush left in all
uppercase letters. Do not exceed 50 characters, including punctuation and
spaces. An example:
Running head: LONG-TERM MEMORY OF EARLY
DENTAL EXPERIENCES
The title should be a concise statement of
the main topic of the report, usually consisting of about 12 to 15 words. It
should refer to the major variables or theoretical issues under investigation.
Since the purpose of the title is to inform the reader, it should be
explanatory when standing alone. Avoid words that serve no useful purpose and
only increase the length. Such phrases as "A Study of..." or "An
Experimental Investigation of..." should be avoided. Do not use
abbreviations in the title. All words should be spelled out for clarity.
Centered directly under the title should appear your name and under it your
institution.
Abstract
Page two of your report is the abstract. The
word "Abstract" is centered on the page. Then a one-paragraph summary
of your research report is given, consisting of no more than 960 characters,
including punctuation and spaces (about 120 words). This paragraph is not
indented. It should be written last. This paragraph should concisely describe
the problem under investigation, the participants, the experimental method,
findings, and conclusions. To conserve characters in the abstract, type all
numbers except those that begin a sentence as digits.
Introduction
Page three of your report begins the
introduction. The introduction does not require a heading; however, the title
of the paper should be typed, centered at the top of the first page of the
introduction. A good introduction addresses two questions: What has been done
in this area by other researchers? and, What is the point of the present study?
The introduction is the place to include the review of the research literature
that led to your hypothesis. For instance, you might show how prior findings
are inconsistent or ambiguous. Explain how your experiment may clarify the
problem. State your hypothesis explicitly toward the end of the introduction,
after you have explained the research and thinking that led to it. Identify
independent and dependent variables here. You may want to include a sentence or
two about operational definitions (or you can do it in Method). If you have
made predictions about the outcome of the study, say so. Be sure you say why
you expect these results. Do not expect readers to guess what you are thinking.
In the introduction, you are moving from the general to the specific: a general
discussion of the problem area, to your specific hypothesis.
Method
This section must be very detailed and clear.
It tells the reader that someone else can repeat the experiment just by reading
your method section. The method section generally consists of three
subsections: participants, apparatus (or materials), and procedure. A fourth,
optional, subsection is design.
Participants
The age, sex, and any other relevant
demographic data are presented here. State how many individuals participated,
how they were selected, and how they were assigned to groups.
Apparatus or Materials
A description of the apparatus used is given
here. In the case of standard laboratory equipment, rather than describing the
entire apparatus, the company name and model and/or serial number is
sufficient. If this is not possible, the equipment should be described in
detail.
If materials (such as a questionnaire) were
used, either cite your source (if published materials were used) or provide a
copy in the appendix of your paper if you devised the instrument yourself. You
should describe the instrument in your materials section. For example,
A 50-item six-point
Likert-type questionnaire was devised by the experimenter to measure attitudes
toward authority figures. Half of the questions were worded such that....The
highest (positive) score that could be attained on the measure was 300; the
lowest (negative) score was 50. Thus, higher scores reflected more positive
attitudes toward authority figures.
Procedure
This section describes
what the experimenter did and how it was done. It is a detailed description of
the events that the experimenter went through from the beginning until the end
of the study. Such things as experimental and control group assignment to
conditions, order or manner of experimental treatment presentation, and a
summary of the instructions to the participants are presented here. Include a
statement about your research design and the operational definitions of your
variables. (If your design is complex, a separate section can be designated for
this information.)
Results
This section is where you
present your data and analyses. The experimenter gives a description and not an
explanation of the findings of the experiment. In order to fulfill this
requirement, the results section should include descriptive statistics (rather
than the raw data) and statistical tests if used. Include degrees of freedom
used, obtained values of inferential statistics performed, probability level,
and direction of effect. Italicize letters used as statistical symbols, such as
N, F, t, SD, and p. Also, make reference to any figures and
tables used (see Table 1). Never present a figure or table without referring to
it in the text.
Tables are often used when
presenting descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations and
correlations. Pictures, graphs, and drawings are referred to as figures. You
should use as few tables and figures as possible. They should be used as
supplements, not to do the entire job of communication. (See Guidelines for
Tables and for Figures at the end of this paper.)
Generally, one reports descriptive
statistics, then inferential statistics, then states in words what was found.
Discussion
In this section, you state
your conclusions on the basis of your analyses. The conclusions should be
related to the questions raised in your introduction section. How is this
study, and these results, relevant to the field? You should open the discussion
section with a statement of support or nonsupport for your original hypothesis.
You may want to point out differences or similarities between other points of
view and your own. You may remark on certain shortcomings of the study, but
avoid dwelling on flaws. In general, this section allows you relatively free
rein to examine, interpret, and qualify your results.
FIGURE CHECKLIST: A BRIEF
GUIDE TO MANUSCRIPT GRAPHS IN APA STYLE
1. All
figures included in a paper should be necessary for understanding the results.
2.
Figures should be simple, clean, and free of elaborate detail.
3.
Always double-check to see if data have been plotted correctly.
4. All
figures should be mentioned in the text (see Figure 1).
5.
Figures are included within a paper after any appendices and tables.
6. Each
figure should be typed on a separate page.
7.
Figure pages, just as every other page in a manuscript, should have the
short title and page number in the upper
right-hand corner (unless a photograph).
8. All
figure labels are numbered consecutively (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.).
9. The
length of the vertical (Y) axis should be approximately 2/3 the length of the
horizontal (X) axis.
10. The dependent variable
is plotted on the Y-axis, and the independent variable is plotted on the
X-axis.
11. Clearly label each
axis with respect to what was measured, quantity
measured,
and units in which the quantity was measured.
12. Choose the appropriate
scale units (length of intervals) so that the figure will not distort actual
data points.
13. Make sure that the
scale points on each axis have equal intervals.
14. All figures are
followed by a caption, which is written below each figure
and ended with a period.
TABLE CHECKLIST: A BRIEF
GUIDE TO MANUSCRIPT TABLES IN APA STYLE
1.
All tables included in a paper should be necessary for understanding the
data.
2.
Tables should be simple, clean, and free of elaborate detail.
3.
Always double-check to make sure the data are correct.
4.
All tables should be mentioned in the text (see Table 1).
5.
Tables are included within a paper after any appendices and before any
figures.
6.
Each table should be typed on a separate page.
7.
All tables are double-spaced.
8.
Table pages, just as every other page in a manuscript, should have the
short title and page number in the upper right-hand
corner.
9.
All table labels should be numbered consecutively (Table 1, Table 2, etc.).
10. The
data are listed in an orderly fashion with the decimal points falling in a
straight line.
11. All tables include a caption which is
located directly below the table label and is capitalized just as a title would
be,
italicized, and is not
followed by a period.
Example:
Table 3
Mean Scores and Standard Deviations
as a Function of Stimulus Presentation
A complete table, just as
it should appear in a written manuscript, can be seen on the following page.
For further information, refer to the Publication Manual of the APA.
Table 1
____________________________________________________________
Passage
______________________________________
Type of processor Expository
text Poetry
____________________________________________________________
Analytic 0.93 1.76
Holistic 3.96 4.72
Recall alpha data
Analytic 0.71 1.25
Holistic 2.64 3.67
____________________________________________________________