APA Writing Style I

Introduction

Why we write research papers

Tell others: About our ideas and thoughts About our sample, data collection and results About what we think it all means; why our study is

interesting or important

Paper should make sense of your existing data and results

Parts of a research paper

1. Introduction

2. Methods

3. Results

4. Discussion

Paper moves from general to specific and back to general

Parts of the Introduction

1. Opening

2. Literature Review

3. Transition

4. Hypotheses

General

Specific

Introduction: Opening

General statements that introduce topic Broad presentation of issue that you are

studying May include examples from human behavior

Sample Openings

Article 1: Theoreticians, clinicians, and researchers have long

observed that certain people have a strong inclination to look to others for support, guidance, and reassurance, even in situations where they seem capable of initiating and completing tasks on their own. Such persons have traditionally been thought of as having a “dependent personality.”

Article 2: Virtually all major theories of adult development

focus on commitments to work and family as key developmental milestones, and as the main task of healthy adult development.

Introduction: Literature Review

Present previous theory and research Only include literature that is directly related

to your topic

Provides rationale for your study Synthesize what others have done

Should lead to your study

Sample Literature Review

Article 1: During the past several decades researchers have attempted to

delineate the constellation of traits associated with high levels of interpersonal dependency in children and adults (Birtchnell, 1984, 1988; Hirschfeld et al., 1977; Kline & Storey, 1977; Millon, 1981).

Other recent studies have investigated the place of dependency within the five-factor model of personality (Costa & McCrae, 1990; Shopshire & Craik, 1994).

Article 2: Patterns of commitments to work and family roles should provide

major avenues for the expression of personality in adulthood (Helson & Moane, 1987; Hoelter, 1983; Sarbin, 1954).

Introduction: Transition

Directly tie literature review to your current study

Show how your study: Replicates past research Builds on or extends past research Fills in gaps from past research Uses a new methodology from past research Addresses limitations of past research

Sample TransitionArticle 1: Although considerable indirect evidence has accumulated that

indicates that situational variables play a key role in determining whether a dependent person will behave in a passive, submissive manner or in an active, assertive manner, this issue has never been examined directly.

Article 2: Although there has been a great deal of research that has dealt with

the relationship between work and family roles, there are some important conceptual and methodological problems in much of this research. First, because much of this research is cross-sectional... [paragraph addressing these issues]

Second, much previous research has tacitly assumed that the qualities of women’s commitments to work or family roles are essentially similar [paragraph addressing these issues].

Finally, many of these studies have examined older cohorts of women... [paragraph addressing these issues]

This study offers a remedy to many of these problems. First, ... [paragraph addressing these issues]

Introduction: Hypotheses

Most specific part of introduction Make predictions for your research, based

on literature review Needs to be written so that it is testable

It will be what you test in your analyses

Sample Hypotheses

Article 1: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that in

situations where the dependent person’s performance is being compared to that of a peer, the presence (or absence) of an authority figure will significantly and predictably influence the dependent person’s behavior. Specifically, in a situation where no authority figure is present, the dependent person should engage in various self-denigration strategies that ensure that the peer will perform better than he or she does.

Article 2: The main purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that

women with different life paths (based on combination of work and family role commitment) would have different personality profiles. More specifically, ....

What is NOT in introduction

How you will operationalize your hypothesis (although the general concepts are ok)

Any results Specifics about your sample

General points on the introduction

Remember that you are telling a story

Consider your audience

Be clear and do not use jargon unless necessary

Miscellaneous issues: Writing Style Use the third person Use active voice Tense:

Past tense for introduction Past tense for methods and results Past tense in discussion when talking about your

results Present tense when talking about general

conclusions from study Future tense when talking about future directions

Avoiding Bias in Language

Say participants, not subjects

Use male and female pronouns when participants are both male and female

Use people of color rather than non-White