Writing Psychology Research Reports (2nd edition)
Writing academic texts is an important skill for students of psychology and educational theory, whether in the course of their studies or thereafter, when they are active practitioners. Writing Psychology Research Reports teaches students how to comply with currently prevailing standards when writing reports of literature studies or experimental research.
About the book
Step by step it takes the reader through every aspect of writing up a literature study or composing a research report. It deals with every angle, from choice of subject to setting out their own or other people’s research results and applying APA citation norms. The many tips and tools make it a useful reference work for professional practitioners.
This is the English translation of the successful publication Verslaglegging van psychologisch onderzoek (fourth edition).
Target audience
This book is meant for students studying at the university of applied science and university. Especially students of pedagogy, psychology and educational theory can find this book helpful.
1 Scientific Reports 11
1.1 What is a literature review? 11
1.2 What is an empirical research report? 12
1.3 The content of this book 12
1.4 Criteria applicable to all reports 13
2 Academic Writing 17
2.1 Structuring an academic text 17
2.2 Academic style 20
2.3 Style and spelling guidelines 21
2.4 References and quotations 28
2.5 Reference list 32
2.6 Formatting 36
3 Preparing a Literature Review 45
3.1 Selecting a topic 45
3.2 Formulating a problem statement and provisional research question 46
3.3 Searching for literature 47
3.4 Overview of search engines 51
3.5 Writing a plan 57
4 Research Descriptions 69
4.1 The structure of a research article 69
4.2 Writing descriptions of scientific research 71
4.3 Steps for writing a research description 75
4.4 Writing a scientific summary 75
4.5 Writing related research descriptions 77
5 Writing a Literature Review 79
5.1 The structure of a literature review 79
5.2 Elements of a literature review 80
5.3 Checklist/evaluation framework 90
6 Writing a Research Report 95
6.1 Preparation and process 97
6.2 Abstract 98
6.3 Introduction 98
6.4 Method 100
6.5 Results 102
6.6 Discussion 107
6.7 Reference list 110
6.8 Appendices 111
6.9 Checklist/evaluation framework 111
Appendix A Sample Scientific Summary 117
Appendix B Sample Research Report 121
Appendix C APA Reference List Guidelines 131
Reference list 143
Index 145
About the editor 149
