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Overview

The research report is a major assignment for most undergraduate psychology courses. The report requires students to write an American Psychological Association (APA) 7 standard report based off an ‘experiment’ conducted during one of the first tutorials in the semester. The experiment is based on a topic chosen by the course coordinator which changes each semester. As a result, the report covers a range of topics; some examples include the effects of different learning techniques (i.e., free recall versus just reading) on memory (Learning/ Cognitive Psychology) or the relationship between working memory and political attitudes (Personality/ Social Psychology). These topics are independent of the course content and require students to learn and research a new topic.

Step-by-step guide

This is a large assignment and requires students to learn a new topic to a high standard to present and discuss research findings in an APA7 formatted report. Students are required to have a deep understanding of the ‘experiment’ taking place during tutorials, the background field, and APA7 formatting. Therefore, it is recommended students do not leave the report to the last minute and leave at least two weeks to confidently complete the report to a high standard.

Actionable Steps

  1. Participant in the ‘experiment’ in tutorials. If you miss the experiment, you can usually still attempt it via a link on your canvas page.
  2. Retrieve and read the method of the experiment you participated in. Make sure you have an in-depth understanding of the method.
    1. There will usually be some aspect of the method that is new or ‘novel.’ What this means is there is some aspect of the experiment that you participated in that was not accounted for/ tested in previous literature (in previous experiments/ studies). This novelty will usually be something that the starter reference (provided to you) did not account for/ cover. Being able to identify and explain this novelty is critical to doing well in the report. An example could look like:
      1. Starter reference A tested the effect of ‘reading’ versus ‘fill-in-the-blank tests’ on performance on a multiple choice test. However, some reference B suggests that ‘free recall’ another learning method, results in superior learning and MCQ test performance. The current study tests whether ‘reading’ or ‘ fill-in-the-blank tests’ or ‘free recall’ will result in better performance on an MCQ quiz. Therefore, the novelty is the inclusion of a ‘free recall’ learning condition in comparison between ‘recall’ vs ‘fill-in-the-blank tests’ on MCQ test performance.
  3. Retrieve and read the starter references provided (SR). Make sure you have an in-depth understanding of the starter reference (read the whole thing)
    1. The most important area of the SR to understand is the method and results. This is so you can identify the similarities and differences between the SR and your study.
  4. Use other online databases to find additional resources to include in your report. This could be similar studies to the starter reference and experiment you conducted in class that explain the phenomena you are studying. This is often done using online databases you have access to through your university.
    1. Some common databases/ search engines are
      1. Ovid (for psychology)
      2. Web of Science
      3. Google Scholar (use the other two first, as they can be filtered to focus on peer-reviewed psychology publications)
    2. When searching through these databases it's useful to use keywords to find similar papers. Following the example above (learning research report), some keywords I may use are: learning, free recall, fill-in-the-blank tests, memory, etc.
  5. Compile your research in a notes document. This will highlight definitions, key phenomena, methods, results, etc. I’ve included a free sample of a notes document below and an editable template:

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y4ZtllhK-p83XQKFQTOo_Qf9KDExofo5/view?usp=drive_web

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  1. Write the report! Once you’ve got a good understanding of your experiment, the starter reference(s), and background literature, you are ready to start writing your report. It's not recommended to start writing without completing the prior steps, as you may find you will have to go back and rewrite parts of your report. This report will have to be APA7 formatted. I’ve included some notes on APA7 formatting below.

APA7 Formatting

The formatting presents a separate challenge as it is often an entirely new style to most first-year students and is different to high school or other university assignments. For example, some differences include: