Research and Planning

the project brief

The Write up

Introduction

Method

Results

Discussion

References

Abstract

Appendices

Ideas for coursework

Coursework log

Project brief

BPS ethical guidelines

AQA marking criteria

1. Before you start

The purpose of this section is to act as a companion.  It will guide you through the following onerous tasks:

1.      Choosing a topic to research

2.     Background reading

3.     Writing your project brief and introduction

4.     Deciding on a suitable method

5.     Taking care of the ethics

6.     Carrying out your procedure

7.     Writing your method and results (including statistics)

8.     Writing your discussion, references and abstract.

In addition, the appendices include a checklist of main things to mention in each section and AQA’s guide to marking your coursework.

However, although it is my intention not to miss out any crucial detail or leave any stone unturned it is inevitable that some of you will encounter problems or unanswered questions.  Please (pretty please with hundreds and thousands) come and see me at the first sign of trouble.  Almost always the problem can be sorted quickly and painlessly with minimum amount of time wasted.  Do NOT let issues fester!

AQA’s expectations

The board lay down a number of guidelines:

The report should be about 2000 words in length.  This sounds a lot but it is quite likely that you will exceed this!

The report should be written in a format similar to a proper psychological or scientific report and they suggest certain headings.  Please try to stick to these since it will help you organise your report and it will help me and the board moderator mark your work!

I shall include the marking scheme provided by the board, and used by me to grade your coursework, in the appendix (see appendix 4).  Use this as you see fit!

Choosing a topic to study:

The board insist that the topic you choose is on the syllabus (AS or A2).  In fact this covers most of the subject matter of psychology.  However, a few points are worth bearing in mind:

1. Ethical considerations:

Animals cannot be used!

If under-16s are used in your procedure parental consent (written) needs to be obtained.  This can be time consuming.

2. Choose a topic of interest.
3. Choose a topic that has lots of readily available background research.  Every year students waste weeks trying to research an obscure topic before finally seeing sense and reverting to a simpler option.
4. A subject covered in year 13 may be useful since during your research you should become a bit of an expert in the area!

Coursework log

Picture the scene as Easter approaches.  The deadline is looming on the horizon and your coursework is all but complete.  The references section (two easy marks) needs to be completed.  More on this in a later section.  Each piece of research quoted in your report needs to be referenced.  Trouble is you have no idea where you found those particular studies and days are wasted reading through countless texts and websites. 

As you go along write down books you have used.  Better still write down the precise reference for each study (using the information in the ‘references’ section of this booklet to help). 

To make things even easier for you I shall provide log for you to fill out:

I have used Miller (1956) as an example:

2. Research and Planning
 

Sources of information:

The department: as well as the set texts we have a number of other very useful tomes in room 14.

Study zone: there are dozens of excellent books in the psychology section, most of them untouched!

Other libraries

Websites: use them by all means but try to get independent verification of information provided.

If all else fails ask a psychology teacher!

Things to consider:

At the outset give careful thought to the procedure you will use.  I will ask you to tell me exactly what procedure you will be using.  Look at the research yours is based upon and consider

Sampling method

Age, sex etc of your participants

Number of participants you will need

What design would be most suitable?

How you will overcome ethical issues?

What procedure you will use?

What variables you will manipulate or record?

What confounding variables will be encountered?

How you will overcome these

Are you looking for a correlation or a difference?

What method will you use to illustrate your findings?

What statistical test will you use?

I’m sure there are others but that will do for the time being. 

Having come up with answers to all of these issues the next stage is the project brief.

The Project Brief

Before starting the write up proper you will be expected to complete a project brief.  This is worth a whopping 12 marks and you really should be aiming for all of them!

The project brief serves two functions:

It enables me to check that the coursework you are considering is properly planned and most importantly does not breach ethical guidelines.

It enables you to include material that would not normally be included in a proper journal article, the sort published at degree or postgraduate level.  For example you will be expected to give the advantages and disadvantages of your research method and design.  Clearly in a proper article, as published in Psychology Journals, you would not insult the reader, a proper Psychologist, with this kind of trivia.  Therefore to make your end product, the write up, more realistic you include this type of information in a separate document, the Project Brief.  A copy of the project brief is included in Appendix 2 for your perusal.  You could also use it as practise for the real one.  As I said this is worth 12 marks (or nearly 7% of your A2). 

3.  The Write up

Introduction, Aims & Hypotheses

·         This contains the background to your report and should be planned and written like a mini essay.  Crucially the introduction explains where your hypotheses come from.

·         Start with general theory, briefly introducing the topic.  Talk about other psychologists’ research in the area.  It is all too tempting to throw in all the really interesting material you have found during your extensive research of the topic, be concise and selective.  Only include material that really is relevant.

·         Narrow this down to specific and directly relevant research.  If you are planning a replication or adaptation of an existing study then give sufficient detail about this.

·         Lead logically into the aims and hypotheses.  Marks will be awarded for a logical progression and this is a common area for students to drop marks.

·         Be careful, particularly if evaluating research, not to include material that would be better found in the discussion.

·         Aims should not appear out of thin air.  The psychological literature that you have reviewed should lead up to the aims.

·         A paragraph should be written explaining what you intend to investigate and why.  Use previously cited research to explain your expectations.  Later these expectations will be formally stated as the hypothesis.

·         Include a justification for the direction of the hypothesis explaining why you have decided on a one or two tailed.

·         Hypotheses: should be written in the present or future tense (remember you are making a prediction).  They should be fully operationalised, stating precisely what is to be manipulated or measured.  (e.g. instead of talking about the ‘participant’s memory, talk about ‘the number of words recalled,’ since this is how you will be measuring the participant’s memory).

·         State the minimal level of significance that will be acceptable (usually 5%) and why you have chosen this level..

Method

This is just a section heading.  The section has several sub-sections, and there are no hard and fast rules about what information goes where, providing you use a little common sense and try to avoid repeating yourself and you try to avoid repeating yourself!

The purpose of the whole section is to inform the reader precisely how the investigation was undertaken.  The acid test is whether or not the reader would be able to replicate your research precisely, just by reading your description.  The section should also demonstrate that you have taken ethical issues into consideration when designing your study.  You should use the third person when describing the method.  E.g. ‘it was decided’ rather than ‘I decided’ or ‘we decided...’

Design

Describe any design decisions made, for example:

·         Choice of method, e.g. field experiment, observation etc.

·         Choice of experimental design e.g. independent or repeated measure, or matched pairs

·         Identification of variables: I.V., D.V. and confounding variables (e.g. participant characteristics, order effects).

·         Explain attempts to be made to overcome confounding variables (e.g. counterbalancing, standardisation of instructions).

·         Ethical considerations.

·         Identify the level of data (e.g. ordinal) and the statistical test you will use together with the level of probability for retaining the null hypothesis.

Participants

• Researchers: details of who conducted the experiment.
• The target population, describe in terms of age, sex, education etc.
• The sampling method used (e.g. opportunity)
• The actual sample size
• Treatment groups and how participants were allocated to their respective groups (i.e. how did you decide which participants were to be in the control group and which were to be in the experimental).  NB If you are comparing boys to girls then this is decided for you!

Common errors: Students often report that they randomly selected participants when there is no way that every member of the target population had an equal chance of being selected.

Materials/Apparatus

The materials and apparatus used such as questionnaires should be described here.  You need to include sufficient detail so that it is clear how they were compiled.  The reader requires enough detail to be able to reconstruct the materials.  Do not be overly patronising and mention detail such as pens being required to fill out the questionnaires!  All questionnaires etc. Should be referenced accurately to the appendix.  Remember to include any mark schemes for questionnaires used.

Procedure

This section should be written in the past tense since you are reporting what you did.  You need to state precisely what you did with the apparatus and the participants.  The rule is simple, describe what you did in sufficient detail for your study to be replicated, including any preliminary work or pilot studies undertaken.  Any standardised instructions or debriefs should be referred to and a justification for their use included.  Include a copy of these in the appendix. 

If you have scored any questionnaires or ranked categories such as GCSE subjects in terms of science or verbal content then you need to say how this was carried out.

Control

This is to provide further evidence of design decisions.  You should emphasise any control procedures already mentioned, such as counter balancing, random allocation of participants to groups, single or double blind, standardised procedures etc.

Collecting your data

Once you have planned your research, written your introduction and method and have had your ideas and materials checked by your coursework supervisor, you are ready to carry out your procedure and collect your data.  Remember to give yourself sufficient time - don't expect to get it all done in one private study period!

Important points to remember when carrying out research:

Ensure that you are fully au fait with the ethical guidelines as laid down by the BPS.  A copy of these can be found in the appendix.  If you have any doubts check with your teacher before proceeding.

Ensure that you are fully comfortable with the procedure and know precisely what is going to happen and in what order.  It is useful to have a dummy run of your procedure before ‘going live.’  Ask a few friends to act as participants and ensure that you haven’t overlooked any details.

Generally speaking any instructions given should be standardised and preferably presented in writing.  This way you can be certain that all participants are given precisely the same instructions.

Always inform participants of their right to withdraw from the procedure at any time if they so wish.

If you are dealing with minors (i.e. participants under the age of 16) then be friendly and take steps to put them at ease.  This is vital if conducting experiments in primary schools etc.

Always be courteous with participants and act in a professional manner.

Always carry out a ‘debrief’ at the end of the procedure.  Again this is best written to ensure that nothing is forgotten and should inform participants of:

The exact nature and point of your study

Their right to withdraw their data from the study

Their right to see the final write-up once it has been completed.

Be polite and thank your participants for taking part in your research!

Copies of both the ‘standardised instructions’ and the ‘debrief’ should be included in the appendices of your final write-up.

Now, armed with your collected data you can return to the write-up of your final report.

Results

This section is where you summarise your data and provide a report on any statistical analysis that you have carried out.  Clarity is all important in this section so you need to find concise and informative ways of presenting data. 

Note: all raw data should go in the appendix and be referenced.

Descriptive (or summary) statistics.

These are every bit as important as inferential.  The purpose of this section is to describe what you have found and give the reader ‘a feel’ for the data.  This can be done in the form of averages, standard deviations, tables, bar charts, scattergrams and graphs. 

Special care should be taken that all graphs etc. have titles and appropriately labelled axes, even if using Excel.  All such graphs should be self explanatory, it should not be necessary to refer to the text to make sense of them. 

Keep graphs etc. simple.  If more complex or multiple graphs are used put these in the appendix and make reference to them in the results section.  Try to avoid death by a thousand graphs!

Tables, graphs and other figures should be consecutively numbered

Be sure to explain what the obtained data shows in the text.

Inferential Statistics

These are used to tell us the likelihood of the hypotheses being true, i.e. what are the chances that the results we have obtained may have occurred by chance alone.

Begin by stating what test was done and why!  Refer to the research design (repeated measures etc.), level of data (ordinal etc.).  Most importantly were you looking for a difference or relationship.  Explain why your data is ordinal, ratio or whatever.  You need to fully justify your choice of test.  It is unusual for full marks to be awarded in this section, but with care it can be achieved!

Carry out the statistical test.  Non-mathematicians usually panic at this point but these tests are more time consuming than difficult.  I have written, step by step instructions on how to carry them out and can provide assistance should it be required. 

In your write up you will need to include the value that you have calculated (the observed value).  This needs to be compared with the critical value, which is the value you look up in a table.  These can be found in the back of most psychology text books.  Again if you are unsure ask!

Does this show that your results are significant or not for that number of participants, at the stated level of significance for either a one or two tailed hypothesis?

Check your statistical conclusion with your teacher before deciding whether to accept or reject your hypothesis.

All calculations should be included in the appendix.  Do not put that type of dull information in the main body of the report!

Discussion

Beware, this section is worth the most marks and usually costs students the most marks!  For this reason I have emboldened this section and used a larger font. 

It is split into four sections and marks are accredited for each.

Explanation of Findings

This sounds like a repeat of the results section, but here you need to state what you’ve found in terms of psychology rather than in statistical terms, in particular relate your findings to your hypotheses.  Mention the strength of your findings, for example were they significant and at what level.  If your hypothesis was one tailed and your results have gone in the opposite direction this needs to be indicated.  If you have any additional findings to report, other than those relating to the hypotheses then they too can be included.

Relationship to background research

If your results agree with previous studies then this section may be brief, but there may still be ways in which your findings differ in some way.  If your results run counter to previous studies then you need to make this clear and try to explain the discrepancy.

Limitations and Modifications

Consider how your findings may have been influenced by confounding and extraneous variables (i.e. factors other than the one you were testing). 

If you got the result you expected, can you be sure of what made this happen?  Look at the method for possible confounding variables that could have caused a type one error.  Consider whether any aspects of the study were unsatisfactory.  Believe me, no matter how careful you have been, you will not have carried out the perfect study.  How many pieces of research have you come across in Year 12 that were perfect?  For example were the participants entirely honest in their responses?  Were there any experimenter effects?  Was the sample size or method of selection adequate?

Comment on the statistical procedures used, particularly the power and sensitivity of the test.  Chances are you have had to use a non parametric test which are not as powerful as their parametric alternatives. 

Having mentioned the limitations of your research be sure to include how you could improve it.  This section is titled ‘limitations and modifications.’  All too often students only discuss the shortcomings and lose marks as a result.

Implications and suggestions for further research

This is not asking you to repeat the previous section!  Finally you need to discuss how relevant your research findings are to real life.  Think of any practical applications of your findings.  Also, how could you follow up the research to find out more.  This is different to modifications discussed in the previous section.  You will probably be up to your word limit by now so only a couple of suggestions are required!

References

This section should be straightforward provided the following guidelines are adhered to.  However, every year students drop one mark, or even both, because they think they know better!  The references should contain details of all the research you have covered.  It is not sufficient (as below) to simply list the books used! 

What not to do:

A New Introduction to Psychology, Gross & McIlveen

Bluffers Guide to Psychology, Gouldy & Thomas…

This is a list of books, or a bibliography and as such will get you zilch marks!

How to get full marks:

Look through your report and ensure you include every researcher mentioned.

For each one provide information on where that particular study was originally published, for example:

Paivio, A., Madigan, S.A. (1970).  Noun imagery and frequency in paired-associate and free learning recall.  Canadian Journal of Psychology. 24, pp353-361.

This is the researchers and year, the title of their publication, the journal in which it was published with volume number and specific page references. 

You will find this information in the back of the text book in which the research is cited.

Other rules:

The references should be in alphabetical order, not the order in which they appear in your report.  Again see how it's done in the back of the set texts.

In the unlikely event of the same researcher having two reports, both in the same year, use 'a' and 'b' to separate them out, e.g. Waring (1962a) and Waring (1962b).

Sometimes the text books are naughty and do not provide a reference for a piece of research they've mentioned.  In this case you have one of two options:

a.       Look it up in another text book or

b.       If that fails use the following format:

Freud, S. (1922) cited in Gross RD (1996) The Science of Mind and Behaviour (3rd Edition). London: Hodder & Stoughton.

This is the researcher and year, the text book in which you found the information, where the book was published and the name of the publishers. 

Hint:  As I mentioned earlier it is all too common for students to reach the end of their report and realise that they can't remember where they found a particular reference.  Write them down as you go along, preferably in your log book, but also anywhere else where you won't lose the information.

ALL AUTHORS MENTIONED MUST BE REFERENCED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Abstract

Although this appears at the front of the report it is the last section to be written.  The purpose of the abstract is to tell the reader the bare essentials of the research you have carried out.  The style should be brief, but not in note form.  Aim to keep the abstract to about 150 words.

Include a one sentence summary, giving the topic to be studied.  This may include the hypothesis and some brief theoretical background research, for example the name of the researchers whose work you have replicated.

Describe the participants, number used and how they were selected. 

Describe the method and design used and any questionnaires etc. you employed.

State your major findings, which should include a mention of the statistics used the observed and critical values and whether or not your results were found to be significant, including the level of significance.

Briefly summarise what your study shows, the conclusion of your findings and any implications it may have.

4. Appendices