Study One Methods/Results/Disc


 

 

 

 

Instructions for Paper II: Study One Methods, Results,and Discussion (Worth 35Points)

 

Ryan J. Winter

Florida International University

 

 

Paper II: Table of Contents

ItemPage #
Title Page1
 
Table of Contents2
 
Purposes of Paper II – Study One Methods, Results and Discussion3
1.      The psychological purpose (Paper overview)3
2.      The APA formatting purpose3
3.      The writing purpose3
 
Notes About Paper I – Study One Literature Review4
 
The Title Page (1 point)5
 
The Abstract (Not needed for this paper)5
 
The Methods Section (15 points)5
1.      Formatting the methods section5
2.      The participant section5
3.      The materials and procedure section6
 
The Results Section (10 points)7
  1. Formatting the results section
7
  1. The results section content requirements
8
  1. The results section and the chi square
8
  1. The results section and the One-Way ANOVA
9
  1. The results section and the t-Test
11
  1. Statistics order recommendation for the results section
12
 
Tables (4 points)12
1.      Tables overview12
2.      Tables placement12
3.      How to copy table content13
4.      Table formatting13
 
Discussion Study One (2 points)13
  
Writing Quality (3 points)14
  
Other Helpful Hints14
 
Paper II Grade Rubric15

 

 

Purposes of Paper II: Study One Methods, Results, and Discussion

  1. The psychological purpose (Paper overview)

The psychological purpose behind Paper II is to make sure you can tell your reader what you did in your study, how you did it, and what you found. By now you have read several empirical studies in psychology, and you should be familiar with the Methods, Results, and Discussion sections. Now is your chance to write your ownMethods, Results and Discussion!

Like the studies you looked at for Paper I, you will provide information about your participants, materials, and procedure in your Methods section. Your participant section goes first, and it includes descriptive statistics about your sample (means and standard deviations for age as well as percentages for gender and race/ethnicity). Your materials and procedure sections include information about what you did and how you did it. You should write this section for an audience who is unfamiliar with your specific study, but assume that they do know research methods.Thus educate your reader about your materials and procedure, giving enough detail so they could replicate the study. This includes explicitly describing your independent and dependent variables and talking about how you presented those variables to your participants. My suggestion is to look over the articles that you summarized in Paper I and see how they wrote their Methods. This will give you a good idea regarding the level of depth and detail you need in your own Methods section.

Your Results section follows. The purpose of this section is to make sure you can show how you analyzed the data and describe what you found. You will have a lot of help in this section from your lab materials (especially your lab powerpoint presentations).

Finally, I want you to include a short discussion of your findings. Tell me if you supported or did not support your hypotheses and explain why you got those results (you can actually speculate here if you like, but make it “educated” speculation!)

  1. The APA formatting purpose

The second purpose of Paper II: Methods, Results and Discussion is to once again teach you proper American Psychological Association (APA) formatting for these sections. In the pages below, I will tell you how to format your paper using APA style. There are a lot of very specific requirements in APA papers (as specific as what to italicize), so pay attention to the instructions below as well as the APA formatting lecture presentation!

  1. The writing purpose

Finally, this paper is intended to help you figure out how to write a Methods, Results, and Discussion section. Many students find statistics intimidating, but my hope here is that writing this paper will help you understand both the logic and format of statistics in results sections. We will once again give you a lot of feedback and help in this paper, which willbe able to revise for your Papers IV and V later in the course. Make sure that you write this for an audience familiar with APA methods and results, but also for someone who needs you to tell them what you found.

 

Notes About Paper II – Study One Methods, Results, and Discussion

Note #1: The plagiarism limit is higher in this paper (up to 65%) since your classmates are doing the same design. Do not go higher than that, though! 65% is the maximum allowed!

Note #2: You do NOT need to include your literature review / hypotheses in Paper II, as Paper II focuses just on your methods, results, and discussion. However, you will include those Paper I components later in Paper III, so do keep them handy!

Note #3: Again, sorry for the length of the instructions! They are long, but take it one section at a time and you will get all of the content you need for your paper. It also increases your chances of getting a great grade!

Instructions for Paper II: Study One Methods, Results, and Discussion (Worth 35 Points)

The Title Page(1 point)

The title page for your Paper II is identical to the one you used for Paper I: Literature Review Study One. For proper APA formatting, either copy your title pagefrom Paper I or review the title page instructions I gave you in Paper I. You can change your title if you like, but make sure it describes your study (much like a title in PsycInfo describes what the authors did in their paper)

The Methods Section(15 points)

 

  1. Formatting the methods section (Page 2).

    1. Write Methodsat the top of this page, make it bold, and center it
    2. For Paper II, the methods section will come on page 2. But in Paper Three in a few weeks, the methods will come immediately after the study one literature review.
  2. The participant section

    1. Formatting: The participants section comes next. The wordParticipantsis bolded and left justified.
    2. Your participants: Tell me who your participants were (college students, family members, friends?) and how many there were.

      1. Numbers versus Letters
        1. If a number starts a sentence, then spell out the number. That is, “Two-hundred and five participants participated in this study.”
        2. If a number is mid-sentence, you can use numerals. “There were 205 participants in this study.”
        3. Keep numbers consistent. If you spell out a number at the start of the sentence, carry it through and spell out all numbers in that sentence.
      2. For statistics:
        1. Always use numbers (M = 5.43, SD = 1.12, 67%, etc.)
        2. Include a 0 before decimal places (SD = 0.12, not SD = .12), though a 0 is not needed in front of the p value (p = .003, not p = 0.003)
        3. For p, always use the exact number (e.g.p = .003 or p = .34) unless your tabled value is .000. In that case, use p< .001
  • For scales, always use numbers (1 = Strongly Disagree to 6 = Strongly Agree)
  1. Frequencies and/or descriptive statisticsfor relevant demographics.

    1. For some variables—like ethnicity and gender—you only need to provide frequency information (the number of participants who fit that category). “There were 100 men (49%) and 105 women (51%) in the study.” Or “The sample was 49% male (n = 100) and 51% female (n = 105).”
    2. Other variables—like age—are continuous (rather than categorical), so use descriptive statistics here (the range, mean, and the standard deviation). “Participants ranged in age from 18 to 77 (M = 24.01, SD = 3.50).” or “The average age of participants was 24.01 (SD = 3.50).” You can find out how to get this information by reading the lab powerpoint and the crash course quiz documents
  • Make sure to italicize the n, M, and SD (the letters, not the numbers)
  1. Tables: Make sure to include a “callout” to the table. That is, write “See Table 1” at the end of the participant section to direct readers to your demographics table.

    1. Note that the table comes immediately after the callout in-text (not at the end of the paper or in an appendix).
  2. The materials and procedure section

    1. Formatting: Include the phraseMaterials and Procedurein bold font. This title should be aligned on the left of the page.

      1. There is no set minimum or maximum on the length of the methods section, but I expect at least a page or two (but probably more. Your research script took up several pages – you should provide a similar level of depth and detail in your methods section). Missing important aspects of your IVs and DVs or presenting them in a confusing manner will lower your score.
      2. Make sure that another researcher can replicate your study based on your methods section. If they cannot do so, then you may not have enough detail!
    2. Content:Provide information about your materials and your procedure. I suggest starting with the procedure and discussing the materials in the order in which participants saw them. That is, tell your reader what your participants did in the order that participants did them. Be specific here.

      1. First, talk about the oral informed consent procedure.
      2. Second, talk about the three versions of the Self-Reference Effect (SRE)survey and the threeRating Conditions: Self-Rating, Friend-Rating, and President-Rating. Provide enough detail so your readers know how these conditions differ. Imagine I do not know what you did, but I need to able to replicate your design. YOU need to give me enough detail so I can do so.
        1. I want to stress this “detail” concept – Pretend that I have no idea what you did or what your materials look like, but I want to replicate your study. Thus, teach me your design and your procedures. Be VERY clear and detailed about what you did and how you did it so I can replicate your study design.
          1. If there are advertisements in your survey, describe them. If there are pictures, describe them. If these items are identical across all conditions, note that fact.
        2. Importantly, describe how the surveys differ. That is, you have three versions of the SRE Describe how the three versions differ. Also make sure to describe how they are similar! (Hint: They are a lot more similar than they are different)
        3. Note: At the end of the semester, someone other than your instructor / TA may grade your final paper. They may know NOTHING about SRE, but they do know methods. Write this section for that methodology expert (but topic novice).
  • Third, talk about your dependent variables (that is, your survey questions. For these dependent variables, once again provide enough detail so I know exactly what questions you asked.For example, “Participants provided their gender, age, and race”. For other dependent variables, tell me how the responses were recorded (yes/no, true/false,ascale of 1 to 6, etc.). If you used a scale, note the endpoints and descriptors. For example, “Participants were asked, ‘How frustrating was this task?’, and they responded on a scale from 1 (very frustrating) to 6 (not at all frustrating).’”
    1. If you only tell me that the scale was from 1 to 6, I won’t know if a 1 is a good score a bad score. Similarly, if you say the scale ranged from “very frustrating” to “not at all frustrating”, I won’t know if the number 1 relates to the “very” end of the scale or the “not at all” end. Thus, I need BOTH numbers and descriptors.
    2. Your study has a few important DVs (including Total Word Score in Part A: Recall as well as several ratings in Part B: Ratings).For each of these DVs, tell me what they are specifically!
  1. Fourth, make sure to highlight which specific DVs you analyzed. If there are DVs participants completed but you did not analyze it, feel free to say those that participants completed them but since they were not analyzed, they are not discussed further.
  2. Fifth, make sure to be specific about your attention / manipulation check question! What did you specifically ask? How did you measure participant responses to the manipulation check? Was it multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, or a scale? If you don’t tell your reader, they won’t know how you measured that variable.
  3. Finally, mention debriefing. You don’t need a lot of detail here since most researchers understand what goes into a generic debriefing statement
  1. Copying survey material:

    1. Guess what! You can copy and paste materials that participants saw in your survey directly into your materials and procedure section. These are not direct quotes since they are your materials, so feel free to copy instructions from the survey, specific questions you asked, or independent variable information. That gives the reader great insight into the materials that participants saw, so feel free to copy and paste!
    2. As another option, you can refer the reader to an appendix with the actual surveys (though I prefer that you discuss the questions in the text, since going to an appendix disrupts the flow of information and forces the reader to flip through pages to find information).

 

The Results Section(10 points)

 

  1. Formatting the results section

    1. Write Results at the top of this section, center it, and use boldface. This section comes directly at the end of the methods section, so the results section DOES NOT start on its own page.
      1. Note that some instructors may not do this SREstudy, but the results section should follow the same guidelines regardless of your study topic.
    2. The results section content requirements

      1. The results are the hardest part of this paper, and your lab powerpointscan help you (also refer to the crash course statistics quizzes, which walk you through similar analyses!).
      2. For Paper Two, include statistics about the most important variables in your study, including your IV (Rating Conditions – Self-Rating, Friend-Rating, and President-Rating) and the DVs you feel are most important to your hypotheses. I suggest focusing on both the Part ATotal Word Score as well as either Question 1 or Question 2 in Part B, as both are hypotheses relevant. Question 3 in Part B is okay to analyze, but I don’t expect differences for that variable, so it seems less relevant.
      3. So let me be VERY specific:You must run at least three different analyses on three different dependent variables. One analysis must be an ANOVA (again, I recommend looking the Total Word Score from Part A). The second analysis should also be an ANOVA (where I recommend looking at either Question 1orQuestion 2 in Part B). The final analysismust be a chi square for question 5in Part C of your survey (which has participants recall whether the traits in the social media postdescribed:“you”, “me, your best friend”, or “the United States President”). This is our manipulation check, which looks at the three answer options in question 5).
        1. Note: Although you can run a t-Test rather than a second ANOVA, I do not recommend it. A t-Test only looks at two conditions, but there are three conditions in your study (Self-Rating, Friend-Rating, and President-Rating), so ignoring one of them does not make empirical sense. Why collect data for three conditions and ignore one of them?
        2. If you do use a t-Test, just note that you cannot look at the same DV as your ANOVA. We count the number of DVs that you analyze – NOT the number of statistical tests you run! So, you cannot run an ANOVA on Question 1 and then run a t-Test on Question 1 again. That is only one DV. Still, I suggest not running a t-Test at all for this study.
      4. The results section and the chi square

        1. Your first analysis will be a chi square, which is usedforcategorical DVs (yes / no; yes / no / maybe; male / female, or … in our case, “The extent to which the social media words describe a person”from Question5in Part C). So, let’s discuss the chi square (rhymes with “guy square”), which does not look at mean scores but rather counts how many responses there are compared to how many are expected.
        2. The specific question asked, “Without looking back, recall the Social Media Post #1. In that section, “Your best friend” asked you to rate words based on “the extent to which that word describes …” (Mark one with an X):”The options were “you”, “me, your best friend”, or “the United States President.Here, you can run a chi (“guy”!) square looking at the frequencies of the three answer options
        3. We are interested in the chi square (χ2) and p We also provide percentages for each of our groups (we do not include means and SDs since you need interval data for those statistics). There are two ways to analyze a chi square:
          1. The easy way: Look at how many participants in each category accurately recall the expectation manipulation.
            1. Significant finding: “Using Rating Condition(Self-Rating vs. Friend-Rating vs. President-Rating)as our independent variableand participants’ recall of whether they rated traits based on whether the words described themselves, their best friend, or the US president as the dependent variable, we saw a significant effect, χ2(4) = 4.49, p= .021. Most participants in the “Self-Rating” condition recalled rating how well the terms described themselves(88%); most participants in the “Friend-Rating” condition recalled rating how well the terms described their best friend(76%); and most participants in the “President-Rating” condition recalled rating how well the terms described the US President(90%).Cramer’s V was strong for this analysis. This indicates that participants saw our manipulation as intended.”
            2. Non-significant finding:“Using Rating Condition (Self-Rating vs. Friend-Rating vs. President-Rating) as our independent variable and participants’ recall of whether they rated traits based on whether the words described themselves, their best friend, or the US president as the dependent variable,we did not see a significant effect, χ2(4) = 1.49, p = .065. Participants did not differ in their recall between the Self-Rating condition (54%), the Friend-Rating condition (53%) or the President-Rating condition (53%). Cramer’s V was weak for this analysis. This indicates that participants did not see our manipulation as intended.”
          2. The hard way: You can also look at “overall correct” vs.“overall incorrect” recall. This is a bit trickier to run in SPSS, since you need to add up ALL those who correctly remembered the correct manipulation(those in the Self-Ratingcondition who recalled the “you” option + those in the Friend-Rating condition who recalled the “me, your Best Friend” option+ those in the President-Rating condition who recalled the “US President” option) and compare them to ALL the people who were incorrect in their recall.
            1. In this instance, you would not want the chi square to be significant. That is, you might conclude “There was no difference between those who got the manipulation check question correct across the three different conditions, χ2(4) = 1.49, p= .099.” (In other words, participants wereequally correct in all conditions).
            2. My advice is to go with the easy chi square (a. above)
  • Quick notes
    1. Cramer’s V is required for 3 X 3 designs. Here, we have 3 study conditions and 3 answer options, so 3 X 3, so we use Cramer’s V. Only use Phi if you have a 2 X 2 study (two conditions and two answer options)
    2. Make sure to italicize the χ and p
  1. The results section and the One-Way ANOVA

    1. Since your condition independent variable hasthree levels (e.g.Self-Rating vs. Friend-Rating vs. President-Rating), the most appropriate test is aOne-Way ANOVA if your DV is scaled (like a 0 to 12 scale or a 1 to 7 scale). Your lab and lecture powerpoints show you how to conduct an ANOVA, but here are some guidelines I want to give you about how to write your results. BelowI walk you through one analysis specific to this paper.
      1. First, there are several dependent variables to choose from. For my example analysis below, I want to focus on Part Ain your survey (Total Word Score, or how many words participants correctly recalled seeing in Social Media Post #1). Since participants can correctly recall between0 to 12words (that is, each uses at leastan intervalscale – though Part A is ratio!)an ANOVA is the best statistical test to run.
      2. Second, given that this study has one IV with three levels and we will look at one DVat a time, aOne-Way ANOVA is the best test to use to see if there are significant differences among the three IV levels for that one DV. We look first at the ANOVA table (orF table) and focus on the between subject factor. We note the degrees of freedom, the F value itself, and the p value. (We will get into factorial ANOVAs later in this course, but here we only have one independent variable, so we can use a One-Way ANOVA. Yes, we have three levels to our IV, but it is still only one IV).
  • Third, if the p value is significant (less than .05), we have one more step to take. Since our IV has three levels, we need to compare mean A to mean B, mean A to mean C, and mean B to mean C. We do this using a post hoc test (try using Tukey!). Tukey will tell us which of the means differ significantly. You then write up the results. For example, let’s say I ran an ANOVA on the dependent variablein Part A: Total Word Score. My write up would look like the one below (though I completely made up the data below, so do not copy the numbers!) …
    1. Significant ANOVA:

Note that the word “less” is very important here. Conditions do not simply differ. One is LESS than the others (or HIGHER, or LOWER, etc.)
  • We ran a One Way ANOVA using Rating condition(Self-Rating vs. Friend-Rating vs. President-Rating) as our independent variable and Total Word Scoreas the dependent variable. We found a significant condition effect, F(2, 203) = 4.32, p= .032. Tukey post hoc tests showed that participants correctly recalled more words in the Self-Rating condition(M = 10.56, SD = 1.21) than participants in both the Friend-Rating(M = 7.24, SD = 0.89) and President-Rating(M = 7.03, SD = 0.77) conditions. The Friend-Rating and President-Rating conditions, however, did not differ from each other. This supports ourpredictionthat participants are better at recalling words when they use self-referencing.
    1. Note that there are lots of possible outcomes for an ANOVA. The one above says that the Self-Ratingcondition differed from both the Friend-Rating and President-Rating conditions, but thatthe Friend- and President-Rating conditionsdid not differ from each other (In other words, SR≠FR = PR). However, we might also find thatnone of the three conditions differfrom each other (SR = FR = PR) or we might find thatallconditions differ from each other (SR ≠ FR ≠ PR), so they all differ. Want to see an example of non-significance? Okay …
  1. Non-Significant ANOVA. Think about this for Part B,Question 3, where we predicted that all participants would believe that they recall things better when they relate that item to themselves.

    1. We ran a One Way ANOVA using Rating condition (Self-Rating vs. Friend-Rating vs. President-Rating) as our independent variable and ratings of “I believe I remember things better when I think about how they relate to myself” as the dependent variable. We failed to find a significant condition effect, F(2, 203) = 2.32, p= .232. Participant ratings did not differ between the Self-Rating condition (M = 3.45, SD = 1.21), the Friend-Rating condition (M = 3.24, SD = 0.89) and the President-Rating condition (M = 3.23, SD = 0.77) conditions. This shows that in all conditions, participants felt that they recall things better when they relate it to themselves.
  2. Fourth, make sure to italicize the F, p, M, and SD (as in the example)
  1. Pretty simple, right! Again, I suggest using ANOVAs to look at Part A (Total Word Score) and either Question 1 or Question 2 in Part B (Ratings)
  2. Note that you could also run a t-Test on any of thesedependent variables, looking at the Self-Rating versus the Friend-Rating conditions only, or SR versus President-Rating, or FR versus PR. However, it makes more sense to look at all three conditions using an ANOVA this semester since you collected data for all three conditions. Still, let me give you some insight into the t-Test.
  1. The results section and the t-Test:

    1. If you have only two IV levels (e.g.Self-Rating versus Friend-Ratingonly), things are even more simple. However, I do NOT expect you to run a t-Test since you have three IV levels.
      1. Note once again that a t-Test looks at differences between only two groups. Again, your lab presentations tell you how to run this, but you can do it on your own as well (you can even run a t-Test if your study originally has three levels to the IV – when you go into the t-Test menu in SPSS, simply click “define groups” and select 1 and 2 (Self-Rating= 1 and Friend-Rating = 2). This lets you look at two of the groups! You could also select “2 and 3” or “1 and 3” where the President-Ratingcondition = 3).
      2. Rather than an F value, there is at value in the t-Test data output. There is one number for the degree of freedom, at value, and ap value.
  • The nice thing about a t-Test is that because you only have two groups, you do not need a post hoc test like Tukey (you only need that if you need to compare three means. Here, we only have two means, so we can just look at them and see which is higher and which is lower when our t-Test is significant). Then just write it up …
    1. Significant t-Test: We ran an independent samples t-Test using Rating condition (Self-Rating vs. Friend-Rating) as our independent variable and Total Word Score as the dependent variable. We found a significant condition effect, t(203) = 7.12, p= .021. Participants recalled more words in the Self-Ratingcondition (M = 10.56, SD = 1.21) than in the Friend-Rating condition (M = 24, SD = 0.89).

      1. A quick note here. Look at the means for this t-Test example and the ANOVA example for the significant ANOVA on page 10. The means and SDs are identical. That is because the t-Test and ANOVA both look at the means for the Self-Rating and Friend-Rating conditions for the same dependent variable. That is why you cannot run a t-Test and ANOVA on the same DV, as it is essentially the identical statistical analysis (just absent the President-Rating mean and SD).
    2. Non-significant t-Test: We ran an independent samples t-Test using Rating condition (Self-Rating vs. Friend-Rating) as our independent variable and Total Word Score as the dependent variable.Wefailed to find a significant condition effect, t(203) = 1.12, p= .128. Participants recalled a similar number of words in the Self-Ratingcondition (M = 9.23, SD = 0.21) and the Friend-Rating condition (M = 9.34, SD = 0.89).”
  1. Repeat for other dependent variables
  2. Make sure to italicize the t, p, M , and SD (as in the example)
  1. Statistics order recommendation for the results section

    1. For this paper, start your results section with the chi square (your manipulation check). After all, if your manipulation check shows participants did not pay attention, then there is no need to run any other analyses! Then talk about your main analyses (The Total Word Score variable from Part A and Question 1 or 2 from Part B). Make sure the analyses line up with your hypotheses.
    2. There is no page minimum or maximum for the results section, though I would expect it to be at least a paragraph for each dependent variable analysis.

 

Tables (4 points)

 

  1. Tables overview: I want to make sure you are including the correct numbers in your results section, so I want you to include all relevant SPSS tables for each of your analyses.

    1. Table 1 (Demographics): Include tables for age, gender, and ethnicity.
    2. Table 2 (Chi square): Include tables for your chi square and the crosstabs
    3. Table 3 (ANOVA): Include your tables for your first dependent variable (This must be an ANOVA table, the descriptive statistics table for that ANOVA, and the post hoc test)
    4. Table 4 (ANOVA or t-Test): Include your tables for you second dependent variable (If it is a t-Test, include t-Test tables here. This would involve both the descriptives for the t-Test and the t-Test output itself. Again, I prefer that your second analysis also be an ANOVA and NOT a t-Test)
    5. Table 5 and beyond (If applicable): Not required, but feel free to run additional statistics if you like and add Table 5 or more!
  2. Tables Placement:

    1. Although the 7th Edition of the APA Publication manual allows you to place your tables at either the end of the manuscript (in a series of appendices) or embed themwithin the text itself, we requirethe latter placement option. That is, include your table(s) immediately after your table callout.
      1. Participant tables: Include your participant tables (for age, gender, and ethnicity) immediately after the participant section (and before the methods / procedure section).
      2. Chi square tables: You will include your chi square tables (including the crosstabulation table, chi square table, and symmetric measures table) right after the callout.
  • ANOVA tables: For the ANOVA, once again use a table callout. Then copy the ANOVA tables (descriptive statistics, ANOVA table, and post hoc tables) from SPSS and paste them immediately after the callout.
  1. See the example paper for a visual aide.
  1. How to copy table content:

    1. The best way to get tables is to copy them directly from SPSS. In the SPSS output, right click on the table, copy it, and then paste it into your paper after the callout. (If you double click the table in SPSS, you can adjust the width of cells or even delete some of the columns).
    2. Another alternative is to use a “snipping” tool (search “snipping tool” in Microsoft Word to find it). You can highlight an area on any computer page and save it as a picture. Copy the picture and paste it into your table pages. Easy!
  2. Table formatting

    1. Make sure to give a proper name to each table (e.g.Table 1) followed by a good description of what is in the table in italics (e.g. Study One Demographics)
    2. Each table is flush left, as is the title. See the example paper for a visual aide
    3. I am not worried if your table spills over onto multiple lines. If it spills over, that is fine. I just need to see the full table and the numbers need to be readable
  3. Pictures of table?

    1. Camera-based pictures of tables are NOT allowed. That is, you cannot take a picture of the computer screen with your phone and then upload a photo of the table. They must be copied. See #3 above.

 

Discussion Study One (2 points)

 

  1. Discussion overview

    1. In this section, tell me about your results and if they did or did not support your predictions. It will help to refer back to your hypotheses “We expected to find A, but instead we found B” or “We predicted A, and results supported this hypothesis.” Explain using plain English why you think your study turned out the way it did. Avoid just copying and pasting the hypotheses from your literature review. Give me the gist of your predictions to avoid being overly repetitive
    2. IMPORTANT – Do NOT give me statistics here. I can find those in your results section. Here, all I want is a plain English summary of your findings.
    3. Also, do not give me results for a DV if you did not run an analysis on that DV. Only tell me about the results you actually looked at in the results section.
    4. There is no length requirement for this section, but I recommend at least four or five sentences

Writing Quality (3 points)

 

  1. Writing quality overview

    1. Make sure you check your paper for proper spelling and grammar. The FIU writing center is available if you want someone to look over your paper (an extra eye is always good!) and give you advice. I highly recommend them, as writing quality will become even more important on future papers. I also recommend visiting the FIU Research Methods Help Center if you need additional guidance with writing or statistical analyses. Also, remember to upload this paper through the Pearson writer before uploading to Canvas!
      1. Use a spell checker and the grammar checker to prevent errors. Proofread everything you write. I actually recommend reading some sentences aloud to see if they flow well, or getting family or friends to read your work.
    2. Make sure to use the past tense throughout your paper. You already did the study, so do not tell me what participants are going to do. Tell me what they already did!

 

 

Other Helpful Hints

 

  1. Page size: Use 8 1/2 X 11” with all 4 margins should be one inch.You mustuse a 12-point font in Times New Roman.
  2. Supporting documents: Make sure to look at the supporting documents for this paper. Like Paper I, there is a checklist, a grade rubric, and an example paper for Paper II. (Definitely use the Paper II Checklist before you turn in your paper to make sure it is the best paper you can write!, but all will give you more information about what we are specifically looking for as well as a visual example of how to put it all together in your paper). Good luck!

 

 

 

 

Paper II Grade Rubric

CriteriaRatings
Title Page Criteria

(1 point)

 

1. Header (in ALL CAPS)

2. Page number

3. Descriptive Title (in bold)

4. Your Name

5. Your University

6. Perfect APA formatting

 

Meets all criteria

 

1 point

Does not meet all criteria

 

0 point

Methods Section Criteria

 (15 points)

 

1. Includes section titles in proper APA format

2. Provides participant data (demographics) accurately and thoroughly in APA format

3. Provides demographic table callout

4. Discusses consent

5. Describes the formatting of the material (e.g. Paper Survey, Online Survey, etc.)

6. Describes participant selection

7. Describes the independent variable(s) in detail so a reader could replicate your study design

8. Describes the dependent variable(s) in similar detail, including they type of scale used and scale endpoints

9. Describes the procedure in detail

10. Avoids repetitiveness.

 

Meets all criteria

 

15 points

Mets at least 8 criteria

 

10 to 14 points

Meets at least 6 criteria

 

5 to 9 points

Meets at least 4 criteria

 

1 to 4 points

Meets 0 to 3 criteria

 

0

points

 

 

Results Section Criteria

(10 points)

 

1. Provides three statistical analyses (minimum) on three different dependent variables

2. Includes independent and dependent variable names for each analysis consistent with the same names used in the methods section

3. Provides statistical outcomes in proper APA formatting (italics for letters, rounding to two decimals, etc.)

4. Provides all relevant numbers for each analysis (e.g. percentages for the chi square; means and SDs for each condition in the independent variable)

5. Analyzes hypotheses-relevant variables

 

Meets all criteria

 

10 points

Meets at least 4 criteria

 

7 to 9 points

Meets at least 3 criteria

 

4 to 6 points

Meets at least 2 criteria

 

1 to 3 points

Meets 0 to 1 criteria

 

0

points

Discussion Section Criteria

(2 point)

 

1. Reviews the hypothesis

2. Compares the findings to the hypotheses

3. Avoids statistical numbers

 

Meets all criteria

 

2 points

Meets 2 criteria

 

1 point

Meets 0 to 1 criteria

 

0 point

 

 

Tables Criteria (4 point)

 

1. Includes all four tables with callouts in-text

2. Demographics table (the descriptives table for age and frequency tables for gender and race)

3. Chi square table (with crosstab table and chi square table)

4. One ANOVA tables (with descriptives, ANOVA table, and post hoc table as needed)

5. One additional ANOVA table or one t-Test table (with descriptive table and t-Table)

 

Meets all criteria

 

4 points

Meets 3 criteria

 

2 to 3 points

Meets 2 criteria

 

1 to 2 points

Meets 0 to 1 criteria

 

0 points

Writing Quality Criteria

(3 points)

 

1. Uses proper spelling and punctuation

2. Has good transition between sentences

3. Includes good detail that informs the reader about important information in each paper section

4. Avoids plagiarism

 

Meets

all criteria

 

3 points

Meets 2to 3 criteria

 

2 points

Meets 0 to 1 criteria

 

0 to 1points