Your report should closely follow the following format:
Title The title should give a clear indication of the report. For example, An investigation into concentration in extreme conditions Abstract A single paragraph !""#!$" words% that provides a summary of every section of the report. &rite this in past tense and pay particular attention to the aim, hypothesis and conclusion Introduction You outline the 'ac(ground information which generally is in the form of theoretical research )nsure you reference and reference properly% a num'er of times in this section At the end of this section write the aim and then the hypothesis. The aim is simply to communicate what is 'eing studied. *t usually 'egins with: To investigate or analyse% +.. one sentence will suffice The hypothesis is a testa'le statement that see(s to draw a lin( 'etween the independent varia'le what is manipulated% and the dependent varia'le measured%. ,uppose for example you were loo(ing into the how well students concentrate when the temperature gets to an unaccepta'le level. The independent varia'le would 'e what the experimenter manipulates: the temperature of the room perhaps 'y means of some heating system%, the dependent varia'le would 'e what is measured: concentration through say a test on the wor( covered at the end of the lesson. The hypothesis would mention 'oth the *- and .-. An example might 'e: -/) students perform considera'ly 'etter in tas(s of recollection in a class with temperature at a normal level as compared to performance under extreme temperature conditions, as measured 'y a test on memory of the content covered. 0ote how this hypothesis is specific 1 it can 'e tested. Method This descri'es exactly how the experiment was conducted. *t should 'e detailed enough that it can 'e replicated. 2rea( this up into the following su' headings: Participants: 3ention the num'er of participants involved and a 'rea(down if possi'le 1 important4influential characteristics of the participants age groups, male4 female%. *t should also include mention of the population from which they were selected and how they were selected selection% and allocated allocation%. This can 'e done in a couple of sentences and can include a 'rief ta'le Materials/Apparatus: 5rovide any information on any e6uipment used in order for others to repeat your study. This should include all 6uestionnaires, o'servation chec(lists and data sheets. Procedure: .o a step 'y step procedure 7 #$ steps is usually ade6uate% outlining how you went a'out actually conducting the experiment. *n this section mention what type of method was used eg. .irect o'servation, 6uestionnaire etc. 3ention why this method was chosen and why another method would have 'een less appropriate. 2e sure to include information a'out the roles of the experimenter and specific instructions given to the participants Results 5resent wor( in graph and ta'le form. 5eople should 'e a'le to read and understand your results without referring to any other section of the report. 3a(e sure that all graphs and ta'les are 'oth la'eled and have proper titles. 8aw data should only 'e included in the appendix. iscussion ,tart 'y stating whether the hypothesis has 'een supported or re!ected . ,trengths and &ea(nesses of the study. This can 'e done in a single sentence, for example, simply stating: The hypothesis that ++++ include it word for word% has 'een supported. 0ote: never state proven. ,tate and analyse results that are of significance After that, evaluate any methodological pro'lems that seem to 'e an issue. ,ome examples of these might include: &as the method the 'est availa'le one9 *s the test a good measure of what you want to measure9 *s the sample too small or not ade6uately attained9 Are there other explanations for what happened9 *nclude the general relevance of the results to the population. .raw conclusions. ,uggest ways of effectively controlling specific varia'les if the experiment were to 'e replicated. References ,tic( very closely to the information given. 8emem'er, this is a reference section and not a 'i'liography. A reference section only states the references cited in the )8A. 3a(e sure you list the 'oo(s alpha'etically. *n addition, put other references into categories. "Appendices# The Appendix is where materials which do not fit into any other category in the report are placed. There should 'e a different appendix for each new set or category of materials. )ach appendix should 'e num'ered and have a title. All material in the appendix should have 'een referred to prior in the report. $ommon $oncerns that Psycholo%y students face with ERA&s !. The :ypothesis should 'e a clear, specific and testa'le statement. ;. The *ntroduction is far too 'rief. <. You need to reference throughout the *ntroduction referring to texts and studies%. 7. The *ntroduction is far too general: not ade6uately researched. $. A need in the 3ethod to ela'orate in more detail =. The 8esults need to 'e simply and clearly presented in a ta'le or graph format. >. ?nsatisfactory presentation or la'eling of the 8esults. @. *n the .iscussion the first item to cover is whether the hypothesis is supported or reAected. This hasnBt 'een done. .onBt say proven or not proven. C. Answers to some .iscussion 6uestions need developing. !". You need to ma(e sure you reference properly in your *ntroduction. !!. You need to 'e follow the correct format with your 8eference Dist !;. 8e read your draft in order to correct 'asic writing errors. :ere is how we might put this wor( on homewor( into an )8A An E'ample Empirical Research Acti(ity Title: The title should give a clear indication of the report). An investigation into the psychological effects of homewor( on ,enior ,chool students at Duther /ollege A'stract This is around 120 to 150 words and provides a summary of every section of the report. It is written in past tense and while placed at the start, it is usually the last piece to be composed. Includes !im "perational hypothesis #ain features of the method #ain results $onclusion 2esides its productive role, homewor( appears to 'e a frustration for many students. &hile it is a far from popular activity, many students appear to accept the value of homewor(. :owever, for a siEea'le num'er, in particular the underachieving senior secondary students, this study endeavored to explore its harmful effects. A sample of >; students from an outer eastern private school participated in a study which showed the clear comparisons in how homewor( was perceived 'y self descri'ed high achieving and under achieving students. The results indicate that underachieving students experienced considera'ly higher stress and frustration levels within themselves and with their parents. *ntroduction %ou outline the bac&ground information which generally is in the form of theoretical research 'nsure you reference (and reference properly) a number of times in this section !gain write this in past tense !t the end of this section write the aim and then the hypothesis :ere are a few paragraphs some have 'een left out% from an introduction that was researched on the topic of homewor(. 5articularly in the primary and lower secondary school years, most parents will assume responsi'ility for monitoring childrenFs homewor(. 2ut, it is often understood that homewor( is the child)s responsi'ility, not the parentsF Geith, !C@=, p.!@%. The parents interviewed in this study expended considera'le time and emotional energy getting children to complete homewor( assignments. 2ut, feeling the pressure for their children to do well at school, parents fre6uently too( on roles that went 'eyond either monitoring homewor( or helping children with homewor( assignments. :owever, as years of schooling progressed, the rate of assistance 'y parents significantly lessened. some of the introduction was ta(en out here% ++++ Furthermore, to add additional pressure, there appears to 'e a convincing correlation 'etween homewor( and good grades for senior high school students /ooper, ;""<, p.7%. /ooper ac(nowledges that it is difficult to prove that homewor( causes 'etter grades. *t may simply 'e that the more academically a'le students tend to do homewor(. And it may 'e that performance declines with large amounts of homewor( 'ecause the underachieving students spend the most time of all struggling with home study. *n another study, one parent recalled how she and her hus'and supported their daughterFs writing assignments 'y helping her to edit her written wor(. H&e used to help her a lot with editing her writing 'ecause of her spelling. . . . *n seventh and eighth grade we would edit for her. &e tried everything. 2ut in later years the wor( 'ecame more detailed and difficult to tac(le for us parents. This 'ecame an unwanted stress upon us all. .udley#3arling, /. ;""<, p. @%. some of the introduction was ta(en out here% ++++ The (ey point is of course that the student who struggles 'ecomes the real casualty. Anxiety levels increase, unwanted stress increases and relationships at home are adversely affected as 'orne out in this study. Aim: The aim is simply to communicate what is being studied. It usually begins with To investigate (or analyse) *.. one sentence will suffice The aim of this study was to examine how students are negatively affected 'y the re6uirements of homewor(. )perational hypothesis: The hypothesis is a testable statement that see&s to draw a lin& between the independent variable (what is manipulated) and the dependent variable (measured). )xcessive amounts of homewor( for ,enior ,chool students who have difficulties academically, will have significant adverse effects on personal and family life compared to highly achieving students as measured 'y the use of surveys for the use of experimental comparison. Method This describes e+actly how the e+periment was conducted. ,rea& this up into the following sub headings 5articipants: #ention the number of participants involved and a brea&down if possible (age groups, male- female). This can be done in a couple of sentences and can include a brief table A total of >; students too( part in the study. These students ranged from Year !" to Year !!. The 'rea(down of male4female student num'ers was not considered in this study. 3aterials: Provide any information on any equipment used in order for others to repeat your study A survey46uestionnaire was prepared for the study. ,tudents were only re6uired to provide a pen. 5rocedure: .o a step by step procedure (/ 05 steps is usually ade1uate) outlining how you went about actually conducting the e+periment. In this section mention what type of method was used eg. .irect observation, 1uestionnaire etc (see 2rivas 3nit 142 te+t p. 25). #ention why this method was chosen and why another method would have been less appropriate. 5ere there is often mention made of any ethical considerations such as a need to provide informed consent or debriefing etc. 6 you will mention this in 7tep / of this procedure. ,tep !: A 6uestionnaire was devised 'ased on the intention to assess participantsB su'Aective responses to issues of anxiety and frustration in relation to how they saw themselves 1 academic achievers or underachievers see appendix%. A 6uestionnaire approach was devised for ease of attaining information. *t was considered 'y the researchers that an experimental method or naturalistic o'servation, whilst they might provide greater accuracy in some respects, would have 'een impractical for the time availa'le to carry out the study. ,tep ;: The 6uestionnaire was distri'uted to five particular Year !" and Year !! classes 'ased on prior agreement with the teachers of these classes. The sample attained can therefore 'e classified as a convenience sample. ,tep <: The information was attained in a matter of a few minutes and then used for analysis and interpretation. &hilst students could place themselves into one of three categories high achieving, middle4average achieving and underachieving4struggling%, the data attained on the first and the last categories was the only data utiliEed for analysis. Results Iuestion ! related to how the students perceived themselves. Jverall, * see myself as: A rather high achieving student: !C responses in ;""@ !! in ;""C% A middle4average achieving student: 7$ responses in ;""@ ;! in ;""C% An underachieving4struggling student: > responses in ;""@ 7 in ;""C% The results pertain to the first and last categories only. The ;""@ results are listed first and the ;""C results are in 'rac(ets. *nformation from the 'ul( of the study shown here% was rated on a scale from " to !", proceeding upwards in terms of anxiety and frustration. Ta'le !: Amount of homewor( "n the typical wee& night, roughly how much school wor& do you do at home8 Hi%h perception students: median of ! to !.$ hours per wee( night. ; hours% *nderachie(in%/stru%%lin% perception students: median less than ! hour per wee( night. ! hour% Ta'le ;: Annoyance levels #y typical annoyance levels in tac&ling homewor& are Hi%h perception students: 7.C $.;% *nderachie(in%/stru%%lin% perception students: >.7 >.;% Ta'le <: Annoyance levels with parents #y typical annoyance levels with my parents in relation to homewor& issues are Hi%h perception students: 7.; 7.@% *nderachie(in%/stru%%lin% perception students: =.@ >.;% Ta'le 7: Annoyance levels around pea( times #y typical annoyance levels around pea& times (eg. '+cessive homewor& periods) are Hi%h perception students: $.C >."% *nderachie(in%/stru%%lin% perception students: C.> =.>% Ta'le $: 5ea( time annoyance levels with parents #y typical annoyance levels with my parents around pea& times (eg. '+cessive homewor& periods) are Hi%h perception students: $.< $.;% *nderachie(in%/stru%%lin% perception students: >.$ >.>% Ta'le =: Frustration levels with understanding wor( #y typical frustration levels with not being able to understand all of the wor& re1uired to do are Hi%h perception students: $.< $.=% *nderachie(in%/stru%%lin% perception students: C.< @.$% Ta'le >: Frustration levels with parental nagging #y typical frustration levels at my parents 9nagging: me about homewor& are Hi%h perception students: 7." 7.!% *nderachie(in%/stru%%lin% perception students: >." =.>% Ta'le @: 5hysical heath effects The effect homewor& wor&load and frustrations have on my physical health are Hi%h perception students: <.$ 7.@% *nderachie(in%/stru%%lin% perception students: $.$ =.>% Ta'le C: 3ental health effects The effect homewor& wor&load and frustrations have on my mental health are Hi%h perception students: 7.7 7.>% *nderachie(in%/stru%%lin% perception students: @." >.;% iscussion 7tart by stating whether the hypothesis has been supported or rejected. This can be done in a single sentence, for e+ample, simply stating The hypothesis that **** (include it word for word) has been supported. ;ote never state 9proven:. 7tate and analyse results that are of significance !fter that, evaluate any methodological problems that seem to be an issue. 7ome e+amples of these might include <as the method the best available one8 Is the test a good measure of what you want to measure8 Is the sample too small or not ade1uately attained8 !re there other e+planations for what happened8 =ist some possible e+traneous or confounding variables. <hat are some ethical considerations of the study 7um up the main findings and conclusions The hypothesis that excessive amounts of homewor( for ,enior ,chool students who have difficulties academically, will have significant adverse effects on personal and family life compared to highly achieving students has 'een clearly supported. The results suggest that underachieving students are considera'ly disadvantaged 'oth physically and mentally 'y homewor( re6uirements. ,ome interesting results to emerge are the following. Firstly, the typical annoyance level with the amount of homewor( around pea( times excessive homewor( periods% was much greater for the underachieving students than the higher achievers. ?nderachieving perception students had a median of C.>, opposed to higher achieving students with only $.C. A possi'le explanation might 'e that underachieving students might not understand homewor( when it is a normal amount, hence, when they receive excessive amounts, stress increases as they have more wor( they donBt understand therefore canBt complete. The typical annoyance level with underta(ing homewor( among higher achieving students was a median of 7.C, and when there was an excessive amount, their annoyance levels was a median of $.C. This opposed to underachieving students wasnBt spread as widely. The underachieving students had an annoyance median of >.7 which increased to C.> in pea( times. This suggests the annoyance levels increases greatly for underachieving students when there is more homewor( as opposed to higher achieving students. This might 'e due to the levels of organiEation among each group. ,econdly, lower achieving students have higher frustration level with their parents nagging than high achieving students. A possi'le explanation for this is that 'ecause under achieving or lower achieving students feel much more pressure from their parents. *f the parent was nagging a'out homewor( they would get frustrated much more easily 'ecause they would feel li(e their parents are always nagging them to do 'etter at school. A further point of note is that ta'le @ indicates that higher achieving students have a 'etter physical health 'y more than $"K than what under achieving4struggling students have. A possi'le explanation for this may 'e 'ecause underachieving students might have to spend more time on completing homewor( as they usually donBt understand certain pieces of wor( and need to spend time going over it and over it again. They can 'e up at all hours of the night doing this whereas a higher achieving student would Aust complete the wor( and have more sleep. This would give them more energy for the next day. ,ome limitations of the study are as follows. The 6uestionnaire was very 'rief. :owever, it should 'e pointed out that it was deli'erately constructed to 'e 'rief and easy to implement. The study was seen in some respects as an introductory study on the topic at the /ollege. *f it was felt to 'e 'eneficial, a more detailed follow up study could 'e underta(en. The sample siEe was considera'ly small. *n particular, only > participants placed themselves in the underachieving4struggling category. The need for a far more extensive sample siEe was paramount. The participants come from a single school only. This school is considered to 'e a middle class private school and hardly reflects what students from a variety of schools and 'ac(grounds might 'e experiencing. The nature of the 6uestionnaire was limited in scope. As a conse6uence, it would have 'een 6uite easy for participants to provide responses that would have 'een inaccurate or simply in accordance with their feeling right at the moment. An extended study which has a longitudinal component would have 'een helpful. This would have ena'led the participants to respond at different times throughout the year 1 in particular at times when they might have 'een personally experiencing stress and anxiety due to parents or the amount of wor( re6uired to 'e underta(en. 8eferences: to 'e inserted Appendix: a copy of the 6uestionnaire to 'e attached% Psycholo%y sur(ey Please note: This questionnaire will be treated confidentially. No one will know who the people are who give particular responses. Please rate yourself honestly on the following. Tick the most applicable category. !. Jverall, * see myself as: L a rather high achieving student, L a middle4average achieving student, L an underachieving4struggling student ;. Jn the typical wee( night, roughly how much school wor( do you do at home9 Lless than ! hourM L! to !.$ hoursM !.$ to ; hoursM ; to ;.$M ;.$ N Please circle your response to these questions on the scales below. The scales range from 0 no concern! "#$ some concern% &#' average concern% (#) high! *#"0 e+treme% <. 3y typical annoyance levels in tac(ling homewor( are: "O!O;O<O7O$ O=O>O@OCO!" 7. 3y typical annoyance levels with my parents in relation to homewor( issues are: "O!O;O<O7O$O=O>O@OCO!" $. 3y typical annoyance levels around pea( times eg. )xcessive homewor( periods% are: "O!O;O<O7O$O=O>O@OCO!" =. 3y typical annoyance levels with my parents around pea( times eg. )xcessive homewor( periods% are: "O!O;O<O7O$O=O>O@OCO!" >. 3y typical frustration levels with not 'eing a'le to understand all of the wor( re6uired to do are: "O!O;O<O7O$O=O>O@OCO!" @. 3y typical frustration levels at my parents nagging me a'out homewor( are: "O!O;O<O7O$O=O>O@OCO!" C. The effect homewor( wor(load and frustrations have on my physical health are: "O!O;O<O7O$O=O>O@OCO!" !". The effect homewor( wor(load and frustrations have on my mental health are: "O!O;O<O7O$O=O>O@OCO!"
Tas+: In pairs underta+e a Research Report showin% the same con(entions as presented on pa%es ,-./01 2ou can choose your own topic but here are some that you may li+e to consider1 .etermining if: there is gender 'ias in 'ullying !>!% watching particular cartoons on T- will cause aggressive 'ehaviour in children people would o'ey a person who ordered them to hurt another person 'oys and girls in preschool have different preferences for play activities nicotine is lin(ed to sleep loss C;% the disorder anorexia is primarily 'iological or socially determined !$C% fi(e year olds can readily determine between appearance and reality "34.# the power of the print media on attitude formation the status of Ao's the amount of sleep 'efore an exam affecting exam performance exercise reduces stress The areas for you to wor( on and present are as follows: a suita'le title a paragraph or two of an introduction and a'stract% aim and hypothesis an original method which includes participants, materials and very importantly% procedure results commencement of discussion hypothesis accepted or reAected and also some strengths and limitations Elliot and Michael&s ERA Acti(ity Title 1 An *nvestigation into whether five year olds can readily determine 'etween appearance and reality. Aim 1 to ma(e a 'etter purpose how a little 'oy could choose his own interest in the sport field li(e elliotBs case who cannot decide his own su'Aection 'y applying a toy infront of him. 0owadays, many children waste their time infront of modern media and putting aside the traditional stuff such as games, learning media and school as well. *ts very a 'ad ha'it of a modern child to do this. The prevention itself depends on the parent supervison. 2ecause thatBs the only (ey to rduce those 'ad ha'its. 3y stay in that foreign country made me realiEe that its really important to (eep our traditional environment despite of putting those ha''it aside. The aim of my writing also purposing to fix and socialiEe the wrong presception of traditional things and stuff. * wish * could ma(e a very useful contri'ution for this. 2y introducing those traditional stuff to people around me and my surrounding. ,tarts from a very little concept li(e family.