Deck 15: Writing up Your Results

Question 1

Describe three goals of the introduction section of a research report

Answer 1

The first goal of the introduction is that it should clearly articulate the purpose of your research. This means that it should articulate why it was done and what motivated you to conduct the study. By doing so, it should also convince the audience that the research was worth doing.
The second goal is that it should make clear to readers why they should be interested in your research. Your reader should feel compelled to keep reading because the research is presented to be interesting
The final goal of the introduction is that it should set your research up in the context of past work. This gives the reader a sense of what was done, and what your research adds to the existing literature.

Question 2

Describe three common issues that might occur for inexperienced researchers when writing a research report.

Answer 2

Students often use the word "prove," as if their research has found definitive evidence for a certain phenomenon or effect. This is misleading, as often no single study, or even group of studies, can sufficiently provide evidence to prove a certain finding.
A second issue is that students may underreport their statistical techniques. Many students may claim that they conducted an ANOVA to test for findings without spelling out what they tested for and the conditions and levels that were involved.
A third issue may be that students mindlessly copy and paste output from statistical software reporting 4 or even 5 decimal places without carefully considering what their measurement tool actually allows for.
(Or any other 3 in chapter 15)

Question 3

Describe three qualities of a good research report

Answer 3

A good research report should be clear. This means that the report should be straightforward, and easy to understand. A good report should also be concise, as researchers do not wish to spend time reading a lengthy article that could have been shorter and equally clear and effective. Finally, a good research report should be compelling, suggesting that it should be interesting to read and intriguing.

Question 4

Describe the purpose of each subsection of the methods section by explaining the information they should contain.

Question 5

List seven sections/components of a quantitative research paper in the correct order that they should appear.

Question 6

Which of the following is not a trait of good scientific writing, according to your textbook?

A) It should be done in a relatively short and brief manner without too much embellishing.
B) It should be done in a way that impresses or intrigues the reader and not be boring.
C) It should be open and allow the reader to interpret the true meaning of the science without being overly direct.
D) It should be interesting to read.

Question 7

A well-written scientific manuscript is usually described having the shape of:

A) A pyramid: it starts specific with a research question, and becomes wider in scope as the authors discuss the research implications of the overall findings.
B) An ice-cream cone: the research starts broadly with a body of literature, but ends with specific findings that are based on the study.
C) An hour-glass: it starts broad, gets specific, and then ends broad.
D) A cylinder: every section should pivot logically on the section before.

Question 8

Which if the following is the least valid reason why APA provides guidelines for how manuscripts ought to be prepared and written?

A) It allows researchers to know where they might find information they are looking for in a paper.
B) It ensures that the research is valid and protects against fraud.
C) It provides a standardized format.
D) It results in a more efficient review process of peer-reviewed papers.

Question 9

What is necessarily true if you know that a researcher is an author on a certain research article?

A) that he or she was involved in the data analysis
B) that he or she was involved in the inception or development of that study
C) that he or she was did something hands on with the project
D) that he or she was critical on at least one intellectual component of the study

Question 10

What is usually omitted from the abstract?

A) the history of the research that led to the current program of work
B) the procedure the participant experienced
C) the implications of the work
D) a description of the sample

Question 11

What is necessarily true of a well-written methods section?

A) The research hypotheses are clear
B) The exact results of the study can be replicated
C) Another research team can set up the same apparatus and conduct the same research
D) Another research team is able to conduct a slight variation of the study and find the same results.

Question 12

Researchers who examined the effects of administering hot chocolate during an exam at various times of day reported the following statement in their paper:
We used a 2 (condition: chocolate vs. no chocolate) x 2 (time: morning vs. afternoon) fully between subjects ANOVA to analyze our data on exam score. We found a significant main effect of our condition variable (F(1,83) = 12.15, p < .05) but no main effect of time. We also found a significant interaction, F(1, 83) = 15.89, p < .05.
Which of the following pieces of information do you know must be true?

A) Having hot chocolate during an exam made students perform better
B) The main effect had a large effect
C) Participants in this study were each in 1 of 4 possible conditions
D) The time of day during which the participant takes their exam is not a significant component of the results and has no impact on the participants' performance.

Question 13

Error bars in a graph represent:

A) The amount of variability in the sample
B) The amount of wrong data in each group
C) The amount of human error in the study
D) The size of the effect

Question 14

Here is an excerpt of a research report:
"Our findings shed light on the nature of human's ability to identify in- and out-groups based on language. Our study is one of the first to examine the effects of early language exposure on in-group bias in 4-month-old infants."
What section of the research report is the excerpt most likely to be in?

A) The introduction
B) The results
C) The discussion
D) The methods

Question 15

Which of the following is not a goal of the introduction of a quantitative research report?

A) Explain the purpose of the research
B) Explain why the research is important
C) Explain how the research relates to existing knowledge in the field
D) Explain the procedure of the study

Question 16

Stella claims that the introduction section of a research report should contain a deep history of the ideas behind the study to convince reviewers that the authors are experts in their field. Is Stella right or wrong?

A) Right, reviewers need to be convinced of the competence of the authors so that the report will be more likely to be accepted for publication.
B) Wrong, the introduction only needs to convey the most relevant points that justify why the research is being done.
C) It depends, if the authors are new to the field, they should write a long introduction section to show their expertise.
D) It depends, if a research question is well motivated, there is usually a long history behind it and should be mentioned.

Question 17

Which of the following ways of reporting the omnibus ANOVA analysis follows the APA format?

A) F(1, 14) = 26.40, p < .001
B) F(1,14) = 26.40, p < .001.
C) F(1, 14) = 26.40, p < .001..
D) F(1, 14) = 26.40, p < .001...

Question 18

Which of the following is a reference in APA format?

A) Rittle-Johnson, Bethany, and Martha Wagner Alibali. "Conceptual and procedural knowledge of mathematics: Does one lead to the other?." Journal of educational psychology 91.1 (1999): 175.
B) Rittle-Johnson, B. , & Alibali, M. W. (1999). Conceptual and procedural knowledge of mathematics: Does one lead to the other? Journal of educational psychology, 91(1), 175.
C) Rittle-Johnson B, Alibali MW. Conceptual and procedural knowledge of mathematics: Does one lead to the other?. Journal of educational psychology. 1999 Mar;91(1):175.
D) Rittle-Johnson, B. and Alibali, M.W., 1999. Conceptual and procedural knowledge of mathematics: Does one lead to the other?. Journal of educational psychology, 91(1), p.175.

Question 19

Consider the following quote from a research report:
"A key question here was whether our results could be explained by cross situational learning, without invoking comparison, by assuming that children formed a set of hypotheses when they saw the initial standard and then used the other standard to filter these guesses. Contrary to this account, children showed relational insight only when they saw the standards simultaneously and were invited to compare them." (Christie & Gentner, 2010, p. 369)
Which section of the report is this quote likely to be from?

A) Introduction
B) Discussion
C) Results
D) Procedure

Question 20

Which of the following is usually not included in the abstract of a research report?

A) Purpose of the study
B) Participants
C) Interpretation of results
D) Acknowledgements to certain individuals who assisted with the project

Question 21

Which of the following is true about data presentation in research reports?

A) Figures should include all the data you present.
B) Having too much information in one figure can be overwhelming to readers.
C) Figures should never repeat information that is already in text form.
D) Tables and figures should be avoided at all costs.

Question 22

What is the strongest reason for reporting the demographic information of participants in research reports?

A) Readers will be able to assess the reliability of the conclusions.
B) Readers will be able to assess the generalizability of any effects.
C) Readers will be able to assess if you had conducted the study fairly.
D) Readers will be able to assess the claims in your abstract better.

Question 23

Which of the following is not included in the section on participants in a research report?

A) Demographic information of the participants
B) How many participants dropped out of the study
C) How many participants were excluded from the study
D) The participants' responses to the experimental manipulation

Question 24

Researchers often discuss the limitations of their study in a research report. Acknowledging the limitations of your study is important, because this practice is intellectually honest and demonstrates a critical eye on one's conclusions. If you were to discuss the limitations of your study, in which section of the research report should it be addressed?

A) Discussion
B) Introduction
C) Abstract
D) Results

Question 25

Which of the following is not considered a significant enough contribution to be an author on a paper as defined by the APA (Graf et al., 2007)?

A) Suggesting an implication of the results
B) Coming up with the research question that motivated the study
C) Writing up the methods and results sections
D) Collecting all the data reported in the paper

Question 26

To find out what previous researchers have done in relation to the current study, the best place to find that information would be in a research report's…

A) introduction
B) methods
C) results
D) abstract

Question 27

Why is it important for research reports to be concise?

A) Longer reports are always more boring.
B) Shorter reports suggest that the findings are easier to understand and more likely to be valid.
C) Shorter reports are often cheaper to publish and take less time for readers to read.
D) Longer reports are usually worse in quality, and thus reviewers always go for shorter reports.

Question 28

Which section of the research report is likely to have the most information to help you set-up the same study and test the findings again (i.e., conduct a replication)?

A) Introduction
B) Methods
C) Results
D) Discussion

Question 29

What is the main difference between a quantitative and qualitative research report?

A) Qualitative research reports vary to a much greater extent than quantitative research reports in terms of structure and style.
B) Qualitative research reports are less objective because they are focused on the researcher's and participants' subjective experiences.
C) Qualitative research reports are more likely to include statistical analyses.
D) Qualitative research reports are more common than quantitative research reports.

Question 30

What are appropriate ways to make the results section more readable?

A) Run all your statistics, but include as few statistics as possible. For example, specific conditions don't need to be mentioned as only significant findings need to be reported.
B) Divide the analyses into sections addressing particular hypotheses or issues and consider placing some of the key results in tables and/or figures.
C) Use only figures and tables to portray your data, as text form is the hardest to understand.
D) Do not include any statistics, but only tell the reader what the findings actually are. Statistics make the results section difficult to read.

Question 31

When reporting your statistics, you should…

A) report as many decimals as the statistics program produces.
B) report as many decimals places based on the accuracy of your measurement instrument.
C) provide the bare minimum amount of detail, which is usually just the p-value.
D) find ways to make it as complicated as possible because that makes it look more impressive and valid.

Question 32

It is generally encouraged to anthropomorphize research in your scientific reports.

Question 33

In research reports for psychology, you should avoid using the word "prove".

Question 34

It is generally a good idea to use the most complex statistical analysis or test the most complicated statistical model when conducting your own research.

Question 35

The abstract is a general overview or summary of the research study.

Question 36

All quantitative research reports should have a reference section that lists all the references cited in the research report.

Question 37

The methods section of a quantitative research paper includes details about the participants' responses and actual behaviors.

Question 38

The main purpose of the participants section is only to report the number of participants that were involved in the study.

Question 39

In general, qualitative reports are less common than quantitative reports.

Question 40

It is generally a good thing for reports to be lengthy and wordy, as it provides a better opportunity for readers to understand what the author intends to convey.

Question 41

The APA does not have clear guidelines for how references should be formatted.

Question 42

The introduction section of a quantitative report should be a comprehensive summary of your entire research study including the motivation, procedure, results, and implications.

Question 43

Author names and respective affiliation are typically on a title page of the manuscript or research report.

Question 44

It is generally inappropriate to use past research as justification for why you chose to use a certain procedure.

Question 45

The hourglass structure of a research report suggests that the results should be narrow and focused.

Question 46

The abstract is important because it is sometimes used to help the reader decide if they want to continue reading.