Writing Papers in Psychology PROPOSALS, RESEARCH PAPERS, LITERATURE REVIEWS, POSTER PRESENTATIONS AND CONCISE REPORTS Ninth Edition RALPH L ROSNOW and MIMI ROSNOW Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States This is an electronic version of the print textbook Due to electronic rights restrictions, some third party content may be suppressed Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience The publisher reserves the right to remove content from this title at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it For valuable information on pricing, previous editions, changes to current editions, and alternate formats, please visit www.cengage.com/highered to search by ISBN#, author, title, or keyword for materials in your areas of interest Writing Papers in Psychology, Ninth Edition Ralph L Rosnow and Mimi Rosnow Senior Publisher: Linda Schreiber-Ganster Acquisition 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online store www.cengagebrain.com Instructors: Please visit login.cengage.com and log in to access instructor-specific resources Printed in the United States of America 15 14 13 12 11 To the partnership that brought this book about and to Miles, R.J., Sasha, Matthew, Brendan, Olivia, and Chloe, whose promise shines Brief Contents PR EFAC E F OR I N ST RUC TO RS X Ge ttin g Sta rted CH AP T E R ON E F in d i n g a n d Retri ev i ng R e f e r e n c e Ma te ria l s 15 De ve lo pin g a Pro po sal 35 CH AP T E R T W O CH AP T E R T HRE E P la n n i n g th e Res earch Repo rt CH AP T E R FOU R CH AP T E R FI VE Orga n i z in g th e Rev i ew Paper Co mmu n ic a ti n g Sta ti sti cal I n f o r ma ti on 69 85 CH AP T E R S I X CH AP T E R S E VE N Wri tin g th e Fi rs t Draft 95 111 Prod u c i n g the Fi n al Ma n u s c r i p t 133 Prepa ri n g Po sters and C o nci s e Re ports 143 CH AP T E R E I GHT CH AP T E R N I N E APPE N D I X A J a ne Doe ’s Re s ea rc h Repo rt 155 APPE N D I X B J ohn Smi th ’s Re vi ew Paper 171 INDEX 19 iv Contents x PR E FA C E FOR INS TRU C T ORS C H A P T E R ONE 1.1 Getting Started Where to Begin 1 Exhibit Flowchart to walk you through Writing Papers 1.2 1.3 1.4 Writing in APA Style Your Instructor’s Expectations Focusing on Your Objective Exhibit Differences between research reports and review papers 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Scheduling Time Choosing a Topic 10 Narrowing the Topic 11 Knowing Your Audience and Topic 13 Cultivating an Understanding 14 Finding and Retrieving Reference Materials C H A P T E R T WO 2.1 Looking Over Maya’s Shoulder 15 15 Exhibit Common terms and jargon on the Web 2.2 Using the Online Catalog 16 18 Exhibit Brief record from Library of Congress online catalog 19 2.3 Print Resources in the Library 20 Exhibit Cataloging of psychological materials 2.4 Using PsycINFO Exhibit PsycINFO record of journal article 2.5 2.6 21 22 24 PsycARTICLES, PsycBOOKS, PsycEXTRA, and PsycCRITIQUES 25 Tips on Using Other Electronic Databases 27 Exhibit Reference databases available electronically 2.7 2.8 Taking Notes in the Library Source Credibility 32 v 30 28 vi CONTENTS 2.9 Additional Tips for Starting Your Literature Search 2.10 Library and E-mail Etiquette 34 CH AP T E R T HRE E 3.1 33 Developing a Proposal Settling on an Objective 35 35 Exhibit Maya’s perceived options for a research proposal 3.2 3.3 The Accepted Proposal as a “Letter of Agreement” How to Cite Source Materials 38 Exhibit Types of citations illustrated in section 3.3 3.4 How to Reference Source Materials 39 43 Exhibit 10 Types of references illustrated in section 3.4 3.5 The Proposal for a Literature Review The Proposal for a Research Project Ethical Considerations Tempus Fugit! 67 CH AP T E R FOU R 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 58 61 Exhibit 12 Sample proposal for a research project 3.7 3.8 44 57 Exhibit 11 Sample proposal for a literature review 3.6 36 36 62 67 Planning the Research Report Three Types of Research Orientations The Basic Structure 72 The Abstract 73 The Introduction 74 The Method Section 75 69 69 Exhibit 13 Uses of the term validity in research and assessment 77 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 The Results Section 78 The Discussion Section 80 The References Section 81 The End Material 82 Organizing Your Thoughts CH AP T E R FI VE 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 82 Organizing the Review Paper Why You Need an Outline 85 A Strategy That Will Get You Started The Rough Outline 88 Making Ideas Parallel 88 Putting Ideas in Order 89 Exhibit 14 Subdivision of the outline 90 86 85 CONTENTS 5.6 5.7 Detailed Outline for Writing and Note Taking Techniques to Focus Your Thinking 92 91 Exhibit 15 Cluster outline for John Smith’s project 5.8 Outlining After the Fact vii 92 93 Communicating Statistical Information C H A P T E R S IX 6.1 95 Knowing “How” and “What” to Communicate 95 Exhibit 16 Common statistical abbreviations and symbols 97 6.2 6.3 6.4 Communicating Clearly 99 Communicating Accurately 101 Communicating with Appropriate Precision 102 Exhibit 17 Bar chart based on Jane Doe’s Table (in appendix A) 103 6.5 6.6 6.7 Communicating Enough Information 104 Ethics and Principled Reporting Practices 107 Suggested Readings 108 C H A P T E R S EVEN 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 Writing the First Draft Sorting Through Your Material 111 Creating a Self-Motivator Statement 112 Writing the Opening Paragraph of Your Introduction 113 Settling Down to Write 114 Ethical Considerations Revisited 115 Steering Clear of Plagiarism 117 Not Falling Into Lazy Writing 119 Creating the Right Tone 119 The Problem of Sexist Language 120 Subjects Versus Participants 121 Achieving the Right Voice 121 Choosing an Appropriate Verb Tense 122 Making Sure That Subject and Verb Agree 123 Other Common Usage Errors 124 Numbers, Numerals, Digits, Figures 126 More on Punctuation 127 Uses of Punctuation in Quoted Passages 130 Safeguarding the Draft Manuscript 132 111 viii CONTENTS Producing the Final Manuscript CH AP T E R E I GHT 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 133 Polishing the Draft Manuscript 133 Formatting and Organizing Your Final Manuscript Formatting the Title Page 136 Formatting the Abstract 136 Formatting the Headings 137 Other Uses of Italics 138 Citations and References Revisited 138 Exhibit 18 Postal abbreviations for states and territories 8.8 8.9 8.10 8.11 134 139 Footnotes 139 Formatting Tables and Figures 140 Appendix in Student Papers 141 Proofing and Correcting 141 Preparing Posters and Concise Reports CH AP T E R N I N E 9.1 9.2 Posters and Handout Reports 143 Guidelines for the Poster 144 Exhibit 19 APA, APS, and AAAS poster design standards 9.3 143 Sample Content and Arrangement 145 145 Exhibit 20 APA sample poster arrangements 146 Exhibit 21 Modified poster arrangement 147 Exhibit 22 Sample content for modified poster 147 9.4 9.5 Further Guidelines for the Poster Guidelines for the Concise Report 150 151 Exhibit 23 Concise report for distribution 152 APPE N D I X A Jane Doe’s Research Report 155 APPE N D I X B John Smith’s Review Paper 171 INDEX 191 ... walk you through Writing Papers Find out what is expected, and start formulating your ideas and getting organized (Chapter 1) Find the detailed information you're going to need for your literature... courses in psychology, the standards that are recommended in Writing Papers are not difficult, nor are they a distraction for multitasking students writing papers for course assignments under deadlines... materials in your areas of interest Writing Papers in Psychology, Ninth Edition Ralph L Rosnow and Mimi Rosnow Senior Publisher: Linda Schreiber-Ganster Acquisition Editor: Timothy Matray Editorial