1. The Scholarly Journal Article
Writing in CSD

2. Title
Should be brief, informative, and descriptive of the subject matter.
Should contain keywords/variables.

3. Abstract
Short summary of the entire article: purpose, method, results, and conclusions.
For non-emperical articles/books, the abstract should contain the major ideas.
Abstract should be words.

4. HEADINGS
In the social sciences, functional headings (Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion) are used.
IMRaD

5. Introduction Establishes the subject of the article
Identifies the problem or question
Reviews previous research on the topic
States the purpose of the present study
The introduction answers the question:
"Why are we conducting this study?"

6. Method The method section answers the question:
"How did we conduct the study?"
In the social sciences, the method is usually comprised of 2 subsections:
Participants and Procedure
Describes IN DETAIL how the project or study was carried out
**The test of a well-written methodology: the reader could replicate the study based on the descriptions provided in the method section.

7. Results The results section answers the question: "What did we find?"
Describes what was found or observed (data)
Uses graphics (tables and figures) in addition to text to fully explain the data
Does not interpret the data; simply reports it

8. Two common PITFALLS when writing the results section:
1. Writers rely too heavily on graphics; text is inadequate
2. Writers interpret the results

9. Guidelines for using graphics:
All graphics should serve a purpose
All graphics should be referenced by number and discussed in the text
Tables generally present numerical data
Figures include anything that is not a table: (drawings, graphs, charts, photos)
Any graphic taken out of context should make sense on its own

10. Discussion/Conclusion
This section answers the question:
"Why is this study important, what do the findings mean, how can they be used?"
Interprets the results (data)
Points out the significance of the results (applications, for example)
Notes the limitations of the study
Compares the "present study" to other studies
Points to future needed research on the topic