PSY 219 – Academic Writing in Psychology Fall Çağ University Faculty of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology Inst. Nilay Avcı Week 3

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 2 Essays, Literature Reviews and Lab Reports

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 3 Essays

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 4 Essay  Purpose: Discuss a topic (usually answering a question) based on what you think the answer is _ What is the topic/question? _ What are the main arguments for and against? _ What is concluded about the topic?

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 5 Overview of an Essay.

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 6 Essay Structure:  Introduction _ Introduce the topic and state what the essay will do/discuss _ Identify the subject of the essay and define the key terms. _ Highlight the major issues which “lie behind” the question. Let the reader know how you will focus your essay by identifying the main themes to be discussed. _ “Signpost” the essay’s key argument, (and, if possible, how this argument is structured).

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 7 Essay  Body _ includes several paragraphs addressing the main points _ supports the main ideas

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 8 Essay  Conclusion _ summarises the essay, the key themes / arguments of your essay _ states the concluding answer ! Don't include new information / arguments (only information discussed in the main body of the essay).

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 9 Essay Remember ! The essay should 'flow'. The introduction, main body and conclusion should all be linked.

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 10 Essay When you are writing an evaluation paragraph use the PEC system; Make your P oint. E xplain how and why the point is relevant. Discuss the C onsequences / implications of the theory or study. Are they positive or negative? For Example;

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 11 Essay (Point) It is argued that psychoanalytic therapy is only of benefit to an articulate, intelligent, affluent minority. (Explain) Because psychoanalytic therapy involves talking and gaining insight, and is costly and time-consuming, it is argued that it is only of benefit to an articulate, intelligent, affluent minority. Evidence suggests psychoanalytic therapy works best if the client is motivated and has a positive attitude. (Consequences) A depressed client’s apathy, flat emotional state and lack of motivation limit the appropriateness of psychoanalytic therapy for depression. Furthermore, the levels of dependency of depressed clients mean that transference is more likely to develop. !! See the essay samples

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 12 Ethics of Animal Use in Psych Research.

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 13..

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 14 Literature Reviews Research Summaries

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 15 Literature Review/Research Summary Purpose:  Synthesize research on a topic in psychology while also providing new information on that topic  Discuss a topic based on the common themes/findings in the literature (body of research)  Evaluate the sources you've read, rather than just summarizing them

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 16 Literature Review/Research Summary A good research summary should include a clear introduction, a body in which the evidence is presented and a discussion. _ What is the topic/question? _ What does the research say? _ Are there disagreements within the research? *This is called ‘critiquing’ or ‘being critical’ _ What appears to be the answer (based on the research)?

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 17 Literature Review/Research Summary Structure:  Abstract: summarises the review  Introduction: introduces the topic, gives a background on the history surrounding the research of this topic and states what the review will do/discuss

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 18 Literature Review/Research Summary _ Why is this topic important? Why is it worth examining? _ What is the history of this topic? _ What are the related theories or findings? _ What is your claim or thesis statement?

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 19 Literature Review/Research Summary  Body: _ summarizes the evidence supporting your claim _ includes several paragraphs addressing the main points of the topic _ starts broad and moves on to the more detailed information _ describes the research that has previously been done on this topic as well as any controversies or alternate options _ evaluates your sources

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 20 Literature Review/Research Summary _ What is the evidence that supports your claim? _ What were the methods and theoretical justifications used? _ What evidence runs contrary to your claim and how do you reconcile that with your claim? ! At each stage of your discussion, you should relate the evidence you present to the major conclusions you are trying to make.

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 21 Literature Review/Research Summary  Discussion/Conclusion/Implications: Synthesize the findings you described in the body into a succint summary, return to the issues that you raised in the introduction and state the concluding answer, discuss the possible implications of your argument for existing theories and for everyday life

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 22 Literature Review/Research Summary _ What is your final conclusion? _What questions remain? _What questions need to still be answered? _ What future research could be done? _What does your conclusion mean for other people’s theories or explanations? (your judgment of what the studies show, and where to go from here)

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 23 Lab Reports Empirical Papers Research Proposals

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 24 Lab Report/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal  Purpose: _ describes a proposed or completed study (experiment/survey) in enough detail to demonstrate what question the research designed to answer. _ includes why you did it, how you did it, what you found, what you think it means

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 25 Lab Report/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal _ What was the study about? _ What did you think would happen? _ What did you do in the experiment? _ What did you find? _ What else is known about the topic? _ What do the findings mean to the field?

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 26 Lab Report/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal Structure: Title _ provides a single line description of the study _ a brief but accurate reflection of the content of the report ! Do not start a title with phrases like; An Investigation into… An Experiment to determine…

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 27 Lab Report/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal Abstract _ a short summary that provides the reader a framework for what is to come _ enables readers to decide if they wish to read any further _ appears on a seperate page _ summarizes each of the paper’s sections in a sentence or two _ avoid writing fine details such as numbers and the names of statistical tests _ usually 150 words or fewer

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 28 Lab Report/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal Abstract _ write four concise sentences describing: (1) why you did it, (2) what you did, (3) what results you found and (4) what you concluded.

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 29 Lab Report/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal Introduction _ a mini literature review of the topic _ begins on the page after the abstract _ provides information about your question and how that question relates to other works in the field _ explains why the question is important, summarizes the history of the question, describes previous theories and data that are relevant to the study _ ends with your hypotheses you have tested in your study (What do you expect to happen?)

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 30 Lab Report/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal Method _ explains how the study was conducted, how you gathered your data _ detailed ‘recipe’ of the experiment – who, what, how? _ details include the study’s participants, the materials used in the study, the procedure the participants followed in the study

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 31 Lab Report/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal Results/Predicted Results _ describes the results, provides evidence - numerical data/statistics _ details the results of the study _ describes any steps you took in cleaning up the data, the analysis used, and the results of those analysis _ What did the study find or what do you expect it will find?

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 32 Lab Report/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal Discussion _ Interprets the results - what do the data/results mean? _ How and why do your results match the ones you disscussed in the introduction? _ Do they support your hypothesis? _ How do you explain any differences between your predictions and your findings? _ What are the implications of your findings for future research? _ What are the real world implications of your findings?

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 33 Lab Report/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal References _ begins on a new page after the discussion section _ APA format

PSY-219 Academic Writing in Psychology 34 Lab Report/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal Appendix/Appendices _ optional _ includes all material (raw data, statistical formulea…etc.) _ separate appendix for each type of material !! See Lab Report Examples