1. Research proposals

2. General information Write in an hourglass
Write so your grandmother can understand it
End strong—come back to how you started
Write, revise, write, revise…..

3. APA format Cover page Abstract Introduction Method Expected Results
Discussion
References
Appendices

4. Introduction/Literature review
Explain the rationale for your topic/study in the first 1-3 paragraphs
Tell why the topic matters without saying “it is important”
Set up the sections and study to come
Start strong
Review the past literature
Use topic sentences
Organize by topic, not study
Explain studies without unneeded details
Current study section
Explain rationale for your hypotheses
Introduce your study

5. Method
Participants
Who will you recruit, how will you recruit them, will you pay them
Procedure
In “time” order
In enough detail that I could replicate it
For each measure, give what it measures, sample item, how many items, how answered, reliability and validity information
Think about possible confounds and other problems (and try to figure out a way to address them)
Measures, Apparatus, etc. (optional sections)

6. Expected results
Any planned data cleaning or manipulations, manipulation checks, etc.
For each hypothesis, what comparison you’d make and what you expect to find
Correlations
Main effects/interactions

7. Discussion What would it mean if you found these results
What if you did not
What are at least two limitations of your study
What are ways those limitations could be addressed in future research (or other ideas for future research)
What are the implications of your study
End strong

8. Writing details—Be concise
Get rid of unnecessary phrases
It is important to note that
The researchers showed that
Give details that matter, but don’t go into too many details
# participants or detailed characteristics
Particular measures

9. Keep your sentences and phrases parallel
In spring, summer, and in fall, there are birds in the Iowa woods.
Ten-year-olds were more likely to play with their age peers than eight-year-olds.
People in the experimental condition completed six measures, while four were completed by those in the control condition.
Avoid passive voice
The dog was bitten by the man.
The questionnaires were completed by the participants.

10. Be precise Use consistent terms for your IV and DV
Attitude strength vs. importance vs. relevance mean different things
Be careful about terms you can’t know
“believe”
“prove”
Don’t use colloquial terms
“feel” (only for emotions)
“filled out”

11. Avoid acronyms
Give them in () the first time
Only use them for common terms, and no more than 1-2 per paper
“This” and “these” need a noun after them
“Male” and “female” are adjectives, not nouns
Other word distinctions
That vs. which
While vs. whereas
Since vs. because