The Technical Writing Bible

According to Jeremy

Psychology 381

July 10, 2000

Parts of a Manuscript

Introduction

* Function: Justify why you conducted this study

* Contains:

- (interesting) introduction to your question

- brief review of other research/theory

- statement of the problem

- superficial description of the method to establish link between method and problem

- outline of hypotheses

* What you SHOULD do:

- define all psychological terms

- lay out your purpose clearly so there are no surprises for the reader

- make everything relevant to your research—don’t review all aspects of other studies

- use subheadings for a long intro

* What you SHOULD NOT do:

- use "unscientific" language (e.g., "I found this study interesting")

- use 1st-person, unless you're taking credit for a hypothesis: "my hypothesis," "we expected."

- assume the reader knows a term or theory

- label it "introduction"!

Method

* Function: Describe the study in enough detail so that another researcher could replicate it exactly

* Contains:

- description of participants (who they are, how you got them to be in the study)

- description of procedure (and often a separate section for "materials")

- for long method section, use subheadings (e.g., overview, participants, procedure, materials)

* What you SHOULD do:

- give your conditions labels based on the manipulation (operational definitions)

- be consistent in verb tense

* What you SHOULD NOT do:

- label conditions by conceptual definitions

- include unimportant information (e.g., Jeremy passed out the questionnaires we later used)

Parts of a Manuscript (continued)

Results

* Function: Report what you found, using statistics to punctuate these findings

* Contains:

- first reveal manipulation checks

- were observations converted to data or were they all closed-ended responses?

- restatement of each hypothesis followed by results and stats

- mention of helpful tables and figures

* What you SHOULD do:

- try writing your results in prose, THEN inserting the statistics

- include all relevant means either in the paper or in a table

- follow APA form for statistics carefully

* What you SHOULD NOT do:

- make the section one long string of statistics

- get into sophisticated discussion of whether or not the hypotheses were supported-- save that for the...

Discussion

* Function: Draw conclusions by interpreting results and relating findings to previous research/theory

* Contains:

- review of the hypotheses you laid out

- alternative interpretations of your results or other shortcomings of your study

- implications for your findings

- broader questions raised by your findings

* What you SHOULD do:

- be honest about weaknesses in your study

- suggest future studies to account for these weaknesses

- explain, yet again, why the audience should care about this study!

* What you SHOULD NOT do:

- claim you have "proven" anything

- use causal language for a correlational design

Other Parts of a Manuscript

* Title Page

* Abstract

* References

* Tables/Figures

Writing Hints

Flow/Order. The paper should be written in a style similar to empirical articles you have read. The reader should not be left in the dark; offer the reader a roadmap for what's coming next. Be sure the paper is easy to follow. Use parallel construction at the paragraph level (e.g., this is a really specific suggestion my advisor gave me: the two or more levels of your IV in the Methods section should always be presented in the same order).

Proper language. Avoid language in a research paper that sounds like you are talking to the reader over the phone (e.g., we, our). A research paper should be precise. If you are citing and reporting findings from past studies, use past tense. Use participant in place of the word subject. And be consistent with this.

Expand and/or Shorten. Always clarify your ideas. If you make a statement, the reader should know why -- that is, spell it out. If you say something general or possibly ambiguous, be sure to follow-up with an example or sentence that clarifies your point. However, always seek to shorten sentences. Say the bare minimum without appearing to be laconic. Take advantage of ECB's draft-review program. Refer to Hints For Better Writing Handout for suggestions (not laws).

Grammar. Social-psychological principles is hyphenated. Use parallel construction (e.g., Rahul went to the store, selected an art book, and continued on to his first class). Avoid redundant and run-on sentences. Avoid ending sentences with prepositions. Avoid starting sentences with the word there. Use action verbs instead. For example. No no: “There are many theories in social psychology that look at bla bla bla.” Yes yes: “Many researchers in social psychology have TESTED the idea that bla affects bla.” Effect is a noun, affect is a verb. For numbers less than ten please spell the word, whereas for larger numbers use numerals (e.g., three, 68, seven, 112). I suggest using two spaces between each sentence, and be consistent. Be sure to proofread and have others read your paper as well.

Format. The paper should be easy to read. See Stangor, Appendix A for an example template paper. Always use a consistent font size and be sure to double space. Check with the syllabus and directions sheet when turning in a major paper. Be sure to include proper cites. It is plagiarism if you state something without giving proper recognition to the author(s). When first citing three or more authors use the full cite (e.g., Gonzalez, Welland, & Masuda, 2000). Use Gonzalez et al. (2000) each time thereafter. Only use underlining. Avoid using bold, italicize, or all caps. Use left justification.

Avoid direct quotes when possible. Paraphrase in your own words. This shows the reader you have an understanding rather than the case that you just lifted from the book.

Title. Titles should be informative. Here are some suggestions. Start with something fun, maybe a phrase or short sentence. Follow this with a colon and then get even more specific, using social-psychological terms. For example, “When Looking Good Only Gets You So Far: The negative effect of femininity stereotype accessibility on upper-level job promotions.” Notice that each word before the colon gets capitalized, but only the first word after the colon. The title page should also be in the same font size, double-spaced.

Writing Hints (continued)

Book lesson. Avoid having your paper take the form of a book lesson. No no, for example: “internal validity is very important in experiments because....” I will suggest an alternative. First, say what you did. Second, state why it’s important.

Operationalization of the IV/DV. You should let the reader know specifically how it is you plan on running the study. Note, two or more groups of your IV are called levels and are your conditions. The most common design in social psychology is the 2x2 between-subjects factorial design.

Introduction. When writing the paper, imagine you are a lawyer building a case. Provide the logic necessary to establish that the hypothesis is linked to research (or at least your speculation that the present experiment should work out).

Avoid strong language. No study is ever proven. Rather, studies or phenomena are supported, or the findings suggest. Be most sensitive to this issue in the Intro and Discussion sections.

Assumptions. You of course always know what you are talking about…but make sure that you convey this to the reader. Do not make assumptions and think the reader will realize the connection or link you are trying to establish, especially in the Intro and Discussion. Be precise.

KEY for deciphering Jeremy's comments on your paper

My scribble-And what I actually mean…

scratch

awk.Awkward

// cont. parallel construction

hyp.hypothesis

red.redundant

∆change

ital.italics

inc.incomplete

sent.sentence

sent.sentence

preppreposition

therefore

cut this

switch / reverse

#space

^insert above

vinsert below

cond'ncondition

IV/DVindependent variable, dependent variable

Psparticipants

introintroduction

discodiscussion

int./ext.internal / external

val.validity

dbl sp.double space

def.definition

plsplease

pgpage

W/with

W/owithout

btwby the way

FYIfor your information

b/nbetween

rxnreaction

coll.colloquial

beh.behavior

no.number (page number)

pt.point

+positive

-negative

@at

langlanguage

Grading Criteria For Technical Papers

*all info. below may be found in greater detail in Stangor Appendix A (cf. Main Sections of a Manuscript Handout, Writing Guide for Research papers handout).

Title Page

  1. Header: right justified, top of page, includes page number, consistent font, 12-pt size, upper and lower case letters, appears on each subsequent page (typed)
  2. Running head: left justified, directly below header, labeled "Running Head:" with upper and lower case letters, 4-5 word running head in all caps (usually first few words of title), words in this header matches words in header above
  3. Title: centered, approx. 10-12 words, follows APA guidelines (e.g., The Effects of IV1 and IV2 on DV), only 1 hard return
  4. Author name and affiliation: First and last name matches previous name in Papers 1 and 2 (author consistency), affiliation (University of Michigan…w/o Ann Arbor).
  5. Section is free of grammatical and spelling errors

Abstract

  1. Abstract header: label is centered with no other formatting
  2. Body text: 150 words max., no tab or indent, approx. 1-2 sentences from Intro, Methods, Results; nothing included from discussion; presentation flows
  3. Relevancy: Precisely describes the purpose (i.e., The present study investigated the effects of IV and IV on DV) or goal; mentions only relevant information
  4. Section is free of grammatical and spelling errors

Introduction

  1. No Introduction header (i.e., Intro is not labeled)
  2. Title centered, no space between next line (Stangor example paper is wrong...therefore, no points deducted)
  3. Topic sentence to grab audiences attention; should introduce the importance of the concepts in the present study

Grading Criteria For Technical Papers (continued)

Introduction (continued)

  1. Broad to specific formatgoes from general to the goals and hypotheses (clearly stated just before Methods)
  2. Definitions provided of key terms
  3. Proper citing. Relevancy of past work established. Limitations noted and explained to reader
  4. Paper should flow and be precise. Language is clear and appropriate for a technical paper. Topic sentences established and supported with evidence, organized at the paragraph level
  5. Section is free of grammatical and spelling errors

Method

  1. Method header: label is centered with no other formatting. Other headers (optional): Overview, Participants, Materials, Procedure
  2. Ps: sample (n), who, gender, age, other relevant info, how Ps were recruited
  3. Procedure: precision, concise
  4. Operational definitions and measures described accurately and with detail
  5. Generally, writer describes enough info so that exact replication is feasible
  6. Section is free of grammatical and spelling errors

Results

  1. Header: label is centered with no other formatting
  2. Hypotheses restated
  3. Stats: say it then back it up with stats. Use F (with df) and p values correctly. Optional: report M's. Mention figure, ANOVA is mentioned both as acronym and spelled out. Two main effects and one interaction is reported with relevant results (i.e., F, df and p-values) from the ANOVA summary table in SPSS.
  4. Section is free of grammatical and spelling errors, and free from content appropriate for Discussion section

Grading Criteria For Technical Papers (continued)

Discussion

  1. Brief review of findings (support: yes or no?). Avoid overstatement
  2. Link / integrate past work, stating how findings are / are not consistent with past work
  3. Interpretations / limitations and why these are limitations. Possibly offer your specific solution
  4. Importance: broader questions, future studies, wrap-up
  5. Section is free of grammatical and spelling errors

References, Author’s Note

* See Stangor Appendix A, example research report

Figures Caption & Graph

  1. Figure caption meets APA requirements (3 headers, title). See Stangor, App. A
  2. Figure properly produced, labeled (APA format); refer to Jeremy’s Paper 3 additional instructions (3 pages) sent via email or received during group meetings