TCSIG 330 Spring 2006: ARTICLE SUMMARY ASSIGNMENT
DUE DATE: Papers are due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, May 3. Late papers will be accepted (by email) with the loss of 5 points up until class on Monday, May 8. Papers will not be accepted after Monday, May 8.
OVERVIEW: You will be summarizing the research article:
Castel, A. D. (2005). Memory for grocery prices in younger and older adults: The role of
schematic support. Psychology and Aging, 20, 718-721.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this assignment is to provide an opportunity for you to practice scientific writing by summarizing a research article. Being able to produce clear, well-organized short summaries of research articles will help you when you write review papers, research proposals, and your own research articles and laboratory reports in psychology classes.
WHAT YOU NEED AND WHERE TO GET IT
1. The research article:
The UW purchases the electronic version of the journal, Psychology and Aging. The article is available to students in electronic form via the library Gateway catalog. You will need to find the article in PDF format and print a copy.
2. Information on scientific writing style and how to write article summaries: The UW Seattle Psychology Writing Center has excellent handouts on writing article summaries and related writing issues. The key handouts for this assignment are:
• Summarizing a Research Article
• Style Points for Scientific Writing
• APA Citations: Condensed
• Plagiarism and Student Writing
• Apostrophes
All of these handouts are available for printing from the web using Adobe Acrobat Reader. The web address for the PsychologyWritingCenter (also linked to SMARTPsych and our course homepage is:
AVOIDING PLAIGARISM
You are encouraged to talk about the research article and the assignment with others. However the writing must be your own. Copying or paraphrasing sentences from the article is not acceptable.
WRITING YOUR SUMMARY
1. Read the article. Identify key points: the research topic, hypotheses, what was done, the results, and how the experimenter interpreted the results. Circling these points will help you find them when you write. Do your best to understand the article. Write notes in the margin and use a highlighter to mark important sections. Talk about the article with others and see if you can explain it to somebody who has not read the paper.
2. Write the summary. The summary should be a condensed version of the article rather than an article abstract. Abstracts are more concise and reflect the authors’ decisions about information that should be mentioned. Avoid "lifting" sentences from the article. This will be obvious in your summary if you do it. Use your ownwords.
The article includes two experiments. While it is not always the case that one would need to cover all studies in an article, you should cover both experiments in this article.
Here is one possible plan. The suggested numbers of sentences are JUST GUIDELINES. You do not have to match the recommendations. There are also other possible ways to organize the summary.
Possible plan with approximate number of sentences per topic
- 2-4: Background (why was the research conducted; why is the research question interesting)
- 1-2 : Purpose of studies. The researchers’ hypothesis
- 1-2: Who participated and where the study took place
- 4-6: Study 1 o Methods (the design - what conditions were compared, measures, procedure - what was done) and Results (describe the key findings)
- 4-6 Study 2 o Methods (the design - what conditions were compared, measures, procedure - what was done) and Results (describe the key findings)
- 3-4: Final Discussion (What the results mean, implications)
Your summary may be one long paragraph or you may divide it into several paragraphs.
3. Revise the summary. The best way is to have someone else (who has not read the article) read your rough draft. Then have your reader describe the article back to you in his or her own words. Where they go wrong in their description is where you need to make changes. What readers say will clue you in to anything you've left out. Ask the reader to point out any “jargon” that does not seem to be needed. Then revise your paper as needed.
WRITING TIPS FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT
Be sure to cover the results and discussion: Students often provide too much detail on the method section and slight the results and discussion.
Don't copy phrases verbatim. If you can't use your own words, you need to read the article again to make sure you understand it. Also avoid the trap of relying on the article abstract.
Don't quote from the article. We rarely need to quote words from a research article. Use your own words.
Be specific. Vagueness is deadly in scientific writing, especially in summaries. Pay particular attention to the Method section; make sure you state who the participants were, the experimental design, what materials were used and how the experiment was performed (the procedure).
Be direct. Avoid hedging - using language that suggests you're not sure of what you're saying, e.g., don't say "The purpose of the study seems to be...." or "I think the results show that....".
Avoid inflated claims. When you say what the results mean (Discussion), don't overstate what the research showed ("These results proved that eyewitness testimony is not accurate") or their importance ("This finding will revolutionize life as we know it")
Avoid vapid generalization. Don't use sweeping vague statements such as "These results have implications for the court system."
APA Citations in the text of the summary. You are not required to include an APA citation in your summary. However, if you do cite the paper, you should follow APA guidelines for citation.
FORMAT FOR YOUR PAPER
- Your assignment must be computer-printed and double-spaced.
- Leave ample margins (1 inch) on the sides and at the top and bottom of each page. Use Font Size 12.
- Your summary should be 1 page to 1.5 page in length (double-spaced, Font Size 12). Attach a cover page with your name and student number.
- Do NOT put your name on the inside pages so that papers can be graded “blind” to student name. Staple the cover page and article summary together.
- Do not put your assignment in any sort of cover or folder.
Be sure to keep a copy of your paper.
Notes
- Use the WritingCenter for assistance. See the syllabus for how to find them. They have a drop off service which can provide valuable feedback for what does and does not make sense in your summary. You are already paying for it in your student fees, so use it. It can only make your summary better.
- Look at the example summaries from previous students on the course website. Models help.