Running head: ALL CAPS SHORT TITLE 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS 1

A Twelve to Fifteen Word Title Goes Here and Mentions the IV and DVs of Your Study in the

Report

Your Name

La Trobe University

Campus
ALL CAPS SHORT TITLE 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS 2

Abstract

An Abstract is a single paragraph, that summarizes the key points of the manuscript in 150 words

or less. The purpose of the Abstract is to provide the reader with a brief overview of the paper.

You need to include information on each section of the paper. If a lab report, be sure to inlcude

all sections of the report from introduction to conclusion. You should say something about the

aims and hypotheses, method, results, whether your hypothesis was supported and the

conclusion. References are not needed in the Abstract.

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A Twelve to Fifteen Word Title Goes Here and Mentions the IV and DVs of Your Study in the

Report

(Exactly as it appears on the Title Page)

This is where the body of your paper begins. This is the introduction to your report.

The introduction should set the scene for the report, provide referenced key definitions,

explain what problem you are addressing and why it is important. Refer to section 2.05 of the

APA Manual for specifics on writing the introduction. The main body paragraphs each contain

information on the background literature you have read to help develop your study. The last

paragraph of the introduction details the aims and hypothesis for the experiment. These should

logically flow on from what has been described above (i.e. the reader shouldn’t be surprised you

have these expectations because you will have already presented information to justify why you

think this might happen).

Method

Participants

This section needs to detail the characteristics of the participants/subjects in your study.

Include information that you can accurately describe that is relevant to your study.

Materials

This section details the materials used in the study to allow someone to replicate it in the

future. It does not include pens and paper, but does include information about how the data were

collected/recorded. This section could refer the reader to materials in the appendix if needed.
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Procedure

This section provides all the details about how the study was conducted in order to collect

data to test the aim and hypothesis. It also needs to include enough detail to let someone set up

the same parameters to replicate the study at a later point. It would also allow a critical reader to

evaluate the efficacy of your design in terms of its ability to accurately test the hypothesis

(applies to all sections of the Method).

Results

The results section must detail the data that will help you and your reader determine the

outcomes of the study. It needs to explain what kind of data it is and typically presents a Figure

or a Table to assist interpretation. The Figure/Table should not contain the same kind of

information, nor should they include information that is repeated in text. Refer to section 2.07 of

the APA manual for specifics on writing the Results.

Discussion

The Discussion needs to detail the outcomes of your investigation. Refer to section 2.08

of the APA manual for specifics on writing the Discussion. The first paragraph of the discussion

restates the aim and hypothesis of the study and then make a statement as to whether the

hypothesis was supported or not. In your discussion you will also need to compare the outcomes

of your study with those of literature presented in the introduction and possibly new literature to

discuss why your results occurred; discusses the main flaws (methodological limitations) that

may have impacted the results; make suggestions about the potential future directions for the

study; draw a conclusion (e.g. summarise main points of your discussion).

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References

American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological

Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

To review guidelines for citations of articles that you have read in text and how to list

them in the References section at the end of the essay, refer to the APA manual, Library

Referencing tool, or the other resources discussed in class.