Download Writing a Research Paper: Guidelines for Crafting a Compelling Hypothesis - Prof. Jonathan and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! 7/2/2009 1 The Introduction Section The Basics “This is why I am doing what I am doing” Theoretical background Literature review Builds up to your hypotheses Start ________________ “Top of the hourglass” Snag the reader Talk about “people in general” as they relate to your topic Present prevalence or frequency information if it’s a problem Purpose of study (not hypo) at the end of the first paragraph Section should get steadily more specific and end with your hypothesis 7/2/2009 2 ________________ is Key There should be no question as to why you are conducting this research Illustrate with real world examples Be Consistent and ________________ Your literature review must be relevant to your hypothesis If there are conflicting results in the literature, focus on one side and only present the counterargument briefly Literature Reviews 7/2/2009 5 No ________________ No part of your hypothesis should come out of the blue – Set-up each piece for what you predict Literature review should set-up what we already know about these variables Provide an explanation of “what’s missing” in the literature Make It Easy for the ________________ Create a separate subsection labeled “Hypothesis” or “Hypotheses” Have a statement that highlights your prediction: – “The current research tests the hypothesis that...” No Additional Explanation Hypothesis is the “_______________” – A good joke doesn’t require anything further than the ________________ Literature review should have done all of the work for setting this up No need to say “I predict this because…” 7/2/2009 6 Phrasing It Make sure it is a clear prediction of what you expect will happen What kind of comparison are you making? – Correlational? Specify direction of association (positive or negative) – Experimental? State which groups you are comparing and who will be higher on the DV Writing Issues ________________ Avoid first-person pronouns – Try not to use “I”, “we”, “our” – Refer to “the current study” rather than “I” Avoid colloquial phrasing – E.g., “…goes hand in hand with…” Avoid cryptic language – No jargon, say what you mean in English 7/2/2009 7 ________________ Synthesizing information – Esp. literature review Logical argument – Consistency in argument – No contradictions – Each paragraph follows from previous one • Introductory statement • Information to support that statement (citing specifics) • Conclusive statement that leads into next paragraph ________________ Avoid awkward and run-on sentences – Read your paper out loud Say what you mean in English – Passes the “Mom Test” – Especially important in Results section ________________ Features Spelling – Errors noted as “sp” Vocabulary – Errors noted as “w.c.” for word choice Grammar – Errors noted as “gramm” Punctuation – Errors noted as “punc” Capitalization – Errors noted as “caps”
