+ INTRODUCTION 1

+ Today’s class in context Catching up: all groups submitted IRB materials I submitted the IRB application for all groups Data collection materials – who’s ready? Room booking form (Qualtrics) Today: Writing the Introduction Introduction Draft due in 2 weeks – 10/31 Next class: 2 groups to do data collection trials! 2

+ Today’s class in context 3

+ What goes in an Introduction? OVERVIEW (7 paragraphs) Paragraph 1: General Topic Paragraphs 2-4: Summary of relevant literature Paragraph 5: In-depth description of the most relevant study Paragraph 6: How your study goes beyond previous research Paragraph 7: Preview of design, and hypotheses 4

+ What goes in an Introduction? 1. GENERAL TOPIC Start by describing a real-life problem and/or research topic Why is this issue interesting and important to research? What specific issue within that bigger problem are you trying to address? What is your research question? 5

+ What goes in an Introduction? 1. GENERAL TOPIC: EXAMPLE Start by describing a real-life problem and/or research topic “Educators are invested in trying to advise students about the best study strategies.” Why is this issue interesting and important to research? “Every year, X students drop out of college (REFERENCE), and Y% of this drop-out may be attributed to lack of knowledge about study strategies. (REFERENCE)” What specific issue within that bigger problem are you trying to address? “In this study, we compare two specific commonly used study strategies: staying up all night worrying about the test, and hoping it will be easy.” What is your research question? “Specifically, we are interested in whether worrying or hoping leads to better test performance on the next day.” 6

+ What goes in an Introduction? 2-4. SUMMARY OF RELEVANT LITERATURE Identify the core themes from your general introduction Base these around the variables you are manipulating and measuring Mention the most relevant studies you can find, but hold off on describing them in detail until the next section 7

+ FINDING RELEVANT LITERATURE See the list of Acceptable Research Journals. If it is not there, ask me. Next, you need to read it properly – here’s a useful guide: psychology-journal-article psychology-journal-article

+ What goes in an Introduction? 5. IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION OF THE MOST RELEVANT STUDIES Find the papers you read that inspired your study Describe the methods and results Focus on the general design and findings Note how your study is similar and different to the one you describe 9

+ FINDING THE RIGHT PARTS TO SUMMARIZE The purpose of the study Who (in general) were the subjects? How were they grouped? Procedure: What did they have the subjects do? Under what conditions? For how long? What was measured? What was being compared? What were the major findings/results? Why were they important? What did they show/what was lacking? How does the study relate to your proposed research? 10

+ What goes in an Introduction? 6. HOW YOUR STUDY GOES BEYOND PREVIOUS RESEARCH What is your study about? Why is it necessary, given what we already know from previous research? How is your study different to the research you described? 11

+ What goes in an Introduction? 7. PREVIEW OF DESIGN, AND HYPOTHESES What did you manipulate and measure? What do you predict will happen? (Look back at your data predictions worksheet) 12

+ COMMON MISTAKES Making claims without backing them up with references Don’t assume something is a “fact” because of common sense Find a source to back up your statements, OR Clearly present them as your opinion 13

+ COMMON MISTAKES Using the prompts word-for-word E.g. “Why is this issue interesting and important to research?” Don’t write “This issue is interesting and important to research because…” 14

+ COMMON MISTAKES Not mentioning your research question for a long time The reader should not need to read half your intro to find out what you are doing 15

+ COMMON MISTAKES Choosing studies that are not very relevant to describe in detail Make sure the methods, design, and/or results are similar to your study 16

+ COMMON MISTAKES Focusing on irrelevant details when describing the study Exact numbers (sample size, mean test performance etc.), unless you are trying to make a point about them Specific details about materials Instead, focus on: The manipulation What participants actually did in the study The outcome measure The general patterns of results and conclusions 17

+ BAD STUDY DESCRIPTION 34 participants Read passages about London and New York Used different study strategies to prepare for a test 24% test performance in one condition and 38% in the other 18

+ GOOD STUDY DESCRIPTION Participants studied factual passages Either with highlighting or with summarizing Performed a multiple-choice test 2 days later Summarizing produced significantly better performance than highlighting 19

+ COMMON MISTAKES Not linking your study to previous research/real-life problem Choosing the right research to describe will help with this Make sure to connect your study to the context and specific previous research 20

+ COMMON MISTAKES Writing a paper that is not scientific Make sure claims are backed up with references References should be academic journal articles that make use of psychological science Use scholarly databases, not Google 21

+ COMMON MISTAKES Trying to use long, complicated words and sentences If you can say something more simply, do it Scientific writing means being precise about your concepts and using published work to back up your claims Scientific writing does not need to be dense and overly formal 22

+ GRADING Paper is 40% of course grade (400 points) Intro draft = 8% (80 points) Discussion draft = 8% (80 points) Final Paper = 24% (240 points) 23

+ INTRO GRADING RUBRIC (100) High QualityAdequateNeeds Improvement Inadequate 1. General Topic Relevant Literature In-Depth Study Descriptions Impact of your Study Study Overview Language and Style

+ LANGUAGE AND STYLE Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B., (2000). The Elements of Style (Fourth Edition). Needham Heights, MA: Allen & Bacon. Reference guide on the website – use as a checklist when proofreading your drafts If in doubt, utilize the Writing Center 25

+ FORMAT Double spaced In-text citations (author(s), year) APA style preferred and highly recommended, but not graded at this stage 26

+ REMINDERS Introduction drafts are due in 2 weeks (10/31) Submit through Turnitin AND a printed copy in class on the day Groups who are running trials this Wednesday must send photocopying requests TODAY 27