Writing up a report

Objectives To be able to write up the method section of a scientific report. Challenge To find out what should be included in a results section To find out the four parts of a discussion section

Recap: Activity 1 Match the description with the correct feature of science Feature of science exam question What is the difference between an aim and a hypothesis? What is another word for alternative hypothesis? What is the null hypothesis? Aim: A precise statement of why a study is taking place Hypothesis: Precise testable research prediction

Activity 2: Exam focus (A02) Mind map, all the possible content that could be included in your answer. A psychodynamic psychologist wished to investigate the function of dreams. He asked five friends to keep a ‘dream diary’ for a week by writing a descriptive account of their dreams as soon as they woke up in the morning. He interpreted the content of their dreams as an expression of their repressed wishes. Referring to the study above, explain why psychodynamic psychologists have often been criticised for neglecting the rules of the scientific approach. (Total 3 marks)

Activity 2: Exam focus – mark scheme How the psychodynamic approach as depicted in the stem neglects the rules of science. interpretation of content of dreams open to bias and subjectivity no verifiable evidence small sample; opportunity sample of friends and implications for generalizability qualitative data collected and implications for statistical analysis; retrospective data / memory distortions – reports written on waking dreams are private experience and covert problem of replicability. no reference to a testable hypothesis.

Materials and apparatus Procedure Design Participants Materials and apparatus Procedure Method Section This section should ensure that the research is fully replicable. It should contain sufficient information for someone else to repeat the study in exactly the same way.

Design The research method used The design of the study Conditions The variables (fully operationalised) Methods of control in place Ethical considerations

Participants Sampling technique used Number of participants Age, gender Target population

Materials and apparatus All the materials that were used to collect the data Software, websites (dates accessed)

Procedure Exactly how the research was carried out from beginning to end. Details of instructions and debrief How the materials were used

Task: write up the method to your experiment Individually, create a methods section for our study. We need to get details of our sample first Extension task Find out what should be in a results section and discussion session of a report. The discussion section can be separated into four parts. What are these?