1. Formal & APA Language Guidelines and Basic Research Methods
PSYC 200 Week #4
Formal & APA Language Guidelines and
Basic Research Methods 1

2. Agenda Attendance Assignments due Language guidelines (grammar)
Basic Research Methods 2

3. Assignments Recap
Single article summary
Gramlich ch. 7-8
APA ch. 3 3

4. POP QUIZ http://tinyurl.com/25llyft
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5. apa language style guidelines5

6. Quick APA Language Guide
Word choice and usage – the right word in the right place
Removing bias
Grammar / Punctuation
Agenda slide, showing organization of APA rules (in my conceptualization) 6

7. Common phrases Avoid these!! Replace with:
Feel, believe, think, prove, stated, wrote, said
Replace with:
Hypothesize, conjecture, reason, support, found, suggested
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage 7

8. Avoid Wordiness Clear & Concise Write like a poet
Make every word count
Avoid unnecessary transitions
Say what you want to using one word instead of two
Say it with one word rather than two
Say it with one word, not two
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage 8

9. Informalities and Slang
No contractions—ever!
No colloquialisms
Sky-high, bright idea, and the like
others?
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage 9

10. Using Conjunctions Correctly
Since vs. Because
Andrew has been excited about going to the zoo since last Thursday.
The dog salivated because Pavlov rang the bell.
While vs. Although
Although I enjoy watching baseball on television, I would rather be at the stadium.
While Jack cleaned the garage, Mary dusted the living room.
Or vs. Nor
The girl was allowed to have either a piece of candy or a sticker.
Neither the doctor nor the nurse could find the patient’s chart.
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage 10

11. Referring to People Do not use “You” to refer to the reader.
Do not use “We” to refer to general groups or society.
Use “One”
If one chooses to engage in criminal activity, then one must be ready to accept the consequences.
One should not equate correlation with causation.
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage 11

12. Me, myself, and I Can you use first person?
YES!!
Use the appropriate first person pronoun when referring to yourself or the author(s) of your paper.
Consider using passive voice
I gave the survey to 70 participants
Seventy participants received the survey
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage 12

13. They All Sound the Same... They’re, There, and Their To, Too, and Two
They’re going to the store this afternoon. (contraction = they are)
I just returned from Dublin, have you ever been there? (place, direction)
Their house is white with blue shutters. (possession)
To, Too, and Two
Kent is moving to Massachusetts.
I want to go too.
He is taking his two dogs with him.
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage 13

14. They all sound the same... It’s and Its Whether and Weather
It’s Jake’s birthday today. (It is)
Its hair was matted and mangled. (possession)
Whether and Weather
It does not matter whether or not Mandy stays for dinner.
The weather is supposed to be cold and damp.
Then and Than
Men are more likely than women to watch UFC.
The students were instructed to clear their desks then begin the examination.
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage 14

15. Often Forgotten..... Who vs. Whom Who vs. That Affect vs. Effect
Who is the person with the white lab coat?
With whom did you leave the key?
Who vs. That
Individuals who study, often find exams to be easy.
Companies that give employees better benefits have higher productivity.
The vase that broke is in the cardboard box.
Times when..., Places where...
Affect vs. Effect
Psychology students often learn about the Hawthorne effect.
Amy wants study how energy-drinks affect performance and cognitive ability.
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage 15

16. Anthropomorphizing
Do not give human traits or abilities to inanimate or non-human objects/creatures.
Do not write
The article shows...
Instead try...Deci and Ryan indicate
The research explains...
Instead...Pavlov explains
Quick APA Language Guide – Word Choice / Usage 16

17. Removing Bias
One must be conscientious of how individuals and groups are identified.
Do not over generalize
Gender bias
Racial/Ethnicity bias
Mental health or disability status
Age
Quick APA Language Guide - Bias 17

18. Sexist Language
When referring to an object that could be either male or female (e.g., a participant, a client, etc.) you MUST not exclude a gender.
For example, “When a therapist begins a session, she introduces herself first.”
Try,
“…the therapist introduces his or herself…”
“…self-introductions come first…”
Or: Make it plural  “When therapists begin sessions, they introduce themselves first.”
Quick APA Language Guide - Bias 18

19. Irregular Plurals Singular Plural Data Phenomena Hypothesis Hypotheses
Phenomenon
Datum
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar 19

20. Irregular Plurals Singular Form Child Mouse Foot Offspring Formula
Datum
Stimulus
Index
Hypothesis
Criterion
Plural Form
Children
Mice
Feet
Offspring
Formulae
Data
Stimuli
Indices
Hypotheses
Criteria
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar 20

21. Abbreviations That is… And so on… For example…
Study for your class; that is, if you don’t want to fail.
Study for your class (i.e., if you don’t want to fail)
And so on…
Notes, books, pencils, etc.
For example…
For example, students in PSYC200.
…(e.g., students in PSYC200).
And other people (things) [used when have many authors]
…was found (Johns, et al., 2002).
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar 21

22. Dirty Grammar They’re always there to hurt their grade
their, there, and they’re
Plural possessives
Individual, individuals, individual’s, and individuals’
Pronoun shifting
Someone cannot be a they
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar 22

23. Parallel Construction
Each statement must be able to stand alone and still be grammatically correct.
The student is required to read 30 pages of text, write a report, and memorize a list of vocabulary words.
to read
to write
to memorize
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar 23

24. Dirty Grammar Make ‘em parallel
My experience with psychology is mostly from attending classes, working with children, and to read books.
If you can’t pull it apart, then it ain’t parallel
..from attending classes
..from working with children
..from read books
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar 24

25. Dirty Grammar – Comma use
I expect to gain much experience in this class, and hope to find out a direction for my career.
I expect to gain much experience in this class
hope to find out a direction for my career
I expect to gain much experience in this class, and I hope to find out a direction for my career.
I hope to find out a direction for my career
Mostly, whenever possible, use, or otherwise utilize, a comma on introductory phrases
At that time, I wanted to be a counselor
Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar 25

26. Resources for help The ALC – writing center Your peers Your texts
(410)
Your peers
Your texts
Quick APA Language Guide 26

27. ONLY DO scavenger hunt if you have 30 minutes to dedicate.
APA Scavenger hunt 27

28. Intro to Research Methods28

29. Research Methods
There are 6 basic categories of scientific method that virtually all research falls into
Research
Non-Experimental
Experimental
Naturalistic Observation
Quasi-Experimental
Field Study
Experimental
Survey
Relational Research 29

30. Research Methods – Naturalistic Observation
Addresses most basic scientific question: “What is out there?”
Requires operational definition of events to be observed
Observer must be unobtrusive, and design must be nonreactive 30

31. Research Methods – Field-Based Research
Like naturalistic observation, conducted in real-world settings
Goal is to establish natural relations among events
Observer must be unobtrusive, but methods are intentionally reactive 31

32. Research Methods – Survey Research
Appropriate to the study of private behaviors
Two primary styles:
Interviews (structured/unstructured)
Questionnaires (structured/unstructured) 32

33. Research Methods – Relational (Correlational) Research
Goal to verify systematic (usually linear) relations among events
Strengths/directions of relations
generally expressed in form of correlation coefficient (rxy) 33

34. Research Methods – True Experiment
Goal: to establish a cause-effect relationship among events
Does low-fat diet cause decrease in cancer risk?
Does exposure to violent video games cause increase in violent behaviors?
Does spaced study cause increase in memory accuracy and retention?
Do genetic variations cause sexual preference? 34

35. Research Methods – True Experiment
Requires:
random assignment of participants to at least two equivalent conditions
manipulation of one factor (independent variable, or IV) in one condition (experimental), leaving it unchanged in other condition (control)
measurement of one other factor in both conditions (factor called dependent variable, or DV; measurement instrument called dependent measure, or DM) 35

36. Research Methods – True Experiment
Concludes:
if groups are NOT equivalent with respect to DV, and
if the difference between the groups is so big it probably did not happen by chance, then
manipulation of the IV caused the difference in the DV 36

37. Research Methods – Quasi-Experiment
Goal also to establish cause-effect relations among events
Required when random assignment is not possible, because
must use pre-existing groups, or
IV impossible to manipulate directly, or
IV unethical/illegal to manipulate directly 37

38. Research Methods Review
Name 6 categories of scientific research 38

39. Review and Next Steps Review Next week assignments
APA Practice Test #1
Reading
Editorial style (the minutiae) 39