1. WHERE TO START © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

2. Discuss how a hypothesis differs from a prediction Describe the different sources of ideas for research Identify the two functions of a theory © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

3. Summarize the fundamentals of conducting library research in psychology, including the use of PsycINFO Summarize the information included in the abstract, introduction, method, results, and discussion sections of research articles © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

4. Hypothesis: A tentative question waiting for evidence to support or refute it Prediction: A statement that makes an assertion concerning what will occur in a particular research investigation © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

5. Participants (APA-preferred term for humans taking part in studies) Subjects Respondents Informants © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

6. Common Sense Observation of personal and social events What current societal mores and behaviors? Ex: Rap music & sex; cellphone usage Theories—systematic body of ideas that Organize and explain Generate new knowledge Can be modified by new research Past Research Practical Problems © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

8. The Nature of Journals It is where researchers publish the results of their studies Much, but not all, research can be conducted on-line from your school’s library website Peer reviewed Psychological Abstracts Abstracts published in hardcopy each month PsycINFO Electronic index of all abstracts from 1800s to present Updated weekly PsycFIRST Electronic index of all abstracts published in last 3 years © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

9. Some PsychINFO search strategies Strategy 1: Use fields such as TI and AU. Example: (divorce) in TI requires that a term appear in the title Strategy 2: Use AND to limit search Example: divorce AND child requires both terms to be included Strategy 3: Use OR to expand search. Example: divorce OR breakup includes both terms. Strategy 4: Use NOT to exclude search terms. Example: shyness NOT therapy excludes shyness with therapy Strategy 5: Use the wildcard asterisk (*) Example: child* finds any word that begins with these letters © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

10. Other Electronic Search Resources FirstSearch Science Direct Web of Science Sociological Abstracts MEDLINE ERIC PsycARTICLES http://www.apa.org/psycarticles/ © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

11.  Other Indexes  Science Citation Index (SCI)  Includes biology chemistry, biomedicine, and pharmacology  Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)  Includes behavioral and social science such as sociology and criminal justice © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

12. Internet Searches http://scholar.google.com Like Google, scholar.google ranks searches Professional meeting searches Evaluating web information Site sponsor Credentials of the webmaster Timeliness Links (to reputable organizations) © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

13. Abstract Introduction Method Results Discussion © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

14. Abstract A summary of the research report 120 words or less Includes the hypothesis, procedure, and the broad pattern of results Typically the last part of an article to be written © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

15. Introduction Outlines the problems investigated Past research and theories relevant to the problems described Formal hypotheses or specific expectations of the present research are introduced and connected to past research © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

16. Method section Subsections depend upon the complexity of the design Overview of design Characteristics of participants Procedure Equipment or testing materials A precise Method section is essential for replication © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

17. Results section Findings presented three ways: Description in narrative form Description in statistical language Material in table or graphs © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

18. Discussion section Review research from various perspectives Explain how the results compare with past results Include suggestions for practical applications Include suggestions for future research on the topic Present methodological weaknesses and/or strengths © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

19. The journal pages explaining instructions to authors or submission guidelines and peer-review process. The article is written by the researchers that conducted the study. The article includes abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion and reference sections. © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

20. The editor and/or reviewers decide whether or not to accept the article for publication. The intended audience is scholars that have knowledge in or are interested in the field. The article is not written for profit. © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.