Chapter 5
Outline
● Components of a Journal Article
● Reading a Journal Article
● Writing a Research Report
Components of a Journal Article
● Title
○ The first place you should starr
○ Give you an idea of the content of an article
○ Generally, 10 to 12 words, should list variables under examination
● Abstract
○ Summary of the article
○ Will often describe the main hypotheses, perhaps briefly mention methodology,
and list main findings
○ Abstracts are a GREAT resource to quickly get an idea of what an article is about,
and whether you should read the whole thing!
● Introduction
○ First parts of the article you come across after the abstract
○ Usually follows a general structure
■ First few paragraphs describe the topic
■ Next few paragraphs will describe the state of the literature
■ The last paragraph (or so) describe specific research questions,
hypotheses, and/or current work being done
○ Follows a “funnel” approach
■ Authors start broad and get more and more specific
● Method
○ Describes how researchers did their work
○ Usually has subsections such as Procedure, Participants, Materials
■ Procedure
● What did the participants do?
● How were they assigned to the levels of the IV?
■ Participants
● Who were they?
● How many?
● How were they recruited?
■ Materials
● What materials were required to complete the experiment?
● What software was used?
Outline
● Components of a Journal Article
● Reading a Journal Article
● Writing a Research Report
Components of a Journal Article
● Title
○ The first place you should starr
○ Give you an idea of the content of an article
○ Generally, 10 to 12 words, should list variables under examination
● Abstract
○ Summary of the article
○ Will often describe the main hypotheses, perhaps briefly mention methodology,
and list main findings
○ Abstracts are a GREAT resource to quickly get an idea of what an article is about,
and whether you should read the whole thing!
● Introduction
○ First parts of the article you come across after the abstract
○ Usually follows a general structure
■ First few paragraphs describe the topic
■ Next few paragraphs will describe the state of the literature
■ The last paragraph (or so) describe specific research questions,
hypotheses, and/or current work being done
○ Follows a “funnel” approach
■ Authors start broad and get more and more specific
● Method
○ Describes how researchers did their work
○ Usually has subsections such as Procedure, Participants, Materials
■ Procedure
● What did the participants do?
● How were they assigned to the levels of the IV?
■ Participants
● Who were they?
● How many?
● How were they recruited?
■ Materials
● What materials were required to complete the experiment?
● What software was used?
