In this section, we look at how to read an APA-style empirical research report, an article that presents the results of one or more new studies. The standard sections of an empirical research report provide a kind of outline. Here we consider each of these sections in detail.

Sections of a Research Report

Title and Abstract

An APA-style research report begins with a title. The title should clearly and concisely communicate the primary variables and research questions. Below the title are the authors’ names and their institutional affiliation—the university or other institution where the authors worked when they conducted the research. The authors are listed in an order that reflects their contribution to the research.

The abstract is a summary of the study. The abstract presents the research question, a summary of the method, the basic results, and the most important conclusions.

Introduction

The introduction begins after the abstract. The introduction introduces the research question and explains why it is interesting, discusses relevant previous research, and comments on the method used to answer the research question.

Method

The method section is where the authors describe how they conducted their study. An important principle for a method section is that it should be clear and detailed enough that other researchers could replicate the study by following the “recipe.” This means that it must describe all the important elements of the study—basic demographic characteristics of the participants, how they were recruited, whether they were randomly assigned to conditions, how the variables were manipulated or measured, and so on.

The participants subsection indicates how many participants there were, the number of women and men, some indication of their age, other demographics that may be relevant to the study, and how they were recruited, including any incentives given for participation.

After the participants section, the structure can vary a bit. Figure 8.2 shows three common approaches. In the first, the participants section is followed by a design and procedure subsection, which describes the rest of the method. In the second approach, the participants section is followed by separate design and procedure subsections.

What is the difference between design and procedure? The design of a study is its overall structure. What were the independent and dependent variables? Was the independent variable manipulated, and if so, was it manipulated between or within subjects? How were the variables operationally defined? The procedure is how the study was carried out. It is often described in terms of what the participants did rather than what the researchers did. For example, the participants gave their informed consent, read a set of instructions, completed a block of four practice trials, completed a block of 20 test trials, completed two questionnaires, and were debriefed and excused.

In the third basic way to organize a method section, the participants subsection is followed by a materials subsection before the design and procedure subsections.

Results

The results section is where the authors present the main results of the study, including the results of the statistical analyses.

Bem (2003) suggests the following basic structure for the results section:

• Remind the reader of the research question.
• Give the answer to the research question in words.
• Present the relevant statistics.
• Qualify the answer if necessary.
• Summarize the result.

If a Results section is well written, the basic results should be clear even to a reader who skips over the numbers.

Discussion

The discussion typically begins with a summary of the study that provides a clear answer to the research question. The summary is often followed by a discussion of the theoretical implications of the research. Do the results provide support for any existing theories? If not, how can they be explained? In applied research—and often in basic research—there is also some discussion of the practical implications of the research. How can the results be used, and by whom, to accomplish some real-world goal?

The theoretical and practical implications are often followed by a discussion of the study’s limitations. Perhaps there are problems with its internal or external validity. Perhaps the manipulation was not very effective or the measures not very reliable. Perhaps there is some evidence that participants did not fully understand their task or that they were suspicious of the intent of the researchers.

Most discussions end with some suggestions for future research. If the study did not satisfactorily answer the original research question, what will it take to do so? What new research questions has the study raised? This includes identifying and clarifying each question, suggesting some alternative answers, and even suggesting ways they could be studied.

Finally, some researchers are quite good at ending their articles with a sweeping or thought-provoking conclusion. Others might simply return to the problem or issue introduced in the opening paragraph and state how the research has addressed that issue or problem.

References

The References are located at the end of the journal article. All references cited in the text are then listed in APA format.  If you noticed an article cited in the Introduction that you wanted to read, you can find the article title and other useful information for a database search in this section.

This section contains material from 49 Writing a Research Report in American Psychological Association (APA) Style in Research Methods in Psychology by Rajiv S. Jhangiani, I-Chant A. Chiang, Carrie Cuttler, & Dana C. Leighton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.