APA Format for Research Projects

by Janet Waters

Research projects are written up in standardized APA format. Be formal & objective in your language, & cite all your sources. The format includes the following sections:

Title

Your title would normally include the major variables of your study. For example:
The Effects of Co-Studying on Achievement in College
Or: The Relationship between Social Support and Depression for College Students

Abstract

Begin with a brief Abstract of the study, which summarizes the entire study into one paragraph. The reader should be able to tell from your Abstract what your theory and hypothesis were, who you studied and how, what your findings were, and what they meant for the theory. 

Introduction

The introduction includes a brief (~2-3 page) review of current theory & research in the area of your topic. In presenting this material, paraphrase it into your own words, but always cite the source of the information. Referencing must be complete & correct, or you are plagiarizing, which is a serious academic offence. End with an introduction to your study, including your hypothesis.

Method

Participants

Describe the participants in your study, including how many there were, & their gender, age, & the situation of the study (e.g. if respondents were students in a college).

Materials/Instruments

Describe any instruments employed to measure the variables of your study. (e.g. questionnaires, tests, etc.)

Procedure

The Procedure section reviews exactly how you did your study, & should include enough detail that anyone could repeat your procedure. Include your methodology (e.g. whether you did an experiment, or observation, etc.); a review of how you carried out the study; & any data analysis that you did.

Results

Include your results, summarized & presented in a way that is easy to follow & to understand. If possible, these results should be presented both in a table (which would include descriptive & inferential statistics) & in a written description of the results. The results section should not include conclusions or interpretations; these would be in the Discussion section.

An example of the results of an experiment follows: You have studied the accuracy of a signal detection test for two groups of subjects (Highly distractable vs low distractable subjects), under three conditions (high, medium & low distraction situations). You could present the means for each group in a table as follows:

For a correlational research study, present your correlation statistics in both a table & in words, & note whether or not it is significant. If you have more than 2 variables to correlate, present a correlational matrix, showing the correlation between each of the variables. You should omit the border lines when you insert the table format. In the following example, 4 variables were correlated in one study. The correlation between Exam scores & hours of study, for example, is r = +.67, p <.01. This indicates a significant positive relationship between the number of hours of study & subsequent exam scores.

_____________________________________________
* p < .01

Discussion

Use the discussion to relate your results to the theory you described in the introduction. The "why" of your results are discussed here, & what they mean in terms of theory & research. Add a discussion of the limitations of your study.

References

All references in the introduction are included in the reference section at the end of the research report, in alphabetical order. Use correct APA style formatting. For example:

Cozby, P. C. (2007). Methods in behavioural research (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hyde, J. S. (1981). How large are cognitive gender differences? American Psychologist, 36,
       892-901.

Appendix

Any information that is relevant to the study, but not needed within the body of the paper, should be included at the end of the report. These appendices would include further details of the research instructions, materials, results, psychological measures, etc., if needed. Your instructor may also wish you to attach the raw data of your project.

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