APA Style Simplified Writing in Psychology, Education, Nursing, and Sociology

by Beins, Bernard C.

• ISBN13: 9780470671238
• ISBN10: 0470671238
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-05-15
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This is a compact but comprehensive guide to writing clearly and effectively in APA style. Demonstrates how to write objective scientific research papers using interesting prose Incorporates guidelines from the 6th edition of the APA publication manual Explores how to develop ideas, connect them to what others have written, and express them clearly Discusses the differences between written, oral, and poster presentations and offers instructions for applying APA style to each

Author Biography

Bernard C. (Barney) Beins, Ph.D., is professor and chair of psychology at Ithaca College. He is author of about 150 articles, chapters, books, and pedagogical material. He recently received the Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award from the American Psychological Foundation. He is author with his daughter Agatha of Effective Writing in Psychology: Papers, Posters, and Presentations, 2nd Edition (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) and Research Methods: A Tool for Life (2008). He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Eastern Psychological Association.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. viii
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Writing Professionally	p. 1
How Does Professional Writing Differ From Other Kinds of Writing?	p. 2
Using APA Style	p. 3
Making a Credible Argument	p. 5
Different Types of Communication	p. 6
Effective Communication	p. 8
Establishing Good Writing Habits	p. 9
Ethical Writing	p. 10
Elements of Style	p. 15
Recognizing the Importance of Good Grammar and Style	p. 16
Choosing Effective Wording	p. 17
Using Inclusive and Appropriate Language	p. 19
Deciding on the Use of Technical Language	p. 20
Avoiding Common Problems	p. 21
Verb Forms	p. 24
Spelling	p. 25
Specific Word Use	p. 25
The Introduction Section	p. 32
Introducing the Topic	p. 33
Different Approaches to Starting the Introduction	p. 34
How to Begin	p. 38
Reviewing the Literature	p. 38
Introducing Your Research: Generating a Hypothesis	p. 40
The Method Section	p. 43
Participants and Subjects	p. 44
Materials and Apparatus	p. 52
Procedure	p. 56
Design	p. 58
Communicating Statistics	p. 59
Why Do We Use Statistics?	p. 60
What Point Are You Trying to Make?	p. 61
Understanding Your Numbers	p. 63
Helping Readers Understand Your Statistics	p. 65
Differentiating Results and Interpretations	p. 68
The Results Section	p. 69
Your Hypothesis	p. 70
Deciding What to Present	p. 71
APA Style and Presentation of Your Results	p. 74
Creating Tables	p. 77
Creating Figures	p. 82
The Connection Between the Text and the Tables and Figures	p. 87
The Difference Between Results and Discussion Sections	p. 87
Some Final Points About Presenting Results	p. 88
The Discussion Section	p. 91
Summarizing Your Results	p. 92
Connecting Different Aspects of Your Results	p. 94
Dealing With Nonsignificant Results	p. 95
Comparing Your Results With Those of Others	p. 96
Stating the Importance and Implications of Your Results	p. 97
Acknowledging the Limitations of Your Study	p. 98
References: Citations in the Text and the Reference List	p. 100
Citing References in the Text	p. 101
Order of Citations in the Reference List	p. 105
Using Your Word-Processing Program to Create the Citation	p. 105
Examples of How Different Types of References Should Be Laid Out	p. 106
Final Touches: The Abstract and Formatting Details	p. 114
The Abstract	p. 115
Formatting Your Manuscript	p. 116
Creating Poster Presentations	p. 135
Differentiating Visual and Written Communication	p. 135
Reducing the Amount of Information	p. 136
Visual Style	p. 137
Your Behavior: The Ethic of a Poster Session	p. 142
Creating Your Poster Using PowerPoint®	p. 144
Giving Oral Presentations	p. 152
The Difference Between Oral and Written English	p. 152
Adapting APA Style to Oral Presentations	p. 156
Preparing for Your Talk	p. 157
Creating Graphics for Your Presentation	p. 159
Giving the Presentation	p. 160
Sharing Your Work Electronically	p. 163
New Capabilities in Electronic Sharing	p. 164
Using a Word Processor to Create Manuscripts for the Internet	p. 165
Advantages of Internet Publishing Software	p. 167
Publishing Your Poster on the Web	p. 169
Uploading Your Manuscript to the Internet	p. 169
Revisiting the Concept of Plagiarism	p. 170
Example of APA-Style Manuscript with Common Errors	p. 171
Corrected APA-Style Manuscript	p. 179
References	p. 188
Name Index	p. 195
Subject Index	p. 198
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