Short Guide to Writing about Psychology

by Dunn, Dana S.

• ISBN13: 9780205521562
• ISBN10: 0205521568
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-01
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

Up-to-date writing techniques and the latest APA-style guidelines APA-style citation and conducting research (print and online) Introductory and advanced Psychology courses

Table of Contents

Preface	p. XV
Writing About Psychology	p. 1
Writing as a Process	p. 1
Why Write, Anyway?	p. 2
Forms of Writing in Psychology	p. 5
Student Papers	p. 6
Introducing APA Style	p. 7
Planning Your Writing: Timing Is Everything	p. 8
Answering a Test Question	p. 9
Writing a Paper	p. 11
A Basic Timeline	p. 11
Writing Habits	p. 11
Exercises	p. 12
Searching the Psychological Literature	p. 13
Selecting a Research Topic	p. 13
Maintaining a Research Notebook	p. 15
Narrowing Your Focus	p. 16
Process Overview: Searching the Psychological Literature	p. 19
Doing Library Research	p. 20
A Brief Guide to Reference Works in Psychology	p. 20
Using Online Catalogs	p. 24
Psychology Online: Using Databases	p. 25
Searching the Internet	p. 27
Search and Metasearch	p. 28
Other Internet Resources	p. 30
Using the Internet: Caveat Emptor	p. 31
Keeping Track of References	p. 33
Logging References in a Working Bibliography	p. 33
Exercises	p. 35
Reading the Psychological Literature	p. 37
The Scientific Pecking Order: Why Journals Are First	p. 38
How to Read and Evaluate the Literature	p. 39
How to Read a Journal Article	p. 40
Skimming: Doing a Quick Prereading	p. 42
Taking Notes on What You Read	p. 45
Using Notecards	p. 45
Using a Research Notebook	p. 46
Recognizing and Preventing Plagiarism	p. 46
A Plagiarism-Awareness Exercise	p. 48
One More Word of Advice	p. 51
Exercises	p. 52
Getting Started: Writing	p. 53
Getting Started: Prewriting Activities	p. 55
Freewriting	p. 56
Outlining	p. 58
Writing a First Draft	p. 63
Trick Drafts: Starting with the Roughest Draft	p. 64
Writing a Hypothesis and Composing Paragraphs	p. 65
A Recommended Order for Drafting APA-Style Papers	p. 67
Writing Subsequent Drafts	p. 69
Three Issues to Consider	p. 69
Suggestions for Further Improvement	p. 71
How Many Drafts?	p. 72
Revising: Top to Bottom Every Time	p. 73
Revisiting a Draft	p. 74
Seeking Feedback	p. 77
Professor, Peer, or Writing Center?	p. 77
How to (Graciously) Receive Feedback	p. 78
How to (Graciously) Give Feedback	p. 79
Exercises	p. 80
Writing APA-Style Papers: Content and Guidance	p. 81
Benefits of APA Style	p. 81
Bem's Hourglass Model for Empirical Writings	p. 82
Writing the Empirical, or Research, Paper in APA style	p. 82
Title	p. 82
Abstract	p. 85
Introduction	p. 88
Method	p. 93
Results	p. 98
Discussion	p. 99
References	p. 102
Tables and Figures	p. 102
Appendix	p. 103
Author Note	p. 103
A Sample Research Paper	p. 104
Writing an Article Critique	p. 115
Writing a Research Proposal	p. 115
Writing a Literature Review Paper	p. 117
Writing a Theory Paper	p. 118
Exercises	p. 119
Writing Up Results	p. 120
Conveying Statistical Results in Words	p. 120
Starting with a Hypothetical Research Result	p. 120
Organizing the Results Section	p. 124
Reflecting Further on Your Results	p. 127
New APA Guidelines on Statistical Methods	p. 127
Meaning Before Numbers: The MAGIC Criteria	p. 128
Exercises	p. 129
Citing References in APA Style	p. 130
Citations and References	p. 130
Learning the Psychological Literature by Reading References Sections	p. 131
Basic Citation Mechanics	p. 132
Citing References Within Text	p. 132
Quoting and Paraphrasing	p. 134
Citing Secondary Sources	p. 140
Formats for APA-Style References	p. 141
Journal Articles	p. 142
Books	p. 143
Edited Books	p. 144
Chapters in Edited Books	p. 144
Magazine or Newspaper Articles	p. 144
Presentations at Professional Meetings or Conferences	p. 145
Electronic (Online) Sources	p. 145
Reviews	p. 147
Personal Communications	p. 147
Letters to the Editor	p. 147
Dissertations and Master's Theses	p. 147
Unpublished Manuscripts or Data	p. 148
Exercises	p. 150
Displaying Data in Tables and Figures	p. 151
Tables	p. 151
Constructing a Table	p. 152
Figures	p. 155
Constructing a Figure	p. 157
Exercises	p. 158
Formatting and Proofreading Your Paper	p. 160
Grammar Guidelines	p. 160
Punctuation Basics	p. 164
Some Common Usage Errors in Student Writing	p. 167
Checking Your Spelling	p. 169
Checking Your Writing Voice: Be Active, Not Passive	p. 170
Using Inclusive Language	p. 171
Gender and Sex	p. 173
Race and Ethnicity	p. 175
Guidelines for Formatting in APA Style	p. 175
Title Page	p. 176
Page Numbering	p. 177
Headings and Subheadings	p. 177
Quickly Checking a Paper's Format	p. 178
Proofreading the Penultimate Draft: Once More with Feeling	p. 178
Exercises	p. 182
Beyond Writing: Presenting Psychological Research	p. 183
The Call for Papers	p. 183
Understanding Call Types and Requirements	p. 184
Knowing Your Audience	p. 186
The Talk	p. 188
Outlining a Talk	p. 189
Preparing Overheads, Slides, and Handouts	p. 190
Computer-Aided Presentations	p. 190
Practice, Practice, Practice	p. 192
Giving the Talk: Be a Pro, Avoid the Cons	p. 192
Symposia: Talks in Common	p. 196
Student Symposia	p. 196
Poster Presentations	p. 197
Knowing What to Expect	p. 198
Creating a Poster: Less Is More-and More Is a Bore	p. 199
Return to Writing: Submitting Your Research to a Journal	p. 202
Student Journals	p. 203
Professional Journals	p. 203
Submission, Peer Review, and Editorial Decision: A Process Outline	p. 205
Patience, Patience, Patience	p. 207
Exercises	p. 208
Some Journals in Psychology	p. 209
References	p. 213
Credits	p. 223
Index	p. 227
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.