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Basic Content Requirements
Your paper should be appropriate in terms of depth and breadth, and flow logically. The paper should have the following information:
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Introduction: The first few (1-3) sentences serve as an introduction that clearly tells the reader the purpose of your paper. First, include some very general, very brief, information about the topic area.
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Then, state that you are going to summarize two experiments on a certain topic. Inform the reader that the paper will describe the purpose of the research and review previous results and the limitations of that research. Then, the paper will summarize two experiments, describe the methodological problems in that research, and explore future research. Let the reader know what is coming.
Cite the two references in the text here.
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Purpose:Statetherelatedpurposeofthesetwoexperiments.Ifyour experiments are similar, then their purposes should be similar.
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Previous Research: Describe results from previous research in this area. (Previous research can be found in the Introduction and/or the Discussion sections of the studies)
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Limitations – Describe limitations of previous research in this area. This may include poor methodology, unsatisfactory results, or a lack research in the area.
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6. Experiment Summary/Methods: Present a summary of how each experiment was conducted and what each the experiment proved or demonstrated.
Hint: do one experiment at a time here. An outline of this section might look like:
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The purpose of the research by Danforth (2005) was …
o Method
o Results
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A follow-up study evaluated the long-term effects of timeout (Evans,
Fugere, & Leszczynski, 2006). o Method
o Results
A. In one or two sentences, describe the purpose of the experiment or the question that the experimenters were seeking to answer with this specific experiment. You could present the experimental hypothesis if it is clearly described. Most experiments evaluate the effects of Variable A on Variable B (the effects of the IV on the DV), or they investigate the relationship (correlation) between variables. (3)
B. Present a brief summary of how the Method of the experiment was conducted. Provide only the ESSENTIAL details from the Method so that the reader understands what happened. (e.g., identify the subjects and their pertinent characteristics). If you can, name the experimental design (e.g., group comparison, ABAB, or experimental case study). If relevant, identify the independent and dependent variable. If it is a study of a correlation, probably no IV and DV will be identified. In that case, identify the variables being correlated. Or, try to identify the conditions in the experiment (e.g., if groups are used, describe the essential characteristics that distinguish one group from another, if it was an ABAB design what was condition A and what was condition B?). (4)
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C. State the most important Results from the experiments. Try to identify the fundamental results that help the reader understand the essence of this experiment.
Methodological Problems/Weaknesses of both studies. (Discuss together)
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Discuss weaknesses of the experimental methods of each study. It is
preferable here to merge the two experiments if you can. If the studies share weaknesses, indicate, and explain why it is a problem. (Be sure to cite to determine which study you are discussing)
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Do not discuss Results here unless you clearly relate them to weaknesses in the Method.
Future Research
• Summarize what the researchers say about future research in each study. If none were reported, indicate (a) what kinds of questions need to be asked or (b) how the Methods may need to be altered. Important: synthesize the information from the two studies into one section.
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Basic Format Requirements
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Introduction
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The purpose of the experiment
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Previous Research
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Limitations of previous research
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Experiment Summary
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Methodological Problems with these two experiments
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Future research