*

What sections must be included in my Psychology Research Paper?

Title Page; Abstract with Keywords; Introduction; History; Modernity; Literature Review (Parts I, II, and III); Results/Findings; Discussion; Conclusions/Next Steps; and References.

  *

What is an abstract?

An abstract is a paragraph about your entire paper usually written in under 250 words.  Some people first write their abstract and use it as an outline for how they will write their papers. Other people write their papers, and then, going through them, write their abstract. Which way will you write your abstract?

*

What's in an abstract?

The abstract summarizes the entire article in a nutshell.  

It should include at least one citation that you refer to in your paper, often this is reflective of the theory you are using.

Type of research you are discussing (qualitative/quantitative). For the purposes of this class, it would be Literature Review.

*

What does an abstract look like?

The abstract appears immediately following the Title page of your research paper..

The abstract is on a page where the word ABSTRACT is at the top of the page, capitalized, and centered.

The paragraph of writing that follows is in sentence case, aligned to the left, 12 point Times New Roman font. The page has 1" margins on the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the page, or 1 inch margins all around.

Immediately following your abstract, aligned left, should appear: Keywords: (and then include 5 or 6 search terms).

The following page, you begin your Introduction Section.

*

What do I include as keywords?

Think about your entire project. What 5 or 6 terms or phrases would you use to describe your project in a word . . . Think about your own methods, what search terms did you use?  Do they apply to your own paper?  Creat a list of 5 or 6 search terms, keywords, about your paper. List them separated by semicolons (;) immediately following your abstract.  Keywords: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6

*

What do I include in the Introduction?

2 - 3 pages Discuss your research project, (be sure to use APA style for all in-text citations; every sentence ought to be cited to a page number):

• What is your topic?
• Contextualize your topic with a relevant statistic about your topic from government or non-profit sources: Who is effected?; How many people are effected?; How much money is spent on it, or because of; etc.
• Why did you choose this topic?
• How can your choice in topic illustrate your bias about this topic?
• In what ways can you add perspective to your own bias (whether away from something or toward something) to balance your bias? (In other words, play devil's advocate and make room for an opposing perspective in your design, what can you add that you might not have seen because of your own frame of reference, bias? 
• In addition to the bias you have which influences your choice of research subject, from the perspective of the Psychology of Women, are you operating with an alpha or beta bias?  Do you need to/want to/not want to balance it?
• From the perspective of the Psychology of Women, which type of feminism thought you are operating in (this may be multiple types, please, briefly, discuss all).
• In one or two paragraphs, preview the rest of the paper
• Conclude with a hard hitting sentence as to why your research is important and should be further read (may include another statistic).

*

What do I include in the History Section?

 1-2 pages, depending on what you found and your interest, this can be much longer.

Discuss the history of your topic.  Highlight in this section the work of one of the thinkers from www.feministvoices.com Women Past, and any information you have found about her; work that you read beyond what was presented on the site; etc. Be sure that this is APA style.   As per this assignment, every single thing referring to anything that you read; watched; saw on the Internet; etc. must be referenced, with the page number. Remember to include in your references any work you mention.

*

What do I include in the Modernity Section?

 1-2 pages, depending on what you found and your interest, this can be much longer.

Pick one feminist thinker who is working on research of your topic in present times.  Highlight in this section the work of one of the thinkers from www.feministvoices.com Feminist Presence, and any information you have found about her; work that you read beyond what was presented on the site; etc. Be sure that this is APA style.   As per this assignment, every single thing referring to anything that you read; watched; saw on the Internet; etc. must be referenced, with the page number. Remember to include in your references any work you mention.

*

What do I include in the Methods Section?

This can be one or two paragraphs, or longer, depending on how much you did.

Discuss how you came to the research article and data you have found. (Include search terms you used in library data bases, Internet searches, places you may have gone; etc. What were the methods you used to produce the Literature for your Literature Review.

*

What do I include in the Literature Review Part I Section?

3 articles you found thinking they were perfect for understanding your research interest, at least 1 page each

The first of three articles I found thinking it was a pefect fit to my interest based on its title, was Author (Year), Title of Article (pp. ? - ?).

The abstract discussed  . . . .. . .  (p. ).

After reading the abstract, I decided not to read the full article because while I though the article would address this:  . . . . (fill this in with why, based on the title you thought the article would be good) the article actually talked about this (discuss something the article talked about (p.) and I felt it was inappropriate to my needs because . . . . (fill this in.

The second of three articles  . . . . (see above)

The third of three article . . . .  (see above)

(be sure to use APA style for all in-text citations; every sentence ought to be cited to a page number).

*

What do I include in the Literature Review, Part II Section?

3 articles you did use, 2-3 pages each

After having again searched the database, this time using search terms, (List Search terms and add URLs of the searches you ran), I found three articles, based on their titles, and after reading their abstracts, that I felt were perfect for helping me understand (include your topic).

The first of three articles I found thinking it was appropriate to my interest based on its title, was Author (Year), Title of Article (pp. page# to page#).

The abstract discussed  . . . .. . .  (p. ).

After reading the abstract, I decided to read the full article because while I though the article would address this:  . . . . (fill this in with why, based on the title you thought the article would be good) the article talked about that AND/OR/ETC and I felt it was extremely important to consider this, because I had not thought of it . . . or whatever your experience was. . . (discuss something the article talked about (p.). I felt it was appropriate to my needs because . . . . (fill this in.

Discuss the articles sections, introduction, methods, findings, results, discussion, or some variation of these, in whole or part (so you can discuss each section, focus in on one or two ideas, or for the length of your discussion hone in on something very specific to your own research) Remember, each page cited to a page number, so if you are talking about something on 1 page, you will continually give that citation, even for paraphrasing, (p. 28), as an example. You already will have cited Author, Year, so you do not need to cite anything but the page number, until you refer to a next author. 

The second of three articles  . . . . (see above)

The third of three article . . . .  (see above)

(be sure to use APA style for all in-text citations; every sentence ought to be cited to a page number).

*

What do I include in the Literature Review, Part III Section?

5 chapters, minimally one page each.

Discuss at least five different chapters from your textbook which meet your own research interest (this may be very apparent, or sometimes, you might have to make some leaps of logic). 

The materials must address at least five different chapters, not five things in any one chapter. 

You may need to make some leaps to connect your research interest, but for the most part, you should be able to make these connections. 

Discuss each chapter and how it connects to your own research. (be sure to use APA style for all in-text citations; every sentence ought to be cited to a page number).

*

What do I include in the Results Section?

This can easily be 1 page or more.

Having just gone through this process, reflect on it and share. . . This is the results of what I have found as a whole . . . (be sure to use APA style for all in-text citations; every sentence ought to be cited to a page number).

*

What do I include in the Discussion Section?

This can easily be 1 page or more.

• What have you learned through this process?
• What does the results of your literature review mean?
• What were any limitations your literature review may have?
• What contributions does your work add to the field of Psychology of Women?

*

What do I include in the Conclusions/Next Steps Section?

1 page (minimally, depending on your interest and intention to continue academic work, this can be substantially longer

• What does it all mean?
• Briefly review your entire work.
• What is a new question you have?
• Next steps (follow up research; creating a research design; searching for a faculty advisor; proposing new research to an IRB) The world is yours . . . You are in the exact seat to be doing so.

*

How do I cite references APA style?

Please see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition (2010) for "APA Style" . Montclair State University's Library and Library website have ample information for students about APA style.