PSYM222

Research Methods

Practical Report

Required Task

You will write a practical report with a word count of 2000 words. The practical report is  worth 50% of the course mark. The 2000-word limit is very strict, and there will be a 5% penalty for going over, plus a further 5% penalty for every 50 words thereafter. Thus, a  report of 2400 words would receive a mark of 0.

Your task is to use the headings listed below to structure your practical report. The report must adhere to American Psychological Association (7th  Edition) for formatting and referencing. Please refer to resources on the ELE, and

https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/tutorials-webinars

This task does not require you to conduct your own study. Instead, you will write a report based on a study information provided to you (e.g., research questions, methods, participant details, interview excerpts).

The below documents will help you complete the report:

1.  Assignment brief (current document) describing the task and marking criteria

2.   Report template outlining and specifying parts of the report

3.   Study description detailing the key information about the study, including potential research questions

4.   Interview excerpts with highlighted themes

The goal of this assignment is for you to experience writing a report about a qualitative research study. The quality of your interview analysis is not assessed.

Proposed structure of the practical report:

Title page

Introduction

Method

Design

Participants

Data collection

Procedure

Data analysis

Ethical considerations

Results

Discussion

References

Appendices

Title: You will be provided with a research topic and will develop this into a research question during the practical sessions on this module. Your title should concisely describe  the proposed research in no more than 12 words. The title page is not included in the word count. Note, you must submit this report anonymously so do not include your name anywhere on the report (see also submission information below).

Introduction: Around 600 words (suggested word count)

Think of your introduction in terms of a funnel. You must start with research in the general area of your topic. You should use relevant  research to support your argument. By the end of your introduction, you should have narrowed down your literature to focus on the particular aspect you want to write about.

In your introduction, consider answering the following questions:

Why is this topic important? What do we know about the topic? Where is the gap in the literature?

Your introduction should end with your research question(s) (it is fine to have more than one). You should ensure that your research question is informed by the psychological literature which you will review in your introduction.

As this is a qualitative report, and typically qualitative research is more exploratory, you may not have any predictions (which are more common in quantitative studies). However, if the literature you review suggests certain themes and relationships within your topic, you could  include them and specify how this study contributes to the existing literature. For example, are you exploring if the same themes come up in a specific context or for a specific population?

Method: 300 - 600 words (suggested word count)

You will not collect data and so this section will describe the methods used to collect the interview data you are provided with: you will build the report on a Study description (document 3), including participant details, and Interview excerpts (document 4) that you will analyse.

Design: State and justify the approach to the study. Describe it’s design. This section is brief.

Participants: You should describe the characteristics of your sample (Number of participants; age; gender; etc), and any other information relevant to your research question.

You might like to present this information in a table. Details presented in a table are excluded from the overall word count.

Data collection: Briefly describe the measures and how they were developed. Was an existing interview schedule used? Was it based on previous research? Was a new interview protocol used? Was it piloted? Were there any adjustments to the interview schedule following the pilot?

You could include an example question from the interview schedule here but then provide further information in an Appendix, for example a screenshot or copy of the protocol. Be explicit about what you have included in any appendix and direct the reader. (E.g., A full list of the questions used in this study can be found in Appendix A).