Effective Writing In Psych »

Bernard C. Beins is Professor and Department Chair of Psychology at Ithaca College. He has written extensively and throughout his career has been active in the scholarship of teaching. His publications include Research Methods: A Tool for Life (2004).

Agatha M. Beins has earned a Master's Degree in Women's Studies from the University of Arizona and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Eastern Washington University. She is currently a doctoral student in Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University.

Writing and communication skills are invaluable tools for both students and professionals in the field of psychology. This book helps users to generate crisp scientific communication in psychology. The book aids students, writers, and speakers at all levels by guiding them at every stage of the process. In a practical and accessible way, the authors teach readers how to make concise, unambiguous arguments; document their sources; and render technical information clear and comprehensible. Including the standards of writing found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, this book

• Focuses on principles of good writing and writing in APA style
  
• Offers tips on creating poster presentations, giving talks, writing for the Internet, and making presentations to institutional review boards (IRBs)
  
• Highlights methods for selecting a research topic and organizing papers
  
• Provides a separate section on how to communicate statistics

Preface     vii
Acknowledgments     xi
Writing in Psychology     1
Organizing and Developing Your Ideas and Writing     11
Formulating Your Ideas     13
Assessing Your Sources     25
How to Conduct a Literature Search     37
How to Read and Summarize a Journal Article     49
Organizing a Paper     59
Elements of Style     71
Communicating Statistics     85
Preparing APA Format Papers     95
Writing a Thesis or a Term Paper     97
The Introduction Section     109
The Method Section     119
The Results     131
The Discussion Section     153
References: Citations in the Text and the Reference List     161
Final Touches: The Abstract and Formatting Details     175
Communicating Beyond the Research Paper     195
Creating Poster Presentations     197
Giving Oral Presentations     209
Presenting Your Work on the Internet     219
Submitting Your Plan to an Ethics Committee     227
Example of Apa-Style Manuscript with Common Errors     237
Corrected Apa-Style Manuscript     247
References     255
Subject Index     261
Author Index     267