Short Guide to Writing About Psychology » (3rd Edition)

Featuring the latest APA-style guidelines, this concise guide helps readers master the skills and conventions they need to write well in psychology.

This brief guide takes readers step-by-step through the writing process. In addition, it presents thorough discussions of researching psychological literature, focusing on online and database research, and presenting those findings in written and oral formats. Special attention is given to interpreting and reporting the results of statistical tests, as well as preparing data displays in tables and figures. Introducing readers to all elements of professional writing in APA style, this book is a perfect supplement for courses in the social science disciplines.

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