Writing a Psychology Research Paper A Complete Guide

Writing a Psychology Research Paper A Complete Guide A research paper is a scholarly work containing original research or documenting a new invention that is usually supposed to be published in an academic journal and be subjected to peer review. It is the most widespread form in which scientists and researchers show the results of their work to the academic world. If you intend to pursue a career in academia, you have to start learning the specifics of this type of work as early as possible. In this psychology research paper writing guide, you will find a step-by-step instructions you can use to make writing your first research paper much easier. Before Writing a Psychology Research Paper Topic The goal of writing a research paper is to demonstrate your ability to do original, unsupervised research: gather and analyze information, make conclusions and support your point of view with viable evidence. As a result, students are normally free to choose any topic within the scope of their course (although it is still necessary to discuss it with your tutor). A topic you are comfortable with is a foundation of every good paper, so don’t take this step lightly. Here are some suggestions that can help you make a choice you won’t regret: Start with topics that are personally interesting to you, especially if you know something about them that is beyond the basic psychology course you take. Review the literature on a topic that catches your interest before you commit to writing on it – thus you will know exactly how many sources you will have available. Look for a topic that is simultaneously sufficiently well-researched (to have enough sources to build upon) and leaves enough space for you to work in (so as to avoid unintentional plagiarism if you happen to write something that was covered in a source you’ve missed). Discuss your choice with your tutor. He may suggest some changes or ask you to look for another topic. In the end, your topic should be sufficiently narrow to do in-depth research, e.g.: The Influence of Narcissistic Mother on Children’s Mental Health; Emotional Effects of Solitary Confinement; The Psychology behind Long-Lasting Marriages; Birth Order Effects on Personality Traits and Achievement; Main Causes of Teenage Suicide; Effects of Overcrowding on Psychological Health; Connection between Physical Illness and Stress. Thesis Statement Explained by Our Experts Thesis statement is the main point of your research paper boiled down to one sentence. It is important to differentiate between the topic, the research question and the thesis statement. Topic is a general area of research, e.g., â€Å"Bipolar Disorder†; Research question is a question your research paper intends to answer, e.g., â€Å"Is there a correlation between bipolar disorder and creativity?†; Thesis statement is the answer to that question, e.g., â€Å"Treatment of bipolar disorder often negatively affects the patient’s creativity†. Thesis statement should be located at the very beginning of the paper (first or second paragraph), with the body paragraphs providing evidence to support this claim. Don’t make it vague – the reader should immediately understand what you want to prove and what the main point of your paper is. Word your thesis statement precisely and make it narrow enough in scope to allow yourself to thoroughly investigate the topic. Work with Sources Although a research paper should contain original research and your own findings, no work in psychology exists in isolation from the existing body of research on the subject. You will have to work with many sources of information to prove the credibility of your work and your knowledge of the topic. The majority of sources you use should come from peer-reviewed psychology journals, although other publications (books, web resources, mass media etc.) are acceptable as well. Just make sure to differentiate between low- and high-value sources and put emphasis on the latter. If you are unfamiliar with the subject matter of your paper, finding viable sources may be difficult. Here are some suggestions where to start: Look through the bibliography of the relevant section in your psychology textbook. The books and their authors mentioned there will be a good start; Run a search in multidisciplinary and discipline-specific online databases. PsycInfo and PubMed contain the fullest information on most psychology publications. You may also find PubPsych useful, although it is mainly Europocentric and has many sources in German, Spanish and French. Academic Search and Google Scholar are the most prominent multidisciplinary examples; By that time you will already have a good idea of who are the most prominent specialists on your chosen subject, so check databases and libraries for their other books and articles; Look through bibliography sections of the sources you’ve already located. Most of your information should come from empirical reports from psychology journals. Rely on secondary sources of data (e.g., chapters and books) only if you cannot locate the original source. Take notice of how many times an article has been cited so far (most scholarly databases provide this information) – usually the more times it was cited, the more important it is considered to be in the field. However, this factor isn’t absolute – if an article is recent, it simply didn’t have enough time to be extensively cited. Outline Outline is a plan or a blueprint of your research paper that helps you organize your thoughts and make sure each paragraph serves a specific purpose and is logically connected to the rest of the paper. Depending on the structure of your paper, it may be different, but usually it runs along the following lines: Introduction Hook (a sentence aimed at attracting the reader’s attention); Thesis statement; Background information. Body Paragraphs Major Point #1 with supporting evidence; Major Point #2 with supporting evidence; Major Point #3 with supporting evidence; Etc. Conclusion Restatement of the thesis; Suggestions for the following research. If you mark what you intend to mention in each part of your section before you start writing it, you will see if there are repetitive ideas that can be merged or eliminated, if some parts don’t logically flow into one another, if some sections are redundant and have to be removed. An outline can be formal and informal. An informal or working outline is your personal plan that helps you arrange your thoughts. However, sometimes you are asked to submit a formal outline along with your paper. In this case, you should follow one of several accepted formats to organize your ideas (e.g., an alphanumerical system that uses numerals and letters for formatting). Psychology Research Paper Writing Stages General Principles of Writing a Psychology Paper No good paper is ever written in a single draft. Be prepared to not just revise your work, but to cut huge swathes of it, rewrite whole sections and even the entire paper from scratch. Treat your opposition fairly. Your goal is to show the value of your viewpoint in fair and equal comparison with alternative theories. If you go out of your way to disprove other points of view using unimportant flaws in their methodology to discredit them and fail to treat evidence that supports your point in the same way, you are likely to achieve the effect opposite to intended. Don’t use slang, colloquialisms and jargon. Your language should be precise and scientific. Keep most of your sentences relatively short. Professionals suggest that average sentence length should be around 20-25 words, but you shouldn’t try to make all sentences the same length. Your writing should be a mix of short, medium and relatively long sentences to create a balanced feel. Use no more than one idea/point per paragraph. If you find that a paragraph keeps going and going, check if it contains more than one idea. Don’t use passive voice unless it is necessary. You may think that passive voice makes your writing sound more serious and scientific; in reality it makes it heavy-handed and hard to understand. In most cases there is no need to use passive voice, so don’t (â€Å"Jackson found a correlation between these two factors† rather than â€Å"A correlation has been found between these two factors†). Check your pronouns. It should always be possible to see what each pronoun refers to. If it isn’t, replace it with a noun or a noun phrase. You are writing a research paper, not a novel, so don’t be afraid of tautology. Your primary concern is information transfer; if you repeat the same word multiple time to avoid confusion, so be it. The same goes about using synonyms. Trying to diversify your writing by referring to one and the same concept using multiple words will confuse the readers. If, for example, you talk about children, use the same word throughout your paper, don’t replace it with â€Å"kids† or â€Å"youngsters†. Use past or present perfect tenses when describing specific events and research that happened in the past. Present simple should be limited to talking about currently held theories and generalized statements. E.g., use â€Å"Barnes reviewed this case in his 1985 study† rather than â€Å"Barnes reviews this case in his 1985 study†. Don’t use first person. Keep your writing impersonal and objective, even if you talk about personal experiences (which, as a rule, you shouldn’t). Psychology doesn’t accept personal anecdotal reports as evidence. Don’t use footnotes and endnotes. This point is referred to in APA style guide, but it is important enough to be mentioned individually. Footnotes interrupt the flow of text and disrupt the process of reading. Any external information you deem important enough to be mentioned should be placed into the body of the text. If it isn’t essential, better not mention it at all. Avoid direct quotations. Psychologists prefer not to quote sources word for word, instead extracting the essence of the quotation and expressing it in your own words. It is different from paraphrasing: you don’t simply rearrange the words of the original quote to use them without quotation marks but distill their meaning. E.g., don’t write â€Å"Chadston (1996) has said about depression that â€Å"it’s influence on society isn’t limited to financial costs and interpersonal relations†Ã¢â‚¬  but â€Å"According to Chadston (1996), depression has enormous impact beyond economical and social implications†. Only cite the works you’ve actually read. This means that if you encounter a quotation from another source in one of your primary sources you shouldn’t quote it as if you’ve read this source directly. When you refer to it, you should add â€Å"as cited in†. Quoting secondary sources as primary ones is very bad form in psychology writing, and even when using them properly you shouldn’t rely on them too much. After Writing Referencing and Formatting Psychology research papers are written using the APA (American Psychology Association) format that covers everything from the use of bias-free language to the way of organizing references and bibliographies. You can find all the necessary information about these aspects in an official style guide, on the APA website or on numerous other online resources dedicated to it. It doesn’t make sense to try and repeat some of the style rules here – the list will by definition will be incomplete. If you ever have any questions concerning it, consult one of the official resources – there you will find information about all the possible situations organized in meticulous detail. Revisions Revision shouldn’t come as an afterthought – it is just as important a part of working on a research paper. Some students decide to revise their papers if they have time before submitting it. Don’t repeat this mistake – a couple of hours spend revising a paper can mean the difference between a failing and a passing grade. Here is how you can improve the quality of your revision: Take the time necessary for revision into account beforehand. Try to finish the paper a few days before the deadline to give yourself plenty of time; Set the paper aside for a while (ideally for at least 48 hours). When you reread it afterwards you will notice numerous opportunities of improvement that weren’t obvious immediately after you finished writing; Have a friend or a trustworthy classmate read it and ask for his opinion. Tell him to pay the most attention not to the beauty of your writing style but to how clear the paper is. If your friend finds a paper or some section of it lacking in clarity, don’t argue or try to explain things. If the reader cannot understand something, it is your fault by definition, and you need to set things right; Cut without regrets. The most beneficial thing you can do for your paper is to remove what is unnecessary. Reread the entire paper one more time slowly and thinking about every word. The rule of the thumb is simple: if a word, phrase, paragraph or even section isn’t absolutely necessary to move the point of your research paper forward, get rid of it; Don’t get attached to anything. All writers sometimes produce a phrase, expression or paragraph they are particularly proud of. When time for revision comes, you may be tempted to save this gem no matter what, reorganizing things around it and gradually losing sight of your initial purpose. A good writer, however, should be ready to edit out anything. In the end, the only way to get good at writing psychology research is to practice doing it. These psychology research paper writing tips, however, can give you enough basic knowledge to prepare your first work.

Biography of John Adams, 2nd United States President

Biography of John Adams, 2nd United States President John Adams (October 30, 1735–July 4, 1826) served as Americas second president and was one of the founding fathers of the American republic. While his time as president was rife with opposition, he was able to keep the new country out of a war with France. Fast Facts: John Adams Known For: Founding father of the American Revolution and United States; second U.S. President, after George WashingtonBorn: October 30, 1735 in the Massachusetts Bay ColonyParents: John and Susanna Boylston AdamsDied:  July 4, 1826 in Quincy, MassachusettsEducation: Harvard CollegePublished Works: The Autobiography of John AdamsSpouse: Abigail Smith (m. October 25, 1764)Children: Abigail, John Quincy (the sixth president), Charles, and Thomas Boylston Early Life John Adams was born on October 30, 1735, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to John Adams and his wife Susanna Boylston. The Adams family had been in Massachusetts for five generations, and the elder John was a farmer who had been educated at Harvard and was a deacon at Braintree’s First Congregational Church and a selectman for the town of Braintree. The younger John was the oldest of three children: his brothers were named  Peter Boylston and Elihu. Johns father taught his son to read before sending him to a local school run by their neighbor Mrs. Belcher. John next attended Joseph Cleverlys Latin school and then studied under Joseph Marsh before becoming a student at Harvard College in 1751 at the age of 15, graduating in four years. After leaving Harvard, Adams worked as a teacher but decided instead to take up the law. He trained under Judge James Putnam (1725–1789), another Harvard man, who would eventually serve as attorney general of Massachusetts. Adams was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1758. Marriage and Family On  October 25, 1764, John Adams married  Abigail Smith, the high-spirited daughter of a Brookline minister. She was nine  years younger than Adams, loved reading, and built an abiding and tender relationship with her husband, evidenced by their surviving letters. Together they had six children, four of whom lived to adulthood: Abigail (called Nabby), John Quincy (the sixth president), Charles, and Thomas Boylston. Career Before the Presidency Two of Adams most influential cases were the successful defense of the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre (1770). He defended both the commanding officer, Captain Preston, winning a complete acquittal for him, and his eight soldiers, six of whom were acquitted. The remaining two were found guilty but were able to escape execution by praying the benefit of clergy, a medieval loophole. Never a fan of the British- Adams took the case in the cause of justice- his experiences with the Boston Massacre trials would begin Adams journey towards accepting that the colonies would need to separate from Britain.   From 1770–1774, Adams served in the Massachusetts legislature and was then elected a member of the Continental Congress. He nominated George Washington to be Commander-in-Chief of the army and was part of the committee that worked to draft the Declaration of Independence. Diplomatic Efforts In 1778 during the early days of the war for independence, Adams served as a diplomat to France alongside Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee but found himself out of place. He returned to the U.S. and served in the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention before being sent to the Netherlands on another diplomatic mission negotiating trade agreements from 1780 to 1782. From there, he returned to France and with Franklin and John Jay created the Treaty of Paris (1783) officially ending the American Revolution. From 1785–1788 he was the first American minister to visit Great Britain. He later served as vice president to Washington, the nations first president, from 1789 to 1797. Election of 1796 As Washingtons vice president, Adams was the next logical Federalist candidate for the presidency. He was opposed by Thomas Jefferson in a fierce campaign, causing a political rift between the old friends that lasted the rest of their lives. Adams was in favor of a strong national government and felt France was a greater concern to national security than Britain, while Jefferson felt the opposite. At that time, whoever received the most votes became president, and whoever came in second became Vice President. John Adams received 71 electoral votes and Jefferson 68. France and the XYZ Affair One of Adams major accomplishments during his presidency was to keep America out of a war with France and normalize relations between the two countries. When he became president, relations were strained between the United States and France mainly because the French were conducting raids on American ships. In 1797, Adams sent three ministers to try to work things out. The French would not accept them and instead, French Minister Talleyrand sent three men to ask for $250,000 in order to resolve their differences. This event became known as the  XYZ Affair, causing a great public uproar in the United States against France. Adams acted quickly, sending another group of ministers to France to try to preserve the peace. This time they were able to meet and come to an agreement that allowed the U.S. to be protected on the seas in exchange for granting France special trading privileges. During the ramp-up to a possible war, Congress passed the  repressive Alien and Sedition Acts, which consisted of four measures designed to limit immigration and  free speech. Adams used them to censor and repress criticisms against the government- specifically the Federalist Party. Marbury vs. Madison John Adams spent the last few months of his term in office in the new, unfinished mansion in Washington, D.C. that would eventually be called the White House. He did not attend Jeffersons inauguration and instead spent his last hours in office appointing numerous Federalist judges and other officeholders based on the Judiciary Act of 1801. These would be known as the midnight appointments. Jefferson removed many of them, and the  Supreme Court  case  Marbury vs. Madison  (1803) ruled the Judiciary Act was unconstitutional, resulting in the right of  judicial review. Adams was unsuccessful in his bid for reelection, opposed not only by the Democratic-Republicans under Jefferson but also by  Alexander Hamilton. A Federalist, Hamilton actively campaigned against Adams in hopes that vice presidential nominee Thomas Pinckney would win. However, Jefferson won the presidency and Adams retired from politics. Death and Legacy After losing the presidency, John Adams returned home to Quincy, Massachusetts. He spent his time learning, writing his autobiography, and corresponding with old friends. That included mending fences with Thomas Jefferson and beginning a vibrant letter friendship. He lived to see his son John Quincy Adams become president. He died at his home in Quincy on July 4, 1826, within a few hours of the death of Thomas Jefferson. John Adams was an important figure throughout the revolution and the early years of the United States. He and Jefferson were the only two presidents who had been members of the founding fathers and signed the Declaration of Independence. The crisis with France dominated most of his time in office, as he was faced with opposition to actions he took concerning France from both parties. However, his perseverance allowed the fledgling United States to avoid war, giving it more time to build and grow. Sources Adams, John. 1807. The Autobiography of John Adams. Massachusetts Historical Society.Grant, James. John Adams: Party of One. Farrar, New York: Straus and Giroux, 2005.McCullough, David. John Adams. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001.Farrell, James M., and John Adams. John Adamss Autobiography: The Ciceronian Paradigm and the Quest for Fame. The New England Quarterly 62.4 (1989): 505-28.Smith, Page. John Adams, Volume I 1735-1784; Volume II 1784-1826. New York: Doubleday, 1962.John Adams: Biography. John Adams Historical Society 2013.