Word limit: 2000(not including title or references)

Section Max. marks Content

Title 2 IV and DV (precise and no more than 15 words)

Introduction 20 Past research; rationale; hypotheses

Methods 20 Participants; materials; design; procedure – in enough detail for someone else to replicate the study

References 6 Full APA-style references for all citations in main text

Straightforward and informative (not more than 15 words) Enough to explain your study without going into too much

detail

Examples:› Too little detail: Fast food purchases› Too much detail: Differences in the fast food purchasing habits of men

and women in the last month in Brighton› Just right: Differences in the fast food purchasing habits of men and

women

Independent Variable = the value being manipulated or changed

Dependent Variable = the observed result that is dependent on the independent variable

What is the IV and DV in the following titles?

› Differences in the fast food purchasing habits of men and women

› The impact of a sensation-seeking personality trait on alcohol consumption

› The effects of aging on reaction time in a signal detection task

Quick explanation of research area Summary of relevant past research (and perhaps its

flaws) Purpose of study Brief description of methods 4 Hypotheses (2 qualitative and 2 quantitative)

› Aim to predict differences between groups rather than relationships between variables

Up to 1200 words

Qualitative hypotheses:› 2 qualitative variables› Example: “Men prefer to buy fast food at Burger King,

while women prefer to buy fast food at McDonalds”

Quantitative hypotheses:

› 1 qualitative variable and 1 quantitative variable› Example: “Males consume a larger quantity of

alcoholic beverages per week than females”

› 2 quantitative variables (not for this term)› Example: “As age increases, scores on a memory test

decrease”

Give enough information so that someone could replicate your study.

Write in paragraphs (no lists!)

Subsections: Participants Materials Design Procedure

Number of participants you aim to recruit Sex (# of men, # of women) Who (students, women, the retired, etc) Age (can’t give mean, SD or range -

haven’t collected data yet) Will they be volunteers or paid? Any other demographics that might be

necessary

Things you will be using:› Questionnaire (do not include the whole thing!)› Any other materials you think are necessary to include› DON’T INCLUDE: Pen, A4 paper, etc.

Identify:› Independent variable(s)› Dependent variable(s)› Design: within-subjects, between-subjects or mixed?

Don’t worry about this section this term Just say you used a questionnaire design

Explain how the experiment was carried out

Step by step breakdown of what was done

Write in future tense

Write in third person where you can (e.g. “Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire”) and avoid first person (“I asked participants to complete a questionnaire”, “We asked participants to complete a questionnaire”)

Back up your assertions

Refer to people you tested as ‘participants’ not ‘subjects’

Making it look neat

Double-space

Colours: Stick to greyscale

Put a title on each section

Number your pages

Check your spelling and grammar

Check your references – they are worth six marks