Writing and Documenting Research Reports, Explained

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Writing and Documenting Research Reports

Research Methods in Psychology · Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodological PlanningSection 3.8 · lesson 23 of 9411 min · free with a free account

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In this lesson

Communicating scientific findings clearly, accurately, and in accordance with professional standards.

  • Describe the IMRaD structure of a research report
  • Explain the purpose and content of each section
  • Report statistical results correctly in APA format
  • Separate reporting results from interpreting them

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Everything said in the video, section by section (1,461 words). Read along, or search it.

Research Design and Methodological Planning

Writing and Documenting Research Reports

Everything you have designed, run, and analyzed now has to become a document. That document is the only version of your study anyone else will ever meet. So this section is about writing, and it is not a soft topic. There is a standard structure, and there are strict conventions for reporting numbers. Getting them wrong can make good research unusable. By the end, you will describe the standard structure of a report in APA format. You will explain what each section is for, and what belongs inside it. You will report statistical results the way APA format requires. And you will separate reporting a result from interpreting it, which is harder than it sounds. Start with why any of this matters.

Why Writing Matters

An Unwritten Study Does Not Exist

Scientific knowledge exists only when it is communicated. That sounds like a slogan. It is closer to a definition. A study that is never written up does not exist for the scientific community. Neither does one written up so poorly that nobody can follow it. The research report is how psychological findings enter the scientific record. Its quality decides whether they are understood, trusted, replicated, and built upon. Now the part that surprises students. Clarity and precision in scientific writing are not stylistic preferences. They are ethical obligations. Ambiguous reporting misrepresents findings, and wastes the effort of everyone who tries to build on them. It also contributes to the replication crisis in psychology.

The Standard Shape

Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion

Psychological research reports follow a standardized structure. It is defined by the American Psychological Association Publication Manual. Currently the seventh edition, published in twenty twenty. The structure has a name. IMRaD. Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. That order is not arbitrary, and it is worth seeing why. It follows the logical sequence of the scientific enterprise itself. The Introduction says why the study was done. Method says how it was done. Results says what was found. Discussion says what it means. Four questions, in the only order that makes sense.

Section By Section

What Each Part Carries

Walk through the components, because each one has a distinct job. The title and abstract give a concise overview of the whole study. The abstract runs one hundred fifty to two hundred fifty words. It covers background, aim, method, results, and conclusion. The Introduction establishes the theoretical and empirical context, and justifies the study. It ends with the research question and the hypothesis. The Method describes what was done, in enough detail for someone else to repeat it. The Results report what was found, and nothing more. The Discussion interprets those findings, against the hypothesis, prior literature, and theory. References list every source cited, alphabetically by author surname. Formatted according to APA seventh edition, consistently, all the way through.

The Funnel

Writing the Introduction

Take the Introduction first, and picture a funnel. You begin broadly, with why this research area matters, theoretically and practically. Then you narrow, through a critical review of the relevant literature. Then narrower still, to the specific gap or inconsistency your study addresses. And you finish with the research question, and a clear statement of the hypothesis. Wide at the top, narrow at the bottom, with nothing wasted in between. Here is the mistake almost every first report makes. Effective introductions are argument-driven, not merely descriptive. Every study you cite should be discussed with a purpose. To establish a finding, to flag a methodological limitation, to introduce a debate, or to justify a choice. Do not simply summarize studies in chronological order. That is a list, not an argument.

Enough To Replicate

The Method Section

The Method section has one governing standard. It must provide enough detail for an independent researcher to replicate the study. Not to admire it. To repeat it. It is typically divided into subsections. Participants, Design, Materials or Measures, Procedure, and Ethical Considerations. The working rule is this. Every decision that could have been made differently must be specified. Sample size, inclusion and exclusion criteria, the specific measures, the order of tasks. And where the decision is not obvious, justify it. Consider a sentence that appears in student reports constantly. Participants completed a survey about stress. That tells the reader nothing usable. Which stress measure? How many items? What response scale? What reliability, in your sample?

Report, Do Not Interpret

The Results Section

The Results section reports what was found, without interpretation. That restriction is the whole discipline of the section. Present descriptive statistics first. Means, standard deviations, frequencies. Then inferential statistics, in the order they address your research questions and hypotheses. For every inferential test, four things get reported. The test statistic. The degrees of freedom. The p value. And an effect size, with its confidence interval. Tables and figures earn their place when the data are complex. But each one has rules. It must be referenced in the text. It must have a clear title, and be interpretable without the surrounding text. And you never report a result in a table alone. Describe it in prose as well.

What It Means

The Discussion Section

The Discussion is where interpretation finally becomes legitimate. It opens with a concise summary of the main findings. And with how those findings relate to the hypothesis you stated. Then it interprets. What do the results mean? How do they relate to prior research, and to theory? What are the practical implications, if any? One constraint governs all of it. Every interpretive claim must be grounded in your own results. A Discussion must also acknowledge the study's limitations honestly. And suggest specific directions for future research. Specific, not decorative. Keep the boundary clean. Results answers what happened. Discussion answers what it means. Interpreting inside the Results section is one of the most common errors in student reports.

APA Statistics

Reporting Numbers Correctly

Now the statistics, because APA format is unusually specific here. For each inferential test, report the test statistic, degrees of freedom, and p value. Spoken out loud, that is t of fifty-eight equals three point two one, p equals point zero zero two. Always report an effect size alongside the p value. Cohen's d equals zero point eight two, with a ninety-five percent confidence interval. Statistical symbols are set in italics. The letters M, S D, t, F, p, r, and N. Round means and standard deviations to two decimal places, and p values to three. Report exact p values. So, p equals point zero two three, rather than p less than point oh five. The one exception is very small values, reported as p less than point zero zero one. And here is why effect sizes are not decoration. An effect size is a standardized measure of the magnitude of a finding. It carries the practical significance, which a p value on its own cannot supply.

Four Principles

Clarity, Accuracy, Concision, Objectivity

Four principles run underneath all of this. Clarity. Use simple, precise language. Avoid jargon where plain language serves, and define technical terms when you first introduce them. Prefer concrete language to abstract language wherever you can. Accuracy. Report statistics, sample characteristics, and findings precisely. Do not overstate conclusions, and do not generalize beyond what the data support. Concision. Every sentence should serve a purpose. Remove redundant phrases, unnecessary qualifications, and padding. Brevity, without sacrificing completeness. Objectivity. Do not exaggerate importance, misrepresent limitations, or advocate beyond the evidence. Which is why hedged language is a feature, not a weakness. Write suggest, indicate, or appear to. Not prove, and not demonstrate.

Common Errors

Where Reports Go Wrong

Some errors recur so reliably that you can predict them section by section. In the Introduction, describing studies without explaining how they relate to your rationale. A literature review that is only a list is not doing any work. In the Method, failing to specify the exact measures used. Or their psychometric properties, or how ethical approval was obtained. In the Results, interpreting findings rather than simply reporting them. Save the interpretation. It has a section of its own. In the Discussion, overstating conclusions beyond what the data support. And failing to acknowledge limitations at all. In the References, inconsistent APA formatting, or citing sources that never appear in the list. And in general, claiming that something proves a point, where the honest phrasing is that findings suggest it.

A Paragraph To Fix

Reading a Discussion Critically

Try one. Here is a Discussion paragraph, written by a student. Our results clearly prove that mindfulness meditation cures anxiety in university students. This is a major breakthrough that means all universities should immediately implement mandatory mindfulness programs. Count the problems. Prove and cures overstate what any single study can establish. Breakthrough exaggerates the importance of the finding. The policy recommendation advocates far beyond the evidence. And no limitation is acknowledged anywhere in it. A defensible rewrite is duller, and much stronger. These findings suggest that mindfulness meditation may reduce anxiety in this sample of university students. Replication with larger and more diverse samples is needed before any policy recommendation follows. Common errors undermine credibility, regardless of the quality of the underlying research. A good study, reported badly, is a study nobody can use.

About Research Methods in Psychology at UPI Study

Research Methods in Psychology (Psychology 111) is a self-paced online course of 94 video lessons in 16 chapters, from the scientific method and research ethics to designs, data collection, sampling, measurement, validity, experiments, descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing. It carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits.

Every lesson transcript is free on pages like this one, and the videos are free with a free UPI Study account. Enrolling adds a practice quiz after each lesson, the graded work and final exam that earn the credit, lifetime access, and an official transcript on completion. UPI Study has helped over 130,000 students with college credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

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Why students take Research Methods in Psychology with UPI Study

How psychologists know what they knowResearch Methods in Psychology teaches how psychological studies are designed, run and judged: research ethics, surveys and observation, correlational and experimental designs, sampling, reliability and validity, and the statistics used to test hypotheses. It is a core course in psychology and many social-science degrees.
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130,000+students helped with college creditsACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Where the credit goes

Universities that work with NCCRS

Research Methods in Psychology carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Thomas Edison State UniversityThomas Edison State UniversitySigned partnerUniversity of the PeopleUniversity of the PeopleSigned partnerCharter Oak State CollegeCharter Oak State CollegeSigned partnerStrayer UniversityStrayer UniversitySigned partnerColumbia Southern UniversityColumbia Southern UniversitySigned partnerIndiana TechIndiana TechSigned partnerPenn StatePenn StateWorks with NCCRSSouthern New Hampshire UniversitySouthern New Hampshire UniversityWorks with NCCRSSUNYSUNYWorks with NCCRS +many more cooperating universitiesFind my college →

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FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Writing and Documenting Research Reports

What are the main sections of an APA-style research report?
An APA-style report follows the IMRaD structure: Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion, framed by a title and abstract at the start and a reference list at the end. The Introduction explains why the study was done, the Method how it was done, the Results what was found and the Discussion what it means. References are listed alphabetically by author surname and formatted according to the APA Publication Manual.
How do you report a t-test result in APA format?
Report the test statistic with its degrees of freedom, the exact p value and an effect size with its confidence interval, for example t(58) = 3.21, p = .002, Cohen's d = 0.82, with the 95% confidence interval for d. Statistical symbols such as t, p, M and SD are italicized. Report exact p values rather than p < .05, except that very small values are written as p < .001.
What is the difference between the Results and Discussion sections of a research paper?
The Results section reports what was found without interpreting it, while the Discussion explains what the findings mean. Results present descriptive statistics first and then inferential tests in the order of the hypotheses. The Discussion summarizes the main findings, relates them to the hypothesis, prior research and theory, acknowledges limitations and suggests specific future research. Interpreting findings inside the Results section is a common student error.
What should be included in the Method section of a psychology paper?
The Method section must give enough detail for an independent researcher to repeat the study. It usually has subsections for participants, design, materials or measures, procedure and ethical considerations. It should state the sample size, inclusion and exclusion criteria, the exact measures with their number of items, response scales and reliability, the order of tasks, and how ethical approval was obtained. Participants completed a survey about stress is too vague.

About the Research Methods in Psychology course

How many college credits is Research Methods in Psychology?
Research Methods in Psychology (Psychology 111) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does Research Methods in Psychology cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 94 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
Which universities accept UPI Study credits?
UPI Study has signed partner agreements with universities such as Thomas Edison State University, University of the People and Charter Oak State College, and works with universities such as Penn State, SNHU and SUNY. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Use "Find my college" on this page to check yours.
How long does Research Methods in Psychology take?
It is self-paced with no deadlines. The 94 lessons total about 16 hours of video; most students add reading and practice time and finish in a few weeks to a few months, on their own schedule.
How are the exams done?
Quizzes and assignments are online in the course. The final exam is taken online with proctoring; a person on the UPI Study team checks assignments, usually within two days.
How do my credits reach my college?
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