Scientific Report (A2 only)

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Sections of a Scientific Report

All scientific reports follow a basic structure: title, abstract, introduction, aim and hypotheses, method, results, discussion, references and appendices. This makes it easier to read, research and reference.

Title

The title of the article should succinctly summarise what the study is about.
The title should include the independent and dependent variable.
- For example: “An investigation into the effects of caffeine on short-term memory recall”.

Abstract

The abstract is a summary of the article.
The purpose of the abstract is for other scientists and readers to quickly identify what the study is about and if it is worthwhile for them to read.
The abstract should include the aim, hypotheses, and brief summaries of the method and results.

Introduction

Often students can confuse the abstract and the introduction - so be careful not to confuse the two.
While the abstract summarises the whole article, the introduction gives a description of the background of the study.
- For example, background information on what caffeine is, how it affects the body, what short-term memory is, how short-term memory recall is variable amongst people, etc.

Introduction cont.

The introduction provides the foundations of what previous research has been done and the framework for why the study is being done.
The introduction can include references to related studies, techniques and theories.
- For example, studies on the effects of caffeine on the body, short-term memory, the effects of other drugs on memory could all be referenced to.

Aim

This section is the start of the ‘new’ study or rather, the study that is being published.
The aim is stated here, in other words, why is the study being done?
- An example of an aim would be: “The investigation will examine the effects of caffeine on short-term memory recall.”

Hypotheses

A hypothesis, while similar to the aim, is stated slightly differently.
The hypothesis should include the independent and dependent variables.
A hypothesis should be able to be tested.
- An example: “Higher doses of caffeine will increase short-term memory recall”.

Method of a Scientific Report

The method should include the design of the investigation, the procedure, how the participants were used and any resources that were used.

Method

The method lays out how the study was completed and the techniques used.
The method needs to be detailed enough for other scientists to be able to replicate the study.
Repeat studies are crucial because they help to validate the results of the initial study.

Design 1

The design of the investigation includes several key points:
- 1. Research method: a laboratory experiment, a natural experiment, questionnaires or observations.
- 1. Materials used: what sets of questions were provided, what sort of technology was used (fMRI, EEG).

Design 2

1. Research design: whether it was independent groups design, matched pairs design or repeated measures design and why.
2. This part should also detail the issues of using these and how they were overcome.
1. How the extraneous variables were controlled. This is important to limit their impact on the results.

Design 3

1. Ethical issues: an important part of any research is how these are overcome.
2. The principles of informed consent, deception, protection from harm, debriefing and confidentiality are all important to make sure that research is done in an ethical manner.

Procedure

The procedure is a step-by-step outline of how the study happened. It should include the following:
- The procedure should start off by addressing the ethical issues.
- How were the participants introduced to the study and how informed consent.

Procedure cont.

The standardised procedure is important to limit extraneous variables.
- A set-list of instructions should be given to participants in the same manner.
- The details of the participants’ debrief should also be outlined.
- Finally, how the data was recorded should be detailed.

Method of a Scientific Report (Cont.)

The method should include the design of the investigation, the procedure, how the participants were used and any resources that were used.

Participants

A description of the use of participants should include:
- How many participants were used.
- The demographics of the participants.
  - Demographics like gender, age, socioeconomic status, race could potentially all be described, depending on the nature of the study.

Participants - sampling

There are various types of sampling methods.
- E.g. random, opportunity, volunteer, systematic, and stratified.
The type selected and the reason why should be described.
- For example, volunteer sampling was chosen as the researcher wanted to select participants according to age and gender.

Conditions

Finally, an account of how the participants were assigned to the conditions of the study should be provided.
- For example, were the participants divided by gender or age or a combination of both?

Resources

Lastly, in the method, an outline of the resources used is given.
If the study involved an interview, the list of questions used is written.
The details of any equipment used should be described. It can be beneficial to include pictures of such equipment.