Structure of Quantitative Practical Report

Structure of Quantitative Practical Report –
Completion Practical
Stage 2 Psychology – Psychological Health and
Wellbeing
The Basics
 Assessment Type: Completion Practical for the D&D
 Word count: 1,500 words
 No personal pronouns (I, we, our, your etc.)
 Past tense only
 Formal scientific language
The Structure
1. Title Page
2. Introduction
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusion
6. Bibliography
7. Appendix
1. Title Page
 Needs to include your name, SACE ID and a title that represents your hypothesis and IV and DV. It
should not be identical to your hypothesis.
 Make sure it looks professional. No silly clip art images etc.
2. Introduction
 Begins on a new page.
 Background information – need several sentences giving relevant background information on your
chosen variables i.e., white noise, hours of sleep, Epworth sleepiness scores, cognitive tasks
(snowflakes and mazes). Make sure this is specific to your hypothesis.
 Aim – Clearly describe the purpose of the practical in terms of your hypothesis.
 Hypothesis – testable statement that include the prediction of results.
 Independent variable – The factor that was changed/controlled/manipulated/influenced the DV in
the practical.
 Dependent variable – The factor that was measured as a result of the IV.
 Controlled variables – Factors that were held constant throughout the investigation i.e., same sleep
log, ESS, cognitive tasks etc.
 Potential extraneous variables – Factors that were unable to be controlled or verified that may
influence the results i.e., different white noise files, sleep environments, sleep apps and watches etc.
Make sure these are specific to your hypothesis.
3. Results
 Results need to be in direct relation to your hypothesis.
 Can calculate mean, median, and standard deviation to illustrate your variables but you do not need
to do all of these – choose 2 and run!
 Note: this section does not contribute towards the 1,500-word count.
Tables
 Titles go above the table.
 Tables should be labelled i.e., ‘Table 1, Table 2’ etc.
 Provide a brief sentence summary underneath your table/s describing and reporting the data. Do not
analyse/interpret the data in the table here.
 Round numbers to 2 decimal places.
Graphs
 Experimental design = bar graph.
 Observational design = scatterplot.
 Titles for graphs go below the graph.
 Graphs should be labelled ‘Figure A, Figure B’ etc.
 Provide a brief sentence summary underneath your graph/s describing and reporting the data. Do not
analyse/interpret the data in the table here.
 Make sure your x axis and y axis are labelled correctly. X axis = IV, Y axis = DV.
 Use correct scale i.e., if there was a maximum value, that is what the Y axis should go to.
 Make sure graphs start at 0.
 NEVER put raw data in the results section.
 Your table and graph should have separate information i.e., mean scores in table and medians in
graphs.
4. Discussion
 Starts on new page.
Paragraph 1 – Interpretation of the results

 State the results found and describe a pattern observed in the results.
 Identify whether the hypothesis is supported by the results.
 Interpretation questions to consider:
 Are the mean significantly different from each other (greater than 5)? What does this suggest about
the effect of the IV?
 Are the mean scores similar to the median scores? What does this suggest?
 Do the median scores suggest outliers? What does this mean for the hypothesis?
 Conclude whether or not your hypothesis is supported. Can refer back to content from
topic/introduction here to substantiate your conclusions.
 Interpret what the results mean in terms of your variables i.e., can it be concluded that white noise
causes an effect on daytime sleepiness? Etc.
Paragraph 2 – Evaluation of procedures – validity and reliability

 Identify sources of uncertainty in the data that reduce its quality.
 Discuss the issues with the validity and reliability of the data.
 Is the data 100% accurate? Why/why not?
 Is the data going to be consistent if the investigation was repeated? Why/why not?
 Explain the specific extraneous variables that make the data and procedures limited. Focus on your
chosen variables here!
Paragraph 3 – Evaluation of procedures – sample, representativeness,

strengths and weaknesses
 Was the procedure the best way to measure arousal and relaxation? Why? Why not?
 Evaluate the sample size and representativeness
 Was the sample size big enough?
 Was the sample representative of the wider population? What factors made it unrepresentative?
 Evaluate the design and method used
 What were the strengths and weaknesses of using the chosen design?
 What were the strengths and weaknesses of using the chosen method?
 What are some improvements to the issues above that could result in better results?
Paragraph 4 – Ethical concerns

 Did the procedure adhere to all ethical guidelines in Psychology? Were any of them breached?
 Ensure you discuss at least 3 ethical considerations in depth.
Paragraph 5 - Conclusion
 Summarise your aim.
 Accept or reject the hypothesis.
 Use science inquiry skills (SIS) to justify your reasons for making this conclusion i.e. weaknesses
regarding your design choice.
 Explain why the results of this investigation may not lead to definitive conclusions.
Bibliography
 Include full citations of sources using the Harvard referencing system.
 Can also do in text referencing or footnotes (not endnotes!)
 No set number of sources but at least two is a good start.
Appendix
 Include raw data spreadsheet.
 Can also refer to this in your report i.e. ‘the mean was skewed by several outliers (see appendix 1).’
General information
 Word count for the above is 1,500 words.
 This includes the introduction, discussion and conclusion.
 This does not include the title page, results, bibliography, referencing or appendix.
 Write in third person throughout – no personal pronouns i.e. I, we, our, your etc.
 Write in past tense.
 Use scientific psychological terminology (sophisticated with correct terms).
IMPORTANT NOTES ON THE TERMINOLOGY – HIGHER
GRADE BANDS
 Use as many Psychological terms as possible throughout your report.
 Make sure you are referring to the labels on your graphs appropriately when discussing your results
in your discussion paragraph.
 Think about what terms your teacher has used in teaching this topic. How can you try to weave some
of them into your own paragraphs?
 Often you will lose marks if you try to explain something in ‘a roundabout’ way, when instead could
have simply stated the facts with a psychological term.
 Be straightforward and to the point! Anyone should be able to pick up your report and understand
what you are talking about (whether they know anything about Psychology or not)
 Try not to sound ‘chatty’. You need to write using formal scientific language.
 Never use the word PROVE
 For an experimental design, refer to it as an ‘experiment’. For a observational design, refer to it as an

‘investigation’.
 Avoid using bold statements or descriptive language
 DO NOT use ‘I’, ‘My’, ‘our’ etc. except for the work log. Always write in 3rd Person.

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Structure of Quantitative Practical Report –

Paragraph 1 – Interpretation of the results

Paragraph 2 – Evaluation of procedures – validity and reliability

Paragraph 3 – Evaluation of procedures – sample, representativeness,

Paragraph 4 – Ethical concerns

 Use as many Psychological terms as possible throughout your report.

 Never use the word PROVE

 For an experimental design, refer to it as an ‘experiment’. For a observational design, refer to it as an

 Avoid using bold statements or descriptive language

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