• The rest of the first paragraph will give some general information about your topic and briefly
discuss how it has been addressed in previous research. If you need to define any relevant
terms, here is the place to do so.
• Next is the Lit Review. Before you begin to write, decide on what order you will address the
studies that you found. Do not just summarize the research chronologically; instead, organize
the research by topic. You will also want to start out broad and then narrow to your topic, which
usually means that you should start with the studies that are loosely connected to your own
study and end with the studies that are most closely related to your study.
• At the end of the Introduction, you need to state your hypothesis. You can do this explicitly by
saying something like “The purpose of this study was to...”or “The present study was designed
to investigate...”. It is very important to relate your hypothesis back to the studies that you
referenced in your Lit Review so that your hypothesis has some basis in previous research. Make
sure to clearly express this connection.
• You may also want to include a very broad overview of the method you will use to test your
hypothesis.
Component 4: The Method Section
• Do not start a new page. Center the word “Method” at the start of the section.
• This section will contain a detailed account of what you did so that someone else can conduct
the experiment exactly as you did if needed.
• The Method section usually is divided into three subsections: participants, materials and
procedure.
• Underneath “Method”, type flush left the word “Participants” and italicize it. This subsection
should describe who participated in your study. You will want to include information about the
number of participants used in the study, where they come from and the selection criteria as
well as any other important characteristics like age, sex, education level, or occupation. Be sure
to mention if participants were given any type of reward or motivation to encourage them to
participate in the study.
• Underneath the Participants section, type flush left the word “Materials” and italicize it. This
subsection should document any materials or equipment used in your study such as a
stopwatch, slide projector, specific papers, word lists or any other supplies.
• Underneath the Materials section, type flush left the word “Procedure” and italicize it. This
subsection should present a complete summary of what happened in the study. You should
include:
• The experimental design that was used (between, within, mixed), and the independent
and dependent variables
• Any controls that were used
• How participants were assigned to conditions
• Important aspects of the instructions given to participants
• What the participants did, step-by-step