Incorporating
Research in Writing

Teachers are expected to employ evidence-based practices. In-service teachers may need to reference the research they are relying on in emails, student documentation, or reports. Pre-service teachers are expected to meaningfully engage with research during their degree and while they write their assessment. Both in- and pre-service teachers may need to conduct and write up literature reviews or research reports if they conduct their own research. Because of this, it is important to be familiar with appropriate writing practices when you reference research – this ensures you are able to showcase how much research you have read and what you are drawing on in your writing. In educational psychology, we use the American Psychology Association (APA) referencing system.

1. Overview

Journal articles/reports follow consistent structures. This structure allows the research project to be justified, described, and explained in a clear and logical manner. It includes the following sections:

• Abstract: Report summary for prospective readers
• Introduction: Explanation and justification of the research question
• Methods: Your participants, measures, and procedure
• Results: The outcomes of your procedure
• Discussion: Interpretation, explanation and implications of results
• References: Resources used

Research reports are sometimes described as having an hourglass shape: moving from a general discussion of the research question and associated issues, to a more specific description of the current project, to a more general discussion of the findings and implications situated in the broader literature.

The abstract is a brief yet comprehensive summary of the report, typically including the research question or issue, an overview of the methods and results, and a concluding statement about how the results answer the research question. The abstract allows prospective readers to quickly determine whether or not it is worth reading the full paper. Most readers will survey many abstracts at once, so it pays to create a good first impression.

The purpose of the introduction is to provide rationale for the research study. The introduction first highlights the general problem or research question that will be addressed by the study. It then discusses relevant background literature, and, in particular, past research findings; pointing out what is already known and what is not yet known about the problem. Finally, the introduction works down to a statement about the specific aims and/or hypotheses of the study.

Note the logical flow from ‘general’ to ‘specific’. Having read the introduction, it should be clear to the reader how your study addresses the research question and why this is important.

The methods describes the study in more detail. It typically includes three subheadings in order:

• Participants
• Materials
• Procedure

In the participants section the number of participants is noted, together with relevant demographic information about the sample or individuals such as age and gender. The recruiting methods is also described (e.g. Sixty first-year psychology students participated for course credit). In the materials section, any tests, questionnaires, and experimental apparatus are described. In the procedure, a description is given of how the study was actually run.

In the results section, the study outcomes are outlined. How this is done will depend on the kind of data you have: for example, an experiment with many participants may be analysed using inferential statistics, whereas a series of case studies may be analysed qualitatively for the key themes that emerge. In any case, the results section summarises the data and analysis. It does not explain the meaning or implications of these findings.

The discussion is perhaps the most critical part of the report, in which the meaning and implications of the results are explored. It is the discussion, together with the introduction, that shows the reader evidence of application, integration and argument development across the report, and critical analysis. According to Dingfelder (2005), one of the most common mistakes in a discussion is to fail to respond to the research question originally posed.

The discussion first summarises the key results, taking care to note whether or not these support the specific aims and/or hypotheses posed at the end of the introduction. Next, it provides an evaluation and interpretation of what these results mean, situating them in the broader field of literature. Whilst reference should primarily be made to the past research already included in the introduction, new literature may also need to be introduced in order to explain results that were unintended.

Finally, after considering the meaning of the results in light of other research, the discussion should address the broader educational implications of the study together with any limitations noted. The final statement is a conclusion, summarising the report.

The reference list provides the full details of any literature that have been previously cited in-text, using APA style. Note the distinction between a reference list, which includes only those resources mentioned in the report, and a bibliography, which includes all resources that have been read or used (irrespective of whether cited directly or not).