Essay

According to APA-style guidelines, how should a researcher determine which limitations to address in the Discussion section of a research report, how many should they focus on, and what two elements must be included in the narrative for each chosen limitation?

Question: According to APA-style guidelines, how should a researcher determine which limitations to address in the Discussion section of a research report, how many should they focus on, and what two elements must be included in the narrative for each chosen limitation?

Sample answer: Rather than listing every routine issue (since readers assume general limitations exist), researchers should select two or three specific limitations that most likely influenced the results—such as potential problems with internal/external validity, ineffective manipulations, or unreliable measures. For each chosen limitation, the narrative must explain how these factors might have affected the data and suggest methodological strategies to deal with them in future studies.

Key points:

  • Focus on two or three specific limitations that most likely influenced the results.
  • Avoid listing every routine issue since readers assume general limitations exist.
  • Explain how the selected factors might have affected the data.
  • Suggest methodological strategies to handle them in future studies.

Rubric:

  1. Mentions focusing on two or three specific limitations that most likely influenced results (rather than listing every routine issue). 2. Mentions explaining how the chosen factors might have affected the data. 3. Mentions suggesting methodological strategies to deal with these limitations in future studies.

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Updated 2026-05-26

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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