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Analyze the student's draft. Diagnose the organizational errors in the Results section based on standard APA logical progression, and explain how the section should be restructured.
Case context: A student submits a draft of an APA Results section. Paragraph 1 jumps straight into the main statistical test showing a significant difference between their experimental groups. Paragraph 2 explains that they had to drop data from 10 participants because of missing responses. Paragraph 3 details how they averaged four survey questions to create their primary dependent variable. Paragraph 4 reports the results of a manipulation check to show their experimental condition actually worked.
Question: Analyze the student's draft. Diagnose the organizational errors in the Results section based on standard APA logical progression, and explain how the section should be restructured.
Sample answer: The student's draft violates the standard progression of an APA Results section by putting primary analyses before preliminary issues. They jumped directly to the main research question in the first paragraph, when they should have established preliminary issues first. To restructure, the student must move the exclusion of the 10 participants to the very beginning. Next, they should explain how they computed their primary dependent variable. Then, they should report the manipulation check. Only after establishing these preliminary issues should they report the main statistical test comparing the groups, which must be moved to the end of the section.
Key points:
- Diagnose that primary analyses were incorrectly placed before preliminary issues.
- State that participant exclusions must be reported first.
- State that variable computation must follow exclusions.
- State that manipulation checks must be reported before main analyses.
- Conclude that the main statistical test must be moved to the end of the described elements.
Rubric: Full credit is awarded for correctly diagnosing that preliminary issues were incorrectly placed after the primary analyses, and for providing a restructured order: exclusions, variable computation, manipulation check, and finally the main hypothesis test.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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