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Diagnose the APA formatting errors present in the student's draft bar chart and explain how each error violates the APA technical guidelines.
Case context: A student researcher is designing a vertical bar chart to show mean reaction times under three experimental conditions. They write the vertical y-axis label horizontally, placing the unit of measurement inside it. They use a consistent, simple font for all text inside the figure, but format the axis labels in -point size and the legend text in -point size. Finally, because of limited space within the bar chart, they place the legend just outside the right border of the chart.
Question: Diagnose the APA formatting errors present in the student's draft bar chart and explain how each error violates the APA technical guidelines.
Sample answer: The student's chart contains three APA style errors: 1. The y-axis label is oriented horizontally, whereas it must be oriented parallel to its corresponding vertical axis. 2. The legend is placed outside the borders of the chart, but APA guidelines require any legends to be placed entirely within the figure itself. 3. The legend text is formatted in a -point size, which violates the requirement that all text inside the figure must be sized between and points.
Key points:
- The y-axis label must be oriented parallel to its corresponding vertical axis, not horizontally.
- The legend must be placed entirely within the figure itself, not outside the borders.
- All text within the figure must be sized between and points, making the -point font size incorrect.
Rubric: The response must identify and explain: 1) The horizontal orientation of the y-axis label (should be parallel to the vertical axis). 2) The placement of the legend outside the chart (should be entirely within). 3) The font size of the legend at 6 points (should be between 8 and 14 points).
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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