Learn Before
Referencing Tables and Figures in Text
When writing the results section of an APA-style manuscript, researchers should avoid unnecessarily repeating precise statistical data that is already clearly displayed in a table or figure. Instead, the narrative text should be utilized to alert the reader to major trends, highlight specific correlations of interest, and draw attention to significant details that are visually summarized in the accompanying graphs and tables.
0
1
Tags
KPU
Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
Related
APA Style Figure Captions
Layout of APA Style Graphs
Axis Labels and Legends in APA Style
Referencing Tables and Figures in Text
According to APA style guidelines, which of the following is an essential requirement when preparing a figure?
Match each APA style guideline for figure preparation with the specific objective it aims to achieve in scientific reporting.
A researcher is preparing a bar graph for a psychology manuscript and uses abbreviations for the treatment conditions (e.g., 'Cond-A' and 'Cond-B') without defining them in the figure's caption, assuming the reader will refer to the Method section for those definitions. This practice adheres to APA style guidelines.
To ensure a graphical depiction of data adheres to APA style, a researcher must evaluate it against specific standards. Arrange the following evaluative checks in the correct order, moving from the initial assessment of the figure's necessity to the final check for its standalone interpretability.
Which of the following best describes the meaning of the APA style guideline that a figure must be 'completely interpretable on its own'?
A researcher includes a bar graph in their Results section. Although the graph is simple and self-contained, a reviewer suggests removing it because the exact same numerical data is already clearly presented in a table. This reviewer's suggestion is based on the APA guideline that a figure is only justified if it adds _____ rather than repeating data already found in the text or a table.
In APA style, graphical depictions of data—such as pie charts, bar graphs, and scatterplots—are collectively referred to as _____.
A researcher preparing an APA-style journal manuscript creates a bar graph that uses three distinct colors—blue, red, and green—to distinguish three experimental conditions, reasoning that the colors help readers differentiate the groups at a glance. According to APA style guidelines, using color in this way is appropriate for a journal manuscript.
A student is reviewing four figure-related decisions made by a lab partner preparing an APA-style manuscript. For each scenario, identify which APA figure guideline—or its consistent application—best explains why the decision is correct or problematic.
A researcher must decide whether to present a complex dataset as prose, a table, or an APA-style figure—and, if a figure, whether it meets all required standards before submission. Arrange the following steps in the order a researcher should complete them to make this decision responsibly.
According to the guidelines for APA style, what are the three general rules that researchers must keep in mind when preparing graphical depictions of data (figures)?
Explain how the student's figure violates the three general APA style guidelines.
A researcher is designing a scatterplot for an APA-style psychology report. How should they apply the third guideline regarding interpretability when writing the figure's caption?
Organization of the APA Results Section
Discussing Individual Results in APA Style
APA Style Tables
Referencing Tables and Figures in Text
When writing the results section of an APA-style research report, how should a researcher handle the study's raw data (such as individual participants' specific scores)?
In an APA-style research report, it is acceptable to omit the formal outcomes of statistical analyses from the results section, provided that the raw data is shared in an open online repository.
A psychology researcher has completed a study on the relationship between sleep quality and memory performance. Match each component of their data management plan to the correct APA-style guideline or ethical research practice.
A psychology researcher has completed their data analysis and is preparing to document their work. Arrange the following actions in the correct logical sequence, starting with the content that belongs in an APA-style Results section and ending with the final steps of ethical data management.
Imagine you are developing a standardized submission template for a new psychology journal. To ensure that an 'APA Results Section' adheres to both formal reporting standards and ethical data-sharing requirements, which information-management plan should you propose?
A researcher is criticized for making their Results section too brief by omitting the specific responses and scores of every individual participant. In evaluating this critique, you should defend the researcher's decision as being consistent with APA style, provided that the _____ is archived in an open repository for other scholars to access upon request.
The results section of an APA-style research report formally presents the main findings and statistical outcomes of a study, but it does not include _____ (such as individual participants' specific responses or scores).
A researcher measures participants' reading comprehension scores in a study on study habits. When writing the APA-style Results section, she includes every participant's individual score alongside the group mean and the results of her statistical test, reasoning that displaying all data maximizes transparency. According to APA guidelines, this is the correct approach for a Results section.
A research team has just finished analyzing data from a study on stress and academic performance. Analyze each item below and match it to the category that best describes how it should be handled according to APA Results section standards.
A peer reviewer is evaluating whether a submitted psychology manuscript's Results section meets APA standards and ethical data-sharing expectations. Order the following evaluative criteria from the most foundational requirement to the most advanced ethical expectation, judging which standard must be confirmed before the next can be meaningfully assessed.
According to APA style guidelines, what are the primary contents that must be formally presented in a research report's Results section, and what specific type of data must be excluded from this section?
Based on APA style guidelines and ethical data-sharing standards, diagnose the two main errors the researcher made regarding the presentation and preservation of her data, and explain how she should have handled them instead.
A research group is preparing to submit a manuscript on the effects of caffeine on cognitive performance. Apply APA style and ethical data-sharing guidelines to explain how they should handle their raw participant reaction times in the written report versus their post-publication storage plan.
Learn After
What is the primary purpose of the narrative text when referencing a table or figure in the results section of an APA-style manuscript?
While writing an APA-style results section, a researcher providing a scatterplot should use the accompanying paragraph to point out the overall direction of the relationship rather than listing the exact values of every individual data point.
Match each excerpt from a psychology results section with the referencing principle it demonstrates (or violates) according to APA style.
A psychology researcher is drafting the Results section for a study on how sleep deprivation affects memory. They have created a line graph (Figure 1) that shows a clear decline in recall accuracy over a 20-minute task. Arrange the following sentences in the order that best adheres to APA principles for referencing visual aids, moving from a general orientation to a specific narrative highlight without redundant data repetition.
A psychology researcher is drafting the Results section for a memory study. They have created a table (Table 1) showing that students in a spaced practice condition scored higher (, ) than students in a massed practice condition (, ). To adhere to the APA principle of referencing visual aids by synthesizing trends rather than repeating data, which of the following narrative sentences should the researcher create to accompany the table?
A researcher is evaluating a draft of a Results section and finds that the author has written a paragraph that lists every individual mean () and standard deviation () already present in Table 1. The researcher judges this narrative to be _____ because it violates the APA principle of avoiding unnecessary repetition of precise statistical data that is already clearly displayed in a visual format.
Match each element of an APA-style results section to its appropriate role when presenting and referencing statistical data.
Dr. Aris is writing the Results section of a manuscript and has presented the mean scores and standard deviations for four different experimental groups in Table 2. In the narrative text, Dr. Aris writes: 'As shown in Table 2, Group A had a mean score of (), Group B had a mean score of (), Group C had a mean score of (), and Group D had a mean score of ().' According to APA style guidelines, this is an appropriate way to reference Table 2 in the text.
While analyzing a peer's draft of an APA-style results section, you notice they wrote a paragraph detailing the exact coordinates of every outlier shown in their scatterplot. To align with APA style, you recommend they revise the text to focus on the overall pattern and instead highlight specific _____ of interest visually summarized in the figure.
A researcher is evaluating a draft of their results section to ensure it adheres to APA guidelines for referencing tables and figures. Order the steps they should take to evaluate and revise their draft.