Case Study

Review the sentence provided in the case context. What formatting error did the research assistant make according to APA style guidelines for statistics, and how should it be corrected to properly reflect parenthetical reporting?

Case context: A research assistant provides the following sentence for a draft results section: 'The treatment group demonstrated significantly faster completion times (mean = 14.2 seconds) compared to the control group (mean = 22.8 seconds).'

Question: Review the sentence provided in the case context. What formatting error did the research assistant make according to APA style guidelines for statistics, and how should it be corrected to properly reflect parenthetical reporting?

Sample answer: The research assistant incorrectly spelled out the word 'mean' inside the parentheses. According to APA style, when a statistic is reported inside parentheses, the standard abbreviation or symbol must be used. To correct the error, the word 'mean' should be replaced with the symbol MM in both instances, resulting in (MM = 14.2 seconds) and (MM = 22.8 seconds).

Key points:

  • The statistic in the example is reported inside parentheses.
  • The word 'mean' is fully spelled out, which violates APA rules for parenthetical statistics.
  • Statistics reported inside parentheses must use their standard abbreviation or symbol.
  • The correct symbol to use inside the parentheses is MM.

Rubric: The student should identify that the word 'mean' should not be fully spelled out when placed in parentheses, and state that it should be changed to the standard symbol (MM).

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Updated 2026-05-27

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KPU

Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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