Full Title of Your Paper
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Full Title of Your Paper
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Institutional Affiliation
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Abstract
On this page, you write your abstract. The abstract is a concise summary of the whole report and is generally written after all other sections of the report are complete. It summarises (i) the purpose of the study, (ii) the main findings, and (iii) the implications of the findings. Information from each section of the report (Introduction, Method [sample details, measures], Results [including type of analysis], and Discussion) should be represented in the Abstract.
Full Title of Your Paper
The introduction begins on a new page with the paper title as a Level 1 heading. Here we describe the problem that our study is attempting to resolve and answers the question Why do we need to do this study/experiment?. The introductory paragraph should give a broad overview of the study, and briefly mention all key variables.
Successive paragraphs should set out (i) what is known about the issue, (ii) what is conflicting or not yet understood about the issue, (iii) what we plan to do to address the conflict/unanswered question (which often includes a brief description of our method), and (iv) what you expect to find (i.e., our hypotheses). Each paragraph should contribute to a logical and strong rationale for both the study and the hypotheses.
In explaining what is known about the issue under investigation, it is necessary to summarise and analyse scientific literature. To do this well, we need to read widely to find out exactly what is known. We then decide how best to conceptualise and summarise current knowledge. For example, does it make sense to examine changes in knowledge in chronological order in order to argue that former explanations no longer account for the phenomenon, or does it make sense to set out opposing arguments and identify the strengths and weaknesses of each, etc. The important thing is to remember that you use the literature to support the points you are making (which involves a good deal of thinking) rather than mindlessly describing the findings of a bunch of papers and hoping that the reader has the intelligence to put the argument together for you.
A strong Introduction section synthesises (brings together and summarises) available evidence for the reader so that the reader is persuaded that the study is necessary and the hypotheses are logical. In all cases, the synthesis should be structured around the points that we want to make rather than the studies that we draw on. We rarely want the studies themselves to be the focus of the readers attention unless we want to bring attention to an aspect of a study that limits its generalisability (e.g., the methodology was flawed, or sampling was biased etc.). Instead, we use the findings of the studies as evidence for our claims. The following two examples hopefully help to illustrate these points, with option (i) being preferable:
There is general consensus in the literature that xxxxx has serious implications for adolescents (e.g., Alex, Blaine, & Layder, 2007; Dumas & Phail, 2008) but less serious implications in younger children (Theese & Anutherting, 2014) or adults (Dunnette, 2015). Adolescent implications include social problems (Alex et al,; Dumas & Phail), anxiety and depression (Theese & Anutherting), and low self-esteem and social phobia (Dunnette).
Alex, Blaine, and Layder, (2007) found serious social implications for adolescents with early exposure to xxxxx in their study of 64 adolescents recruited from high schools in the Washington area. Theese and Anutherting (2014) studied primary and high-school children and found that the primary children reported no serious effects after being exposed to xxxxx whereas the high-school children reported significant feelings of anxiety and depression. In Dunnettes (2015) study of 1008 adolescents and adults recruited from the streets of Berlin, found 30% of the adolescent participants who had early experience with xxxxxx reported problems with self-esteem and social phobias but only 4% of adults suffered from these issues. Unfortunately, the researcher did not ask about other outcomes. Dumas and Phail (2008) conducted a survey of 153 adolescents in New Zealand and found statistically significantly higher incidences of social phobia in adolescents who had experienced xxxx compared to those who did not.
Hopefully you will agree that the first example is more compelling and easier to follow.
It is important to ensure that you interpret and link the empirical evidence for the reader and not assume that the reader has the will or the skill to put your argument together for you. That means that you need to (i) be familiar with the literature before you begin writing your Introduction, (ii) make sure that you understand what the overall findings of the literature are, then (iii) tell the reader that message while drawing on the literature for evidence to support your interpretation.
You must acknowledge the ideas, words, findings of others as you develop your argument. This practice ensures that you avoid plagiarising (and the inevitable consequences see https://www.deakin.edu.au/students/studying/assessment-and-results/integrity), shows that you are well informed, and that you are drawing on appropriate levels of evidence to inform your argument. Consult APA writing guides for help with APA format e.g., https://www.deakin.edu.au/students/studying/study-support/referencing/apa.
In the final 1-2 paragraphs of the Introduction, we briefly remind the reader of the problem and our aim(s) which includes explaining how our study will address the aim(s) (and usually involves a brief outline of the method). We then state our hypotheses and what we expect to find in our results if our hypotheses are supported.
Method
We assume that the reader has no knowledge of what we did, and so we need to provide enough information to allow them to replicate our study. The method is written in past tense and structured by several Level 2 subheadings.
Participants
Identify our target population and provide details of our sample. Describe all relevant details of the sample including how the sample was recruited, the number of participants, their sex, age (M; SD), and the number of participants in each between-group category. If there are any other demographic details that are important to enable replication of the study, include those too. For example: Forty-five participants (32 female; 13 male) were recruited from parenting websites and 45 completed the study. The age of male and female participants ranged from 18 42 years (M = 36.7 years; SD = 6.5 years) and 19-40 years (M = 37.8 years; SD = 5.1) respectively.
Materials
We describe all materials used, including make/model of equipment, and psychometrics of any measures. Remember that the reader must be able to replicate our study, so provide details of everything they would need.
Procedure
Describe precisely and concisely the procedure followed to carry out the research in sufficient detail to allow replication. Acknowledge ethics approval where appropriate.
Results
In the Results section, we present the descriptive and inferential statistics that were calculated when analysing numerical data but do not interpret the results in relation to the hypotheses. If the data collected were qualitative, we present a summary of the identified themes, along with excerpts of text. It is useful to lead the reader through the results, providing a succinct narrative explaining what analyses were performed and what was found. It is customary to begin by describing any preliminary tests such as data screening results (and any actions taken) and any descriptive statistics of your key variables, if appropriate. We report each set of analyses in order of the hypotheses, and it is often useful to refer to the hypothesis that is being tested to help the reader. For example, A one-way ANOVA tested the hypothesis that xxxxxxx, and found ..
It is important to include the name of the test conducted and whether or not a significant difference/correlation etc. was found. The appropriate statistics need to be reported in APA format, such as italicising all statistical symbols and including spaces either side of = symbols. All numbers can be reported to two decimal places, however p values can be reported to three decimal places. If a number can exceed 1, include a 0 before the decimal point. For numbers that cannot exceed 1 do not place a 0 before the decimal place).
Use tables or graphs to summarise descriptive statistics if it makes it easier for the reader to understand; otherwise report the descriptive statistics with the inferential statistics in text. If we use tables/figures, it is important that we refer to them in text so that the reader understands the purpose of the tables/figures and which analysis they relate to. Only provide the descriptive statistics once (e.g., in text or in a table or in a figure). If you want to highlight a pattern in the data, it is often better to summarise the statistics in a graph. It is important also to ensure that tables and figures are in APA format (see examples below).
Table 1
Mean Anxiety Score (SD) by Sex and Data Collection TimePoint
Sex n Pre-test Post-test Follow-up
Male 13 8.0(2.1) 4.7(3.2) 7.8(1.2)
Female 32 9.4(2.2) 5.4(3.6) 3.1(0.8)
Note: Any abbreviation used in the table should be expanded here, along with any other information contained in the table that needs to be noted (e.g. sig values are bolded or marked with *).
Discussion
In this section you refresh your readers memory about the purpose of the study, state whether or not hypotheses were supported, explain what that means, and position your findings within the literature (which you largely outlined in the Introduction). If your findings are contrary to expectation and inconsistent with existing research you will need to try to explain the reasons, in which case you may need to draw on other literature and introduce it here. Finally, you need to explain the implications of your research for the world and for other researchers (e.g. do your findings invite new questions or require replication?).
Begin by restating the aim of your study (to refresh your readers memory) and work through your hypotheses by (i) stating whether or not each was supported, (ii) interpreting what that means, (iii) positioning your findings within the broader literature (e.g. which literature does it support and which does it not why might that be?), and (iv) explaining the implications of your findings for the world if you can. Write about each hypothesis in separate paragraphs if it makes sense to do so. As a guide, re-read some of the papers that you are citing and see how they interpret their findings and integrate them with the literature.
Consider any strengths in your study and any limitations in your research design/method that limit the generalisability or validity of your findings. It is important to explain how they limit the findings and then make recommendations to guide others. Do NOT write a long list of problems with your study a poor worker blames their tools. Remember that you supposedly designed your study, so do not make yourself look bad. A good interpreter will often see patterns in data that open opportunities for further research. So identify any questions that arise from your findings that should be answered in order to further answer your research question or advance the field.
Finally, summarise the broad findings or the most interesting findings in your study, and show how it answers your research question and advances our knowledge (and any real-world implications).
References
Book:
Author, A., Author B., & Author C. (Year of pub). Book title (xth ed.). Publisher City: Publishing Company
Edited book:
Editor, A., Editor, B., & Editor, C. Year of pub). Book title. Publisher City: Publishing Company
Chapter from edited book:
Chapter-author, A., & Chapter-author, B. (Year of pub). Chapter title, In A. Editor, & B. Editor (Eds.), Book title (pp. xx yy). Publisher City: Publishing Company
Website without an author:
Article title. (Year, Month of publication). Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Website with an author:
Author, A. (Year, Month of publication). Article title. Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Journal article found online:
Author, A., & Author B. (Year of publication). Article title. Journal Title, Vol(Issue), pagepage. DOI: xxxxxxxx OR Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Journal article in print:
Author, A., & Author B. (Year of publication). Article title. Journal Title, Vol(Issue), pagepage.
HPS307/791 AT1 data T2 2022
N= 643
Descriptives Age
age_yearsN 635 Missing 8 Mean 27.3 Standard deviation 9.02 Minimum 19 Maximum 61
Frequencies sex
Levels Counts % of Total Cumulative %
Female 515 80.2% 80.2% Male 119 18.5% 98.8% Other 8 1.2% 100.0% Cronbachs alphas ()
Neuroticism .87
Extraversion .89
Openness .85
Agreeableness .83
Conscientiousness .88
Negative affect .88
PSMU .91
Descriptives Big 5, negative affect
neuroticism extraversion openness agreeableness conscientiousness negative affect
N 643 643 643 643 643 643 Mean 2.94 3.47 3.72 4.16 3.35 2.30 Standard deviation 0.571 0.563 0.525 0.398 0.557 0.764
Descriptives daily total time (minutes) spent on social media, problematic social media use
Total time PSMU
N 643 643 Mean 166 2.56 Standard deviation 114 0.668 Descriptives average daily platform use (minutes)
youtubetiktokfacebooktwitter instagramN 643 643 643 643 643 Mean 42.6 42.9 27.9 2.97 46.5 Standard deviation 77.0 68.0 36.4 13.7 54.5 Correlation Matrix
N E O A C NA instagramtwitter facebooktiktokyoutubePSMU Total time age
N E -0.368 *** O -0.201 *** 0.294 *** A -0.097 * 0.086 * 0.178 *** C -0.294 *** 0.174 *** 0.117 ** 0.125 ** NA 0.672 *** -0.240 *** -0.134 *** -0.037 -0.226 *** instagram0.073 0.094 * -0.069 -0.006 0.005 0.072 twitter 0.016 -0.076 -0.013 -0.018 -0.148 *** 0.046 0.109 ** facebook0.020 -0.002 -0.022 -0.001 -0.003 0.012 0.169 *** -0.055 tiktok0.143 *** 0.022 -0.226 *** 0.022 -0.119 ** 0.110 ** 0.206 *** 0.124 ** 0.031 youtube0.118 ** -0.195 *** -0.005 -0.129 ** -0.141 *** 0.107 ** -0.031 0.072 -0.057 -0.006 PSMU 0.368 *** -0.122 ** -0.186 *** -0.114 ** -0.259 *** 0.299 *** 0.316 *** 0.049 0.119 ** 0.348 *** 0.089 * Total time 0.211 *** -0.093 * -0.171 *** -0.090 * -0.185 *** 0.198 *** 0.417 *** 0.189 *** 0.161 *** 0.525 *** 0.519 *** 0.455 *** age -0.204 *** 0.003 0.229 *** 0.025 0.112 ** -0.220 *** -0.273 *** -0.077 0.055 -0.378 *** -0.100 * -0.376 *** -0.418 *** Note. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001, NA = negative affect, PSMU = problematic social media use
HPS307 Results section
NOTE: this is not in APA7 format, you will need to apply formatting to the table and text. The template begins below this line
__________________________________________________________________________________
Results
Table 1 presents descriptive statistics for all scales. Pearson correlation statistics were used to examine the strength and direction of the relationship between variables. The relationships between personality factors, problematic social media use, mood, and specific platform use are presented in Table 2.
Table 1
Descriptive statistics
Variable M SD
Neuroticism 2.94 0.57
Extraversion 3.47 0.56
Openness to Experience 3.72 0.53
Agreeableness 4.16 0.39
Conscientiousness 3.35 0.56
PSMU 2.56 0.67
Facebook usage 27.9 36.4
Twitter usage 2.97 13.7
Instagram usage 46.5 54.5
Tik Tok usage 42.9 68
YouTube usage 42.6 77
Negative affect 2.30 0.76
Note: PSMU= problematic social media use
Table 2
Title *add title*
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1. N - 2. E - 3. O - 4. A - 5. C - 6. PSMU - 7. Facebook usage - 8. Twitter usage - 9. Instagram usage - 10. Tik Tok usage - 11. YouTube usage - 12. Negative affect -
Note: PSMU= problematic social media use. Significant correlations are bolded.
There was a weak/moderate/strong positive/negative/no relationship between the Big 5 factor of __________ and problematic social media use, r =____, p <> .05.
There was a weak/moderate/strong positive/negative/no relationship between the use of __________ and negative affect, r =____, p <> .05.
Intro
Why study personality/social media use
Social media is a well-established and growing aspect of modern life, incorporated into a multitude of settings including business, educational, political, creative and personal platforms. These digital platforms facilitate information sharing, collaboration between people and user-created content (Elefant, 2011), across networking sites such as Facebook, Youtube and Instagram (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).
Saturated
With most of the global population maintaining a social media presence
With 4.7 billion active social media users worldwide as of July 2022 (Kemp, 2022),
Describe/define any theoretical link between personality and social media use
Big 5 theory
Social media
Personality
Problematic social media use
Negative affect
Review the research what has past research said about personality and use of social media/related technology
Required reading meta analysis (huang 2022)
How are the past findings linked to your question? What is it about personality and social media use that leads us to test the relationship now?
Build a rationale for your research aim what is the gap?
Potential gap regarding negative affect
Our study covers specific social media platforms more
No Australian data in meta analysisIn the current study, how do we intend to address the gap
Hypotheses
Which Big 5 factor will be most strongly associated* with problematic social media use?
Which social media platform (Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/YouTube/TikTok) usage will have the strongest association with negative affect? * Note that strongest relationship can mean positive or negative correlation.
Huang 2022
Correlation with neuroticism
Mild correlation with agreeableness and conscientiousness
No correlation with extraversion or openness
Variation of measurement of personality throughout the studies
Variation of social media throughout the studies
https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0306460321000307?token=13662A0C2ACF2848300B5E903AA469852C2554CF02CB4D86A9A20BC516E4D7F96C7C1390F83E713BA721593E04EDE46B&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20220811030432
Elefant, C. (2011). The Power of social media: Legal issues and best
practices for utilities engaging social media.
Energy Law Journal, 32,
156.
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The
challenges and opportunities of Social Media.
Business Horizons, 53,
5968.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003
Kemp, S. (2022, July 21). Digital 2022: July Global Statshot Report. DataReportal. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2022-july-global-statshot
