Summarizing a Research Article

Summarizing a Research Article Taken From: University of Washington Psychology Writing Center

Journal Article • Title • Abstract • Introduction • Method • Results • Discussion • References

Reading the Articles • Scan the article • Identify the research question and reason for the study (Intro) • How the hypothesis was tested (Intro) • The findings (Results) • How the findings were interpreted (Discussion) • Write the key points in the margin

Reading the Articles • Read for Depth • Hoe does the design of the study address the question posed • What are the controls for each experiment • How convincing are the results • What does this study contribute toward answering the original question • What aspects of the original question remain unanswered

Writing the Summary • Introduction • What was the purpose of this study? (i.e., what question(s) did the authors want to answer?)Why was this question important to answer? • (This information comes from severity/impact of the problem, previous research into the problem, and what previous research lacked.)

Writing the Summary Method • Who were the participants? • (How many, ages, diagnoses, skill levels). • How were they selected? • Setting-where did the study take place? • What participant behavior was being measured? (DV) • How were data collected and summarized?

Writing the Summary Method (cont) • What did the experimenters systematically do (IV) to influence the DV? (Describe the teaching procedures). • Would you be able to replicate their procedures? • What design was used? • Did the authors demonstrate a functional relationship between the IV and DV?How was IOA assessed? Enough? Appropriate? • Was treatment integrity assessed? How? • Was social validity assessed? How? • Were generalization and maintenance data collected?

Writing the Summary Results and Discussion • What did they find? Was their analysis of the data appropriate? • Were the findings in agreement with or in contrast to previous research? • Should relate back to the hypothesis • Focus on content not length –condense later • Write about hypotheses, methods and results first • Write about intro and discussion last

Writing the Summary • Write a first draft • Focus on content not length –condense later • Write about hypotheses, methods and results first • Write about intro and discussion last

Reading the Articles • Avoid Plagiarism • Take notes in your own words • Don’t write in complete sentences • Summarize the point in your own words • If you can’t put it in your own words then you don’t understand the study

Writing the Summary • Edit for Completeness and Accuracy • Add info if necessary • Cut redundancies and less important information • Edit for Style • Write to an intelligent, interested, naïve and slightly lazy audience • Don’t make readers struggle to understand you • It is your job to make your writing easily readable

Writing the Summary • Eliminate wordiness • “the results clearly showed that there was no difference between the groups” • “There was no difference between the groups” • Use Specific, Concrete Language • “This illustrates” • “This result illustrates” • Use scientifically accurate language • Cannot prove hypotheses: support or fail to support them • Rely on paraphrasing –NO QUOTING • Re-Read • PROOF!

Summarizing a Research Article