Writing a methods section Week 12 In a

Writing a methods section Week 12

In a report • • The essential elements Participants Yes, and it is usually in Design this order Materials Procedure • Note: Sometimes these elements are merged, e. g. , “Participant & Design”.

Participants • How many? • It is customary to report age and gender information. • Sometimes you may report other demographic information if they are relevant (e. g. , marital status in a study on relationship satisfaction) • Hence, the general rule is, report demographic information that are relevant

Design • Name your factors and levels • Name your design (within, between, mixed) • This gives the reader an immediate framework to understand your procedures section easily.

Materials • Materials can include questionnaires you have adapted, special technical equipment (e. g. , decibel meters, infrared thermometers, EEG, etc. ) • You do not need to mention computers, keyboards, etc. , unless there is something specific about the computer/keyboard that you want the reader to know. • Sometimes “Materials” is omitted (when no special materials are needed).

Procedure • The purpose of a Procedure section is to allow other researchers to replicate your research. So your description needs to be c____, c_______, and un_____. • So let’s practice this by having you watch a video on feature detectors.

Background • Feature detectors are individual neurons—or groups of neurons—in the brain which code for perceptually significant stimuli. • In humans, the facial fusiform area is an area dedicated to face perception.

Toads and “worms” • Watch the following video • The voice-over is muted, so use a little commonsense to guess what the experimenter wanted to test. • Imagine you are the experimenter. Describe the procedure like a real Procedure section in an article.

Here’s some others Change blindness • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=FWSx. SQ sspi. Q Scale errors • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Otng. SHtz -cc

Take home messages • The reason why Methods sections exist is because scientists do not simply care about the results (statistics), but also how the results came about (methodology) • The circumstances of measurement (participants, materials, procedures) are important • A good methods section allows other researchers to know what are the essential elements needed to replicate and extend an existing research