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The Results section requires that students think critically about the type of data they have
collected, the experimental design they have used, and how to communicate clearly what
they have found to the reader. Finally, the Discussion makes students think about the
place of their study in the “big picture”—how does their study add to psychology’s body
of knowledge? What questions does their study answer, what questions does it leave unan-
swered, what new questions does it reveal? Virtually all of these types of thinking are new
for students, and they do not come easily. Given that any psychologist has read a variety
of published experimental reports that have fallen short on some (or many) of these counts,
these types of thinking are not necessarily easy even for professionals.
Story schemas. In addition to viewing APA style as epistemological, Madigan et al. (1995)
likened the format for empirical reports (introduction, Method, Results, Discussion sec-
tions) to the schema for a story with characteristics that psychology and psychologists
value. The story schema is consistent with the schema of the scientific process, which is
“all about” critical thinking. By following the outline of an APA-format report during the
research process, students learn first to review relevant empirical literature to develop a research
question. Deriving a research question from a literature search involving many research
articles certainly involves critical thinking. After developing the research question, stu-
dents must think critically to develop the methodology required to answer the research
question. After conducting the experiment, gathering the data, and analyzing the data,
students must use their critical thinking abilities to interpret the results of the analyses.
Finally, students must use their critical thinking skills to determine the “big picture” of the
research: What do the results mean in terms of the previous literature, and what are the
overall conclusions from the study?
Hedging conclusions. Madigan et al. (1995) also pointed out that it is important for
psychology students to learn about hedging conclusions. As we have taught students to
write research reports over nearly 50 years of teaching, we have often seen students who
are writing their first research report use the words “prove” or “proven” in their conclusions
(e.g., “These data prove that ...”). No psychologist who is well versed in APA writing style
would make this type of mistake. It seems that critical thinking is necessary to note and
understand the shortcomings of one’s own research study. Reading and writing in APA
style helps to develop this type of critical thinking, which Madigan et al. termed important
to students learning about psychology’s culture.
APA-style writing. Madigan et al. (1995) also emphasized that the approach to writing is
different in APA style compared to what students have previously learned. For example, in
English composition classes, students have learned to focus on language as the product
(Madigan et al.). In other words, in composition writing, the focus is on the writing itself.
Students have learned about various linguistic devices and writing styles that embellish the
writing; readers read for entertainment value or to appreciate the good writing. On the
other hand, Madigan et al. (1995, p. 433) referred to “language as medium” in APA-style
writing. In other words, the goal of the language in scientific reports is not to entertain,
but to inform. This approach is foreign to most students and may account for the great
difficulty that students have in both writing and reading APA-style empirical reports.
They may claim that such writing is “dry” or “dull.” Although APA-style writing is not
meant to be boring, the fact that it is devoid of the literary conventions of fiction writing
may predispose students to find it boring. However, in trying to extract critical information