APA PAPERS

T YPES OF APA
PAPERS
I . LITERATU RE REVIEW
I I . EXPERIM ENTA L REPORT
I. LITERATURE REVIEW
• A literature review is a critical summary of
what the scientific literature says about your
specific topic or question. Often student
research in APA fields falls into this category.
A LITERATURE REVIEW TYPICALLY
CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:

•Title page
•Introduction section
•List of references
QUESTIONS YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW
SHOULD ANSWER:
1. What do we already know in the immediate area concerned?
2. What are the characteristics of the key concepts or the main factors or
variables?
3. What are the relationships between these key concepts, factors or variables?
4. What views need to be (further) tested?
5. Why study (further) the research problem?
WHY WRITE A LITERATURE REVIEW:
• Critical look at the existing research that is significant to your work.
• It is not only a summary. It is vital to evaluate it and show the relationships between different
works and show how it relates to your work.
• Should provide context to the thesis or research by looking at what work has already been
done in the area of concern
THINGS TO CONSIDER
• 1. Reports of closely related studies that have been investigated
• 2. Design of the study, including procedures employed and data-
gathering instruments used
• 3. Populations that were sampled; sampling methods employed
• 4.Variables that were defined
• 5. Extraneous variables that could have affected the findings
• 6. Faults that could have been avoided Recommendations for
further research
VARIABLES IN RESEARCH
• Variables – conditions or characteristics that the experimenter manipulates,
control or observes
• Independent Variables – conditions or characteristics that the
experimenter manipulates in his or her attempts to ascertain their relationship
to observed phenomenon.
• Dependent Variables - conditions or characteristics that appear disappear
or change as the experimenter introduces, removes or changes independent
variables.
II. EXPERIMENTAL REPORT
• Method or procedure involving the control or manipulation of conditions for
the purpose of studying relative effects of various treatments applied to
members of a sample.
• This structure follows the scientific method, but it also makes your paper
easier to follow by providing those familiar cues that help your reader
efficiently scan your information for:
– Why the topic is important (covered in your introduction)
– What the problem is (also covered in your introduction)
– What you did to try to solve the problem (covered in your methods
section)
– What you found (covered in your results section)
– What you think your findings mean (covered in your discussion section)
THUS AN EXPERIMENTAL REPORT
TYPICALLY INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING
SECTIONS:
Title Page
• Title of report
• Level of report
• Faculty and name of school
• Requirement of what degree
• Name of candidate
• Date of Presentation
Abstract
 Brief descriptive summary
 Capsulized form of report. It includes:
 Statement of the problem or issue,
 Brief description of the research method
and design,
 Major findings and their significance,
 Conclusion
Introduction
 Introduces the topic, its setting, why the
researcher decided to work on it and
other details of the specific problem.
 Overall idea of the problem is
subsumed.
 Shows that the researcher is familiar
with the literature by developing the
background more comprehensively.
Methodology
• Present the selection of the appropriate
research method to be used in the study.
• Research method:
• Techniques in collecting data suited to carry out
the investigation
• Procedure of careful investigation employing an
instrument to gather information for building
thesis of knowledge which provide answer to
the problem
• Research design is the key to a successful
investigation
• Different kinds of research design
Results
 Collected data are arranged and
presented in form then analyzed to
answer questions and give insights to the
research investigation
 Presentation of data follows some
sequence
 Analysis is coupled with interpretation
for it is interwoven to get results
 Final statement about the outcome of
answering or finding out the solution of
the problem posed.
Discussion
 Detailed description of the answers to the
problem.
 Contains all the findings and description of
the problem
 Discussion of the results must be complete
and relevant.
 Recommendation means suggesting
feasible problems for the future
undertakings.
 Study has a limited extent, so other areas
are left which can be further investigated
by other interested researchers
Reference
 Informative part of the thesis.
 Final listing of the documents consulted
during the preparation of the thesis.
 Placed at the end of the chapter.
 Consists of parts with important
information about the data, instruments
and sources.
 Used to direct the readers to see the
actual sources and materials used.
Notes
 Refers to the system of documenting
cited or quoted ideas of the authors
 Refers also to procedures in which
borrowed ideas incorporated in the body
are acknowledged
 Types of notes:
 Footnotes – placed in the lower portion
 Parenthetical – note using parenthesis
when the source is placed
 Endnotes – list of reference placed at the
end of the work
Appendix List of Tables
• Source of relevant data not found in the text. • Contains the listing of all tables used in the
presentation of data,
• Materials and data which are too lengthy,
technical and not very much useful to include • Qualitative study has few tables compared to
in the text of the thesis. the quantitative study
• Kinds:
• Cover Letter
• Certification
• Instruments – questionnaire used
• Additional Documents
• Statistical tools –
• Curriculum vitae
List of Figures
• Contains the listing of all illustrations or
forms of graphic presentations,
• Data presented are maps, pictures,
diagrams, charts, graphs, drawings and
plates