Review of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) is designed to highlight common errors students make in writing. Attention this week is focused on
• common errors in editorial style,
• understanding differences in type and content of APA journal articles,
• avoiding jargon and colloquialisms in writing, and
• avoiding bias in language.
This week, you are asked to provide a short summary of the research article you downloaded from a Walden Library database in Week 4. Next, in a second paragraph, you are asked to provide a very brief summary of your answer to your assigned question from the list below and to incorporate an application of your assigned question into this summary. You may paraphrase, not quote, the information contained in the APA Manual; however, the focus should be on application.
Question
1 Summarize the guidance for using comma, colon, semicolon and double quotation marks.
2 Summarize the guidance for capitalization (including titles, names of theories, factors and variables, and proper nouns).
3 Describe "levels of headings" in APA-style papers and describe the guidance for choosing a one, two, three, four, or five heading system.
4 Describe how to include quotations in an APA-style paper. What "rules" are prescribed (see chapter 6)? Describe how you cite sources of quoted material. What is the quote length over which APA requires you to get the author's permission to include?
5 Describe the guidance for deciding when to use a figure (i.e., a number) instead of writing the number out in different writing situations.
6 Differentiate between a review and a theoretical article.
7 Differentiate between a methodological article and a review article.
8 Describe what differentiates a case study article from a tradition methodological article.
9 Describe the content of the Abstract for a review or theoretical study. Include the recommended length for the Abstract.
10 What are some questions you should consider before writing the Introduction to your study? Is the Introduction section labeled?
11 What are some guidelines for developing the background for your study? In what part of the introduction should your Purpose and Rationale for study be?
12 Describe what information about participants should be presented in the Methods section. Why is this important for the reader?
13 Describe what information should be included in the Procedures portion of the Methods section. Why are the procedures important to the reader?
14 Describe what information should be included in the Results portion of the Methods section.
15 What is the general guidance for using tables and figures in the Results section?
16 What information is presented in the Discussion section of a paper?
17 Define "jargon" and "colloquialisms." What is the guidance for using them in formal writing and why?
18 Describe the difference between active and passive voice and why active voice is preferred whenever possible.
19 Describe the guidance for use of the term "subject(s)." Provide examples of preferred alternatives.
20 Describe the guidance for avoiding ambiguity in gender.
21 Distinguish among sexual orientation and sexual preference and the guidance around the use of the term "homosexual."
22 Describe how racial and ethnic groups are designated. What is the guidance for choosing the best identifying terms for particular racial/ethnic groups? Provide some examples of preferred ways of identifying people from specific ethnic/racial groups.
23 Describe the guidance provided for describing people with disabilities and for describing age.