The American Psychological Association provides specific guidelines on how to report the results in an APA formatted paper. The "Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association" indicates how to format the margins, spacing and page headings in APA style. This manual also requires authors to describe what they found in the results section but not to explain why and advises authors to report the statistical analyses they use and the results in a specified manner.

Formatting

Set the font in your word processing program for "Times New Roman" size 12.

Format all margins, left, right, top and bottom, for 1 inch. Set alignment for "Left" and line spacing for "Double." Double space everything, including headings and tables.

Put an abbreviated title (called a running head) in the header with the page number. Use capital letters for your running head and left-justify it. The header should look like this: Running head: MALE PERCEPTIONS 1.

Reporting Results

Continue the results section from the previous section; do not start it on a new page. Center the heading "Results." Describe what you found, not why -- explanations will be in the discussion section.

State the statistic you used to analyze the data. For example, a one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance) or t-test, or Chi Square. Be sure to give the degrees of freedom (df), numerical value of the statistic (F, t, or χ 2) and the probability (p). Put letters referring to statistics in italics. Describe the independent and dependent variables.

Report the test statistic. An ANOVA is reported as follows: F(2, 46) = 3.85, p < .05. This means the degrees of freedom are 2 and 46, the F value is 3.85 and the probability is less than .05 (fewer than 5 possibilities out of 100 the results were due to chance).

Report a t-test as follows: t (16) = .52, p < .03. This means the degrees of freedom are 16, the t value is .52, and the probability is less than .03 (fewer than 3 possibilities out of 100 the results were due to chance).

Report a Chi Square as follows: χ 2 (4, N = 90) = 18.19, p < .03. This means the degrees of freedom are 4, the χ 2 value is 18.19, the number of subjects is 90 and the probability is less than .05 (fewer than 5 possibilities out of 100 the results were due to chance).

Warning

Report the results exactly as the publication manual specifies.

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References

  • "Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association:" American Psychological Association; 2010

Warnings

  • Report the results exactly as the publication manual specifies.

Writer Bio

Linda Foley has been writing about psychology and the justice system since 1974. Her articles have been published in the "Journal of Forensic Psychology," "Trial Lawyer" and the "Journal of Social Behavior and Personality." Foley holds a Doctor of Philosophy in social psychology from the University of Florida.