Writing for Publication: Transitions and Tools that Support Scholars’ Success - Mary Renck Jalongo, Olivia N. Saracho 2016
Statistics
From a Research Project to a Journal Article
Conference Proposals and Article Types
The statistical procedures in analyzing the data are described and justified. In addition, the computer statistics software program (such as SAS, SPSS) that is used to analyze the data needs to be identified. Measures used to summarize the data are presented such as mean (SD), median (range), or median. Tests used in significance testing should be described, including the underlying P value used to establish significance (Boyd, Rifai, & Annesley, 2009).
Jenkins (1995) suggests a checklist that can be used in developing the methodology section (see Table 7.3).
Table 7.3
Methodology section for a quantitative study
Outline of the study design |
Subjects |
Method of sampling and recruitment; |
Number of subjects; and |
Justification of sample size |
Inclusion, exclusion and withdrawal criteria; |
Method of allocation to study groups |
Variables |
Independent, dependent, extraneous, controlled |
Pilot studies |
Outcome of any pilot studies which led to modifications to the main study |
Materials |
Equipment, instruments or measurement tools (include model number and manufacturer) |
Procedures |
Detailed description, in chronological order, of exactly what was done and by whom |
Major ethical considerations |
Institutional review board approval, compliance with principles of informed consent and ethical treatment of human subjects |
Possible conflicts of interest |
Data reduction/statistical analyses |
Method of calculating derived variables, dealing with outlying values and missing data |
Methods used to summarize data (present verb tense) |
Statistical software (name, version or release number) |
Statistical tests (cite a reference for less commonly used tests) and what was compared |
Statistical significance |
From Jenkins (1995, p. 287)