What To Do With All That Free Time?

Ideas to spice up your holiday or make it beneficial for your future.

1) Learn a new language or build on the ones you already know.

2) Offer your services to charity. 

3) Join a leadership camp.

4) Recycle your old unwanted notes and books.

5) Join an internship program.

6) Get a part-time job.

7) Clean your room.

8) Keep in touch with an old friend and join them in their favourite hobby for a day.

9) Fix your sleeping cycle (if you're one to sleep late frequently)

10) Read a children's book for a refreshing feel good time.

11) Do some self-reflection on who you are as a person, and compare how you were like last semester, how you were as a high schooler and how you were in primary school. Do you know yourself and what you want? Are you assertive in your values? Do people pressure you into compromising the goals you have set out for yourself? List two goals you would like to achieve next semester.

Updates from the last meeting with Dr Goh

Points discussed and agreed upon at the BPIP meeting with Dr Goh
Date: 6 July 2011
Time: 5pm
Venue: Main Block, HELP University

Points:
1) Amending the timetable so that students can have semester breaks and fully benefit from their classes.
• Possibly having students to take Business subjects first and then Psychology subjects or vice versa.

2) Clarifying that the Business Psychology Degree Program is indeed accredited by MQA since 2009.

3) Revising the current teaching materials for some subjects.
• Investigating the Psychology and Law (LAW309) subject syllabus in order to determine that the right syllabus is being taught effectively.

4) Have a special class to help students to get familiar with lab report writing and the APA format.

5) Have a discussion with Ms Jue Ying regarding the future plans for Business Psychology students.

6) Forming a Business Psychology Student Council by September and electing a representative from each year.

7) Making it mandatory for students to take the four levels of Research Methodology classes (that Psychology students already take) so as to equip them with proper knowledge in statistics and SPSS.

8) Making it compulsory for students to take career guidance classes.

9) Making it optional for students to carry out their thesis under the supervision of either Business or Psychology department.
• If the thesis is more related to Business themes and concepts, students will be referred to a supervisor under the Business department.
• If the thesis is more related to concepts used in Psychology, students will be referred to a supervisor under the Psychology department.

10) Making it compulsory for all business psychology students to participate in experiments.
• Whereby students must attend 2 hours of experiments in order to gain experience on how experiments are conducted. The 2 hour quota must be met or 2 marks will be deducted from the overall score/ grade the student receives.

11) Arranging a 3 hour career guidance talk for senior/ ex Business Psychology students sometime in October.

Thank you for your time,
Noelle Chew and Cheryl Han

Who you should talk to when you have enquiries/ problems/ complaints/ suggestions

So we met with Dr Goh today and we have comforting news to share. The whole list of changes that was discussed at the meeting will be updated on this blog as well as our facebook fan page later. Hope that you guys are delighted to know that the Business Psychology program is indeed accredited! (since 2009 it seems) and there was just a miscommunication between the two departments and its students. GUYS! BPIP is a success! \0/ Thank you so much for your feedback and support :)

Relating back to the topic, I would like to clarify to all students that our course is now officially under the care of the psychology department. If you guys have any complaints (be it subjects, lecturers, personal problems, etc), please do not hesitate to contact Ms Lee Jue Ying (psych department manager) at leejy@help.edu.my or Dr Goh (dean) at gohcl@help.edu.my. EVEN if the issue is to be solved within the Business Department, please inform and refer to Ms Jue Ying or Dr Goh first!

That is all for now. Stay tuned for more updates!

Special Events at HELP

Student consumers are abundant at HELP. So naturally, a lot of businesses are interested to hold promotional events at HELP. There has been all sorts of events in the past five years. From food and beverage companies to entertainment magazines, fashion and skin care. Tons of discount offers and freebies have been given out. These events are usually a lot of fun. Join in on the experience and plunder the free goods!

Today, Clinique stopped by HELP and were giving out free samples and Cleo magazines to students. They had their workshop at Main Block and were even giving free skin consultation.

To be updated with the current events happening at HELP, check out the notice boards especially DSA Level 5's.

MKT 201- The Sales Project

It is tradition for all Consumer Behavior students to participate in a group assignment unofficially known as the 'Sales Project'. The goal is simple. Raise as much money as you can, as close to the target amount as possible and manage your cost. Here are a few tips to ensure your success:

1) Choose the right members for your group.

• Never skip the first 5 classes. You will lag behind your classmates and get stuck with less efficient group mates.
• Lazy and complacent class skippers are not good choices even if they're your best friends.
• Try to get members who are active, supportive and initiative.
• Try to get at least 1-2 members who are fluent in English. 

2) Product

• Be creative but don't over do it. Ideas come easily but focus on the feasible ones. 
• Make sure you can purchase and have access to all the ingredients/items easily.
• Think like the consumer. What would you buy from a student stall? What are your needs? Do the items they offer satisfy your needs and expectations?
• Examples of past students projects: selling mocktails, ice blended drinks, books, fingerfood snacks, can drinks, tid bits, clothes, beauty products, computer peripherals, car wash, customized t-shirts

3) Pricing

• Your sales item should be priced reasonably. Would you pay RM2 for a stick of nuggets? While it may seem as if it would generate more profit, you will not be able to sell your product in bulk. This defeats the purpose. 
• Always price items above your profit margin.

4) Place

• Location is an important strategy. You don't want to be dumped in some area in HELP with few passerbys, do you? Book early. You'll be competing with your classmates and other companies who want to do their campus tour events. Once you've settled the proposal and the dates for your sales, run to DSA Main Block to book your location with the administrator.

5) Promotion

• Get active! Don't be shy. Draw attention to your stall. Engage all potential customers. Don't plead for charity. Arouse their needs. "Are you hungry? Would you like to buy a drink from us?"
• Don't be afraid to offer discounts. Discounts work very well in all sorts of ways. There's buy one free one, buy one 50% off the next buy, etc. You can even bargain with your potential customer just to make the sale (but only sell at the price above the profit margin.. you don't want to make any losses)

6) Management

• Make sure everyone pulls equal weight throughout the whole assignment. 
• Start the project early. By early, I mean 3rd week (for short sem) and 5th week (for long sem). 
• Delegate and start report writing at least 2-3 weeks before the due date. (The pressure to increase your sales to reach the target mark will wear all of you out)

6) Report Writing

• Make sure you have made a basic balance sheet for your entire project. You will need to include detailed information on your profits, revenue and expenditure.
• Follow up with your lecturer regarding your progress (optional)

Good Luck!

HELP Car Park & Common Etiquette

If you drive to HELP, I'm pretty sure that you're familiar with how crazy the car park is like. Let's face it. There are too many students from all sorts of departments and the HELP Main Block car park is the only car park that charges its students RM3 per entry.

If you want parking, come early. And by early, I mean 7am. The car park fills up by 8.30am. Students squeeze into every corner they can and accidents may happen. Your car will get scratched if you park near the basket ball court. Sometimes, desperate students that come to college late will double park in front of your car.

If you absolutely HAVE to double park because you have an exam or class. MAKE SURE you leave your telephone number and name on your car and on the cars that you are obstructing. If you're having an exam, inform them the time of your exam so that they won't freak out when they can't reach you. Be considerate and respond quickly.

The following video was made by one student who was inspired by a nasty prank that happened at the HELP car park. Apparently, one girl double parked her kancil in front of someone's car and that person got so mad that he broke her windscreen. No one knows what happened before or after that.



As of 2011, a new car park has been opened near the housing area opposite of Sime Darby (Beside Fitness First and HP tower). To summon the bus, tell the guy in the guard house that you need the bus guy's number. It is advisable to keep one or two numbers just in case no one's home in the guard house.

I LAL you!

LAL stands for Like a Little. It's a campus based website that allows you make indirect love confessions and express your inner feelings for that someone you fancy anonymously. Does it surprise you that HELP has its very own LAL ?! 

Here's a print screen sample in case you are curious.

Popcorn out! Time to kay poh.

Public Buses around HELP

So you've seen the Rapid KL and Metro buses around college but you're not sure how much they cost and where they go.

The two main Rapid KL buses that pass by the routes around Main Block and KPD are T634 and U82.

U82: (first & last stop) KL Sentral - 1Utama (first & last stop)

The nearest stop around HELP (KPD): The one opposite Subway goes down to KL Sentral. If you cross over the bridge to the other opposite one, you will head to 1Utama. 

The nearest stop around HELP (Main Block): The stop opposite Guardian (above DSA) goes to 1Utama. The stop next to Shell station opposite the main car park goes down to KL Sentral.

Take this route if you're heading to areas like DU, Desa Kiara, DJ, TTDI and Kepong (transition at 1U).

T634: (first & last stop) Bangsar LRT - Pusat Bandar Damansara (first & last stop)

This bus stops right outside KPD A, Fitness First (next to KPD E/ HP tower) and KFC (Main Block). Taking this bus would take you straight to Bangsar LRT. 

For more bus routes, please visit RAPID KL

CAUTION: Please note that Rapid KL requires ALL its passengers to pay via their prepaid card. To buy a card, please bring with you an RM5 or RM10 note. RM1s are unreliable. Bring spares cause the machine is a bit wonky at times.

Once you buy or reload a card, the full distance bus fare of RM 2.50 is automatically charged to your card irregardless of your stop. This is why when you reach your destination, make sure that you tag your card at the scanner at the exit so that you're not charged the full price of RM 2.50.

Rapid KL pricing system: short distance- RM 1, anywhere in between 2 or more areas- RM 2, full distance- RM 2.50.

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Metrobus 99 (stops at the stop opposite Subway, the same one as U82) (Heads to 1Utama)
Personally, I hate Metrobus 99. The drivers are very ruthless (because they compete with Rapid KL for passengers) and rude and the bus is crammed and poorly maintained. The only upside is that Metrobus 99 accepts payments in cash. Their bus fare pricing is the same as Rapid KL.

Lab Report Writing

Please refer to my entry on the APA format.

The structure of lab report writing is very similar to normal report writing in APA. You start with:

Introduction:
You introduce your topic. Tell your reader why you chose this topic. What do you want to explore. What past researchers have found about what you're testing. What factors they might've missed out. Statistical evidence that support your claims. A summary of 1-3 past experiments of the similar nature. The hypotheses that you want to test.

examples:

H1: Parental attachment will be negatively correlated with delinquent behavior.

H2: Parental attachment can be used to delinquent behavior.

Consider hypotheses are just like the research statements that you have to list in thesis report writing. Explain why you want to test these statements, and if possible, their potential links to one another.

Methods
Under 3 separate subheadings in Itallic, list your materials, participants and procedures. Be as descriptive as possible.

Results
Discuss your findings. What relevance it has to your literature review. Whose findings were supported. Did you get a different results? Most things are arguable. Discuss and defend your findings. And make sure you prepare your data tables the right way.

Conclusion
Summarize what you did and state your conclusion. What were your limitations? What did you leave out accidentally? What are your recommendations for future studies?

Abstract
This part goes before introduction but you can't write a summary without finishing the entire experiment. Summaries are meant to be short. Half a page would do.

References
Present them in alphabetical order.

HELP Psychology Film Society

Interested in videography, art, writing stories and making films? Let your creative juices flow and your untold stories come to live with HELP Psychology Film Society. Join in the fun!

https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_173148132739703&ref=ts

Printing & Photocopying

Let's just narrow our outlets to the KPD area. As of June 2011..

Printing:
1) Wisma HELP Level 9, Computer lab, rate: 15 cents a page.
Quality: Pretty good

2) Wisma HELP Level G, Innotech Center: the printing shop right after the entrance, rate: 20 cents a page.
Quality: The best and you can print in colour here.

3) UOA- the shop right next to the food court, rate: 20 cents a page.
Quality: Can sometimes be spotty and blotchy.
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Photocopying:
1) Wisma HELP Level 1, Library, rate: 20 cents a page.
Quality: Decent

2) The really warm shop behind Rotiman, rate: 5 cents a page. (price may have increased to 10 cents)
Quality: Decent but usually overcrowded.

3) UOA- the shop right next to the food court, rate: 15-20 cents a page.
Quality: Depending on your luck, sometimes it's clear and sometimes it's either too dark or too light.

Online questionnaires

Want to make online questionnaires without the advertisement spam and account limitations some websites give you? The solution is easy! Create a free gmail account and go to docs.google.com

Then follow these few pointers:

1) Click "Create New". 

2) Select "Form".

3) Compose your questionnaire. 

a) There are 2 links that you must bookmark to your computer. The first, is the actual link of this page (in the search bar). The second is the link at the bottom. The first link allows you to edit your questionnaire whenever you need to. If you don't save it, you'll NEVER get to edit your questionnaire again. The second link is the one in black at the bottom of the page. This is what you give to your respondents.

b) Choose the type of responses that you want. 

 * Text is for short open-ended questions such as "age"

 * Scale is for Likert-scale responses

 * Checkbox allows respondents to choose more than 1 answer.

c) Checking the "Make this a required question" ensures that your respondents finish EVERYTHING before being able to submit the questionnaire to you.

4) More tips:

The pencil means to edit, the two page icon means to duplicate (Try it and be delighted at what you see :P) and the trash can means delete.

This is what your respondents would see once you pass them the second link.

Good luck!

Join clubs!

Seriously. They shine like jewels in your resume later on especially if you have no working experience or have no time for an internship. If you join clubs from other departments especially those in Psychology and Business, you get to socialize with new students. Think potential group mates for the upcoming subjects you need to take. When the time comes, it would definitely beat pulling out names at random from a hat.

To find out how to join clubs, check noticeboards and facebook events for a club promo day. It's a day where the clubs open up booths in one area and advertise their activities to you. Have fun!

Harvard Referencing

This format is typically used by the Business department unless requested otherwise. Harvard tends to vary from university to university so it's best to discuss with your lecturer first about which general style he or she prefers.

Here's a good and very detailed guideline for your reference: http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm

Good luck!

Tip of the day: Your study plan

There are 3 semesters in 1 academical year at HELP.

Out of these 3, you have 2 long semesters (14-15 weeks) and 1 short semester (7-8 weeks).
Under the long semester, you can take up to maximum of 4 subjects.
Under the short semester, you can only take up to 2 subjects.

Year 1 (depending on availability, any combination is fine), here are the list of Year 1 subjects that you can take:

1. Financial Accounting 1 (ACC 101)
2. Principles of Microeconomics (ECO 101)
3. Business Law (LAW101)
4. Principles of Management (MGT 101)
5. Principles of Marketing (MKT 101)
6. Business Statistics (QBM 101)
7. Introduction to Social Psychology & Health Psychology (BPSY 104)
8. Introduction to Human Cognition, Learning & Consciousness (BPSY 103)
9. Introduction to Human Development, Personality & Abnormal Psychology (BPSY 102)
10. Social & Business Communication (MCC 100)
11. Leadership & Life Skills (LLS 101)

Year 2 & 3 (arranged from mildly difficult to very difficult)

1. Managing Human Resources (HRM 210) 
2. Consumer Behavior (MKT 201) [If you're under Ms Sumathi, you will be required to sell stuff to achieve funds of RM1500 (short sem) or RM3000 (long sem)]
3. Conflict Theory & Resolution (BPSY 210)
4. Cross Cultural Psychology (BPSY 310)
5. Human Personality (BPSY 207)
6. Psychology & Law (LAW 309)
7. Cognitive Psychology (BPSY 304)[caution: need know how on Lab Report Writing]
8. Introduction to Economic Psychology (BPSY 314)
9. Introduction to Industrial Psychology (BPSY 330) [caution: need know how on SPSS]
10. Introduction to Organizational Psychology (BPSY 331) [caution: need know how on SPSS]
11. Change Management (MGT302) [a subject that requires a lot of reading especially under Mr Ravi]
12. Assessment & Profiling (BPSY 311) [need to have a very strong knowledge on statistics, SPSS and analytical procedures; a very dry & technical subject]

+ your 2 electives of choice

• choose your electives well and make sure that they are worth 4 credit hours each.
• a good investment would be QBM201 (if you do not have a good stats or SPSS know how)
• choose a subject relevant to what you want to do in the future. It might be able to score you points with a prospecting employer.
• choose a subject that you can easily score in only if you're really desperate to boost your CGPA

Whatever you do, please take these two last:

1. Business Research (MGT 203) [This would require you to do a mini thesis within 1 semester. It's highly stressful as you will need to juggle time to interview your respondents and focus on your studies. Please learn up SPSS or take advanced statistics before you enrol for this subject]
2. Graduation Project (MGT 400) [You will need 2 semesters to complete this, it's a good idea to keep it as free as possible]

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+ your 2 LAN subjects (if you are a 100% new comer at HELP)

Good luck! :)

APA appendices

Cover page example 

 

Abstract example

Introduction example

*note how the title of the project is centered at the beginning of text, also, there should be no spacing between paragraphs!*

As you come to the end of your introduction, make sure you list your proposed hypotheses -the statements that you are trying to prove through your research.

Reference list example 

*make sure that they're in alphabetical order!*

Disclaimer: Preferred formats and writing styles vary with lecturers. Please check with them, peers or recent seniors to get an updated heads up on how to write your reports.

APA (American Psychological Association)

This format is very widely use by psychologists. Needless to say, this is the one and only format that you must use when taking subjects under the Psychology department.

As copied from the Department of Psychology.

How to write a report according to the APA format

- A guide for 200/300 level subjects

General formatting points to note:

1.       All Level 1 headings (Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, References, & Appendix) should be centered.  But that is it – no bold, no underline, no italics, and no larger font.

2.       All Level 2 headings (Participants/Subjects, Materials, and Procedure – under the Method section) should be formatted in Italics and left justified, i.e. they are to the left.

3.       The Abstract appears on one page by itself.  Subsequently, the other sections can follow one after another without having to start on a fresh page, EXCEPT for the References, which must be on a new page.  In other instances, use your own discretion.  If there is very little space left at the bottom of one page, then instead of starting a new section there, you can start it on a new page.  But if there is a lot of space left, you have to continue.

4.       Do not justify the text. The left margin is justified, but the right margin is not.  Just keep the text left justified like the way it is written here.

5.       Paragraph indent i.e. how you start each paragraph – 5-7 spaces.  Pressing the “Tab” key once should give you 5 spaces without having to press the “Space” key 5 times.

6.       Within each section, paragraphs should be continuous – do not press <Enter> twice when you are starting a new paragraph.

7.       Each paragraph should be longer than 1 sentence, but no longer than 1 page.

8.       Your paper must be typed, Times New Roman size 12 font, double-spaced.

9.       Top, bottom, left, right margins – 1 inch

10.   When you are writing numbers, use figures for numbers that are larger than 10 (e.g. 35 participants).  Numbers that are smaller than 10 can be expressed in words (e.g. five, eight).

Title page

1.       There should be a page header to the right as well as a page number.  You only need to do this once – when you set the page header (in Microsoft Word, go to View, Header & Footer) – and then Word will automatically continue on the subsequent pages.

2.       When you format your header (following the steps listed above), you can insert the page number here.  The icon looks like a piece of paper with the “#” sign on it – that allows you to insert page numbers.

3.       There should be about 5 spaces between the page header and the page number.

4.       The page header is usually the first two-three words of the title. 

5.       The following items need to appear on your title page:

1)      Title of your research (10-12 words)

·         Make sure it includes the IV & DV

2)      Name – as in your IC or your passport

3)      HELP ID number

4)      Department of Psychology

5)      Class (e.g. PY 301 B)

6)      Lecturer’s name

6.       The items listed above should be double-spaced and centralized.  The font should be Times New Roman, size 12 – no bold, no Italics.

Abstract

1.       A brief summary of your study; length no more than 120 words

2.       Aim = to give the reader a rough idea what your study is about

3.       Especially important to include a summary of method and results

4.       Points you should have: objective (1 sentence), participants (1 sentence), design (1-2 sentences), findings, support hypotheses (1-2 sentences), & conclusion, implications (1 sentence).

5.       The estimate lengths cited in number 4 are just that – estimates.  Depending on what your research is about, you might write slightly more or less.

6.       Note that there is no paragraph indent for the abstract.

Introduction

1.       Do not use the word “Introduction.”  Repeat the title of the research paper here.

2.       Short paragraph introducing the field of research you will be examining.  Aim is to give your reader a general idea of the area and why it is interesting/applicable to day-to-day life.

3.       State theoretical background i.e. theory.

4.       Past research – describe past studies that are relevant to your study.  Typically these are the studies on which your own research is based on.  You need to describe what they have done (method), what they found (results) as well as the conclusions they drew from their results.  Remember that you need to cite your sources.  Refer to the section below entitled “Citations” to learn about the proper method of citing.

5.       How you structure the introduction is up to you.  For example, you could state the theory & then state the past research that has been done that is related to that theory.  Then state another theory & state the past research linked to that theory.  Another example would be to state all the theories and then all the past research.  For a guide on how to structure your introduction, look at how the articles in the APA journals are written.

6.       Next, introduce your research – this is where you talk about the aims of your research i.e. what are the research questions you hope to answer through your research.  Give a very brief general description of your study (what you did). 

7.       Then state the hypothesis – what you predict the results will be (as far as possible your hypothesis should be based on what past research has found).  It is VERY important for you to state your hypothesis.

8.       So the idea is to flow from theoryà past research à your research à your hypothesis.

Method

1.       Purpose of the method section is to give the reader a detailed account of how you ran your research – so much so that anyone could duplicate your research based on your report without having to communicate with you.

2.       Participants – give details of people who took part in your study.  Include information like age-range, number of participants, gender, how you recruited them (sampling), where you recruited them from, as well as any other details that may be relevant to your particular research (e.g. if you were doing a study that involved intelligence testing you may want to include participants’ education levels).

3.       Design – describe the research design you used e.g. 2 x 2 independent design.  State your variables here i.e. IVs and DVs.  When you state your DV, make sure it is operationally defined e.g. the DV was the time taken (in seconds) to identify the color of the shapes/words.

4.       Materials – describe (if necessary) all the equipment you used for your research.  If possible, include samples of the equipment (e.g. the questionnaire, test sheets) in the appendix.  State that the sheets, etc. are in your appendix.  Say for example “Refer to Appendix A for a sample of the questionnaire.”

·         The Appendix Section should appear after the references.

·         Every appendix should be labelled individually.  E.g. the questionnaire is Appendix A, the table is Appendix B, etc.

·         The title of your appendix should appear as follows:

Appendix A: Sample list of words used in the memory test

·         The title of your appendix is a Level 1 Heading i.e. centralized, no italics, no underline.

5.       Procedure – describe what the participants had to do during the experiment.  Also mention what were the instructions you gave them.

·         When you are giving the instructions, you can paraphrase what you said to the participants. 

·         However, if your instructions are (a) very specific and unique and/or (b) part of your independent variable (i.e. the manipulation is in your instructions), then state the instructions verbatim (i.e. word for word).

Results

1.       The aim of the Results section is to give a clear account, both graphically & written, of the results you obtained. 

2.       The Results should include:

·         How the data was collated.

·         Tables/figures of your data.

·         A brief interpretation of your results – point out to the reader what you would like him/her to notice about your results.  Use means (M) & standard deviations (SD).

·         State alpha level used.

·         Make sure you write out the statistics appropriately e.g. t (df) = t value, p…

·         If the results are significant, merely state p < .05.  If the results are not significant, state the specific p value – p = .32.

3.       When you are labeling your table, the words “Table 1” should appear as normal text.  The title, which comes one line below “Table 1” should appear in Italics.  Refer to the example given in the sample paper.

4.       When you are labeling your figure, the words “Figure 1” should appear in Italics and the title should appear in normal text. E.g.

·         Figure 1. Comparison of mean levels of aggression among children.

5.       The titles of the table/figure should be left justified and not centralized.

6.       The title of the table should appear above the table while the title for the figure should appear below the figure.

Sample table:

Discussion

1.       Start with a brief summary of your main results. Eg. Chinese-speaking participants took significantly less time to identify colors than non Chinese-speaking participants did.  When it comes to the discussion, you don’t have to re-state the numbers.  However, you might want to re-state the significance levels.

2.       State whether or not your results supported your hypotheses (what you predicted) & re-state the hypotheses.

3.       Link the results with past research i.e. which results are consistent with the past research (as you described in the introduction) & why? which results are inconsistent with the past research & why?

4.       Describe confounding variables & suggestions to overcome them in the future.

5.       Describe shortcomings (that are not confounding variables) e.g. the research required mood manipulation & your manipulation check revealed that it was unsuccessful.

6.       Describe general improvements & future studies.

7.       Describe implications of the research – at the end of the day, what does your study reveal, how does it contribute to our understanding of human behavior, mental processes, emotions, etc?

Citations

1.       When you write research papers, you “borrow” information from many authors because this gives your paper strength.

2.       However, you cannot use other people’s words without giving them credit for it. 

3.       Citing is the process of giving credit to the author of the sentence(s) you are using.

4.       When you take the author’s words and change them to your own words, it is called paraphrasing.  You still have to give credit to the author because the idea(s) did not originate from your head.

Examples:

1)      Smith (1999) reported that….

2)      Research (e.g. Yancey, 2001) shows that…

3)      According to Johnson and Frank (2002)…

4)      … (Sedgewick & Adams, 1993).

5.       Do not use authors’ first names in the text. 

6.       Do not state authors’ university affiliations or designations (e.g. Professor, PhD)

7.       When you copy the author’s words verbatim (word for word) that is called a direct quotation.  Direct quotations need to be put in quotation marks (“ ”).  Citations for direct quotations also require page numbers.

Examples:

1)      Smith (1999, p.2) reported “there is a correlation between violence in television and aggression in children.”

·         Note that in this direct quote, the period (full stop) comes before you close the quotation.

2)      “There is a correlation between violence in television and aggression in children” (Smith, 1999, p.2).

8.       If you omit material in the middle of your direct quote, use three ellipsis points to indicate that there is omitted material.

Example: “Children who watch television…appear more aggressive” (Frank, 2002, p.3).

·         The three ellipsis points show that there is actually some text in between these two statements, but that you have excluded these words (or sentences) in your quotation.

9.       Try to avoid having direct quotations that are longer than 40 words.  If you have a direct quotation that is longer than 40 words, you do not need to have any quotation marks, but the direct quote needs to be indented (2 tab spaces).

10.   A primary citation (paraphrased or directly quoted) is when you read the article/book and use what you read in your paper.  The examples given above are primary citations.

11.   A secondary citation (paraphrased or directly quoted) is when you read 1 author who quotes a second author and you want to use this second author’s information in your paper.  You did not personally read this second author’s work – you read the first author’s work.  Therefore you cannot cite this second author like a primary citation.

Examples:

1)      Children who watch more than 2 hours of television a day appear to be more aggressive than children who watch less than 2 hours of television a day (Smith, 2002, as cited in Frank, 2003).

2)      “There is a correlation between violence in television and aggression in children” (Smith, 2002, as cited in Frank, 2003, p. 3).

12.   Try to avoid tertiary citations i.e. you want to cite what Author 1 said Author 2 said that Author 3 said.  So what you really want to cite is Author 3, but Author 3’s work was in Author 2, and Author 2’s work was in Author 1, whom you read.  It becomes too confusing.  

13.   You need to have secondary citations but you do not need to have secondary references.  For example: Smith, 2002, cited in Johnson, 2003.  You will reference Johnson, but not Smith.  Refer to the following section on how to reference.

14.   If there are between 3-5 authors, the first time you use this citation, list all the authors.  Subsequently, state the 1^st author & then write “et al.” e.g.

·         Johnson, Smith, Duvall, and Autry (2003) stated… [1^st time]

·         Johnson et al. (2003) stated… [2^nd time & all subsequent times]

15.   If there are 6 or more authors, you use “Johnson et al.” all the time.

16.   However, in the references section, ALL authors need to be listed.

17.   If you’re citing more than one sources (e.g., Tan, 2008; Johnson, 2006; Tan & Lee, 1997; Tan & Lee, 2008), arrange the citations by alphabetical order of first author’s name, followed by chronological order (if same author/s). Single author will be come before multiple authors. 

à Therefore, the above example should be arranged this way:

      E.g., Several studies supported this notion (Johnson, 2006; Tan, 2008; Tan & Lee, 1997; Tan & Lee, 2008).

References

1.       The following is a list of the more commonly used references.  For more information, refer to the APA Publication Manual (5^th edition) in the library.

1)      Journal reference:

Author, A. (date). Title of article. Title of Journal, vol, pp.-pp.

Wine, J. (1971). Test Anxiety. Psychological Bulletin, 76, 92-104.

2)      Book reference:

Author, A. (date). Title of book. Location: Publisher

Thorndike, E.L. & Lorge, I. (1944). The teachers wordbook of 30,000 words. New York: Columbia University Teachers’ College.

3)      Chapter in an edited book:

Author, A. (date). Title of chapter. In B. Editor (Ed.). Title of book (pp-pp). Location: Publisher.

Rachman, S.J. (1976). Observational learning and therapeutic modelling. In M.P. Feldman & A. Broadhurst (Eds.). Theoretical and experimental bases of behaviour therapies (pp.245-295). London: John Wiley & Sons.

4)      Magazine/Newspaper:

Author, A. A. (year, month date). Title of article. Title of magazine, volume, pp.-pp.

Smith, S. (2000, April 9). Anxiety. Time, 135, 28-31.

5)      Lecture:

Lecturer, A. (year, month). Title of lecture. Lecture presented to class, name of institution.

Waterman, M. (1995, July). Thought and language. Lecture presented to Psychology 111, University of ABC.

6)      World Wide Web sources:

Author / Organization. (date). Title of article. Date retrieved from the World Wide Web: URL address.

National Consumers League. (1997). Helping seniors targeted for telemarketing fund. Retrieved

      February 3, 1999, from http://www.fraud.org/elderfraud/helpsen.htm.

a.       If there is no author/organization, then just start with the title of the article.  Example:

Helping seniors targeted for telemarketing fund. Retrieved February 3, 1999 from the World

      Wide Web: http://www.fraud.org/elderfraud/helpsen.htm.

b.       If there is no author/organization and no title, then just list the website address.  However, it is not very safe to cite a website that does not list an author/organization and title.  Be wary of websites that do not seem to have legitimate sources. 

7)      Online journal article:

Author (date). Title of article. Title of Journal, vol. Date retrieved from URL.

Smith, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist

      Ethics, 8(4). Retrieved February 20, 2001, from http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html

8)      A print journal or newspaper article retrieved from an online database:

Author (date). Title of article. Title of Journal, vol, pp-pp. Date retrieved from XXX database.

Vello, J.A. & Cohen, D. (1999). Patterns of individualism and collectivism across the

      United States. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 279-292. Retrieved

      September 18, 2002 from PsycARTICLES database.

2.       However, a couple of things to note:

a.       Alphabetize the list of references.

b.       Journal titles should be spelled out fully.

c.       The references should be double-spaced.

d.       Listing of references should be continuous. Do not press <Enter> twice when you are typing a new reference.

e.       The first line is not indented but the rest of the lines (for the same reference) are indented.  For example:

Nevid, J.S., Spencer, A.R., & Green, B. (2000). Abnormal psychology in a changing

world (4^th ed.). New Jersey, USA : Prentice Hall.