If you’re a new university student, chances are you’re unsure about how to write an effective essay without making beginner mistakes.
Psychology is a challenging subject; it is ever-evolving and garnering more and more attention by the day. Writing a psychology research paper is a demanding task. However, to make things easier for you, we have compiled an essay writing guide for psychology students that will help you ace your next written project.
General Essay Tips
1. Choose an Essay Topic
Before you learn how to write a psychology research paper, you’ll first need to choose a topic to write on. It’s best to select a topic that you’re particularly fond of.
If you’re not sure about the topic, here is a list of the best psychology argumentative essay topics to choose from:
Psychology Topics Example:
· The Impact Of Recreational Drugs on Bipolar Personality Disorder: Myth or Fact?
· What Affects Personality More: Experience or Genetics?
· How Do Certain Foods Influence Behavior?
· Do Mental Illnesses Negatively Impact Relationships?
· To What Extent Does Mental Illness Contribute to Violence in Our Society?
While you are free to choose from our list of the best psychology argumentative topics, it is better to opt for a topic you are personally in favor of.
2. General Essay Structure and Plan
Before writing, you should decide on a structure to follow. Start by making a plan. First, decide on how many paragraphs you want to include depending on the number of ideas or arguments present in your essay. Next, come up with a list of themes you want to include. Finally, decide on how you wish to structure your introduction and conclusion. Your writing should be coherent; try linking back every new sentence with the one before it.
3. Support Arguments with Evidence
All your arguments must be supported by facts. Presenting relevant evidence will help strengthen your case.
You can introduce verified statistics, studies, and cite valid medical journals as evidence. There are many online resources you can use for this; StudyMoose, PSYCHNET, and PSYCInfo are excellent sources of information. These online platforms are supported by most universities and can help you find some helpful psychology essay example papers to cite as references.
4. Evaluate Your Arguments
This is where your critical thinking skills come into play; be sure to evaluate and thoroughly analyze every piece of evidence you provide to support or deny an argument or claim. You must end each argument with a conclusive statement that reflects your personal understanding of the topic at hand.
Writing in Psychology: Psychology Essay Format
Now that you understand the basics associated with penning a psychology research paper, here’s how to write a psychology essay:
1. Start With a Captivating Introduction: Your introduction should introduce the topic and ease your reader into the argument at hand. Try providing one or two simple facts about the topic and following up with the stance your paper will take in relation to the central theme. Include a thesis statement in your introduction, too.
2. Body: The body paragraphs should dissect the central argument into smaller sub-sections, which will then be explored individually. Your body paragraphs should provide valuable insight into the topic, including deductive reasoning and evidence-based analysis.
3. Conclusion: Your conclusion should summarize the overall argument and bring your stance on the matter to light. After going over the conclusion, your reader should not be left with multiple unanswered questions. If they are, it means that your body paragraphs have not done a good enough job at explaining the topic.
Editing Your Essay
One of the most important parts of writing a professional essay or research essay is editing your work. Editing includes revising the sources of evidence cited and making sure they are both recent and not contradictory to any of the arguments included in your essay. It also includes checking for spelling and grammar mistakes. For this, you can use an online platform like Grammarly or Hemingway App. These websites will help you check all your work for free, and point out ways in which you can improve your essay.
Writing a psychology research paper is not easy, but not impossible either. To make the process easier for you, keep the tips mentioned above in mind when writing.
