09 Nov Journal Article Summary
when writing the journal article summary, please focus only on the highlighted sections. You will notice that the results section of the article is barely highlighted. This is because the discussion section of the article briefly summarizes most of the results of the study. As long as you are able to find the results in the highlighted sections, you should be fine. Finally, please note that I also added some comments in blue font throughout the article. These comments are meant to help clarify some concepts that may be unfamiliar to you.
The summary should be an accurate representation of the main points of the research article and it should avoid your personal opinion. Your summary should be in paragraph form and should have the following sections: Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion. The following questions are meant to give you an idea about the type of information that you should include in the four sections of your summary.
Introduction
Summarize the background for the study. Be sure to include the research question and hypothesis as well as the support the authors provide for the importance of their study. Try to find their underlying argument for what their study adds to the knowledge in this area. Be sure to summarize their argument. Do not state it in their words; use your own. For example,
- What did the authors already know about the consequences of daily surface acting?
- How have past researchers studied the consequences of daily surface acting?
- What new knowledge will be gained by the study?
- What is the theoretical background for the study?
- What are the real-world implications of this study (how does their study connect with everyday behaviors)?
- What was(were) the specific research question(s) they were trying to answer?
- What was(were) their hypothesis(es)?
- Method
- Summarize the method for the study the authors reported. Including:
- a brief description of the participants
- a description of what was measured and how it was measured (i.e., clearly identify the
variables that were measured and describe how they were measured) - what the participants did during the study (i.e., what was the procedure?)
But remember that this is a summary so every detail of the Method does not need to be mentioned.
Results
Report the results of the study. Place particular importance on results that provide an answer to the research question you identified in the introduction. Also, indicate whether or not the results support the hypotheses.
Please note that it is okay to rely only on the written descriptions of the results instead of the statistics. You do not have to include the statistical results in your summary. Instead, you simply have to summarize in your own words the verbal description of the results made by the author of the article.
Discussion
In your summary of the discussion section, focus on the following:
- Report how the authors interpreted the findings. What do the results tell us about the
effects of daily surface acting? - What is the important knowledge contributed by this study?
- What are the implications of the findings?
- What are limitations of the research?
- What are directions for future research?
- What are some of the questions that require further study?
- Please note that you do not have to cite or reference the article you are summarizing. However, please make sure to write the summary in your own words.
Wagner, D. T., Barnes, C. M., & Scott, B. A. (2014). Driving it home: How workplace
emotional labor harms employee home life. Personnel Psychology, 67(2), 487-516.
