Common Issues

There are a few things that keep coming up in the HSRC proposals and intro outlines. Fortunately, all of them are things that are in the Master's Project check list. To that end, I'd strongly recommend that you review the sheet before submitting your intro draft.

Here are some of the most common errors:

1. Anthropomorphism. Often in an attempt to avoid passive voice, folks are attributing action to inanimate objects. Studies cannot "seek," "try to demonstrate," or even "aim." Researchers can--you can--but studies are inanimate and cannot DO anything.
2. Incorrect formatting of et al. The following are correct: Clements et al. (1990) or (Clements et al., 1990).
3. Incorrect use of "while" and "since." As per APA, these two words are used ONLY when you mean to indicate the temporal relation between two or more things. If you can substitute "although," "whereas," "but," or "and" for "while" and not change the meaning of the sentence, "while" is not the right word to use. Similarly, if you mean "because," "since" is not the right word to use.
4. Commas in a series. Unlike your English grammar teacher, who taught you that you don't need a comma before "and" unless you have 4 or more things in series, APA editors are very clear that you need commas between all elements of series of three or more things (and even two things, if those two things are the authors of the citation you are including in your reference list). Consider the following: There were several treatment groups, designed for patients with schizophrenia, substance abuse, depression and anxiety. From an APA perspective, it's not clear if there are 3 groups or 4--whether the last group includes patients with co-morbid depression and anxiety.