When you are about to start your psychology essay writing, the first thing you should do is to define keywords in your topic and search them on the Internet. This way you will find a lot of sources related to your topic. The next step you need to take suggests a lot of reading that will help you make yourself familiar with the topic.
Continue writing by creating a plan of your paper. It will help your paper to be well-organized. A standard essay has a macro structure: introduction, body, conclusion, and microstructure: the way sentences flow within a paragraph.
You need to be aware that psychology essays differ from all the others by the three main research techniques applied. The first one is known as PREP (point, reason, example, point). This is the method of paragraph organization. In practice, it looks like this: Point – stands for a profound statement, Reasons – stand for analysis, Examples – stand for scientific evidence and Point – stands for author’s critique. If you will not provide your own opinion, or use quotation at the end of a paragraph, where your arguments should be, your work will not be considered an essay and, probably, will be returned.
The second research technique used in psychology essays is called Kipling’s serving men or the five Ws. It is based on five questions. Each question, as you have probably guessed, starts with W. Here are they: Who? What? When? Where? Why? Some scientists add “how?” and call it five Ws. and one H. To be able to answer these questions you need to use the third research technique. It is targeting reading. You have to return to the web search engine and look for the sources again, only this time with a date filter. As you want your information to be relevant and new, research sources should not be older than five years.
As you collect resources, do not forget to reference them. You can do it manually, or use specially designed programs. Make sure you add each new source to your reference list immediately. Otherwise, you will either lose sight of it or spend twice as much time looking for information or link again.
Like any other type of essay, psychology one requires proofreading. At first, write a draft text and try to discuss it with your classmates. You may also brainstorm additional ideas. When you have your final text ready, proofread it yourself and with the help of technology.