CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, STANISLAUS
Department of Kinesiology
KINS 4300 - Measurement and Evaluation in Physical Education
Instructor - Janice L. Herring
RESEARCH JOURNAL ARTICLE ABSTRACT GUIDELINES
Locate a research article, which is pertinent to your selected test administration topic of fitness,
sport performance, or sport skill testing. The article must be an original research study from a peerreviewed
research journal, print or electronic; not from a book or general Internet site. To abstract the
study, use these guidelines to summarize the findings. You must use your own words, focusing primarily
on the testing that was conducted, relative to your topic. Your abstract must include a title page and a
reference page, using APA style (6th edition). A link to a Sample APA Paper, through the Purdue Online
Writing Lab, can be found on the Library Class Page for KINS 4300 or directly through External Web
Links on Bb for this course. You will need to conduct a search of library databases to find an appropriate
article. If you are unfamiliar with library database search or APA style, the librarians can help, or ask me!
You can also check out a copy of the APA style manual (6th edition) at the library circulation desk.
Please label each section in accordance with APA style Level 1 headings, beginning with
Purpose, as given below in boldface type and double-space your entire abstract and article citation.
These section titles should be centered and in bold. Note that the Methods section has four parts. These
are Level 2 headings. Using direct quotes requires the use of quotations and in-text citations to show page
numbers. Likewise, paraphrased information should be credited appropriately using in-text citations. To
ignore this is a form of plagiarism. My preference is that you keep direct quotes to a minimum, and
instead paraphrase the information you’ve read. Address every section using complete sentences.
You must bring a copy of your article or send a link via email for approval by the due date given
in the syllabus. Then, a full-print copy of the approved article must be turned in with the abstract when
you complete the assignment. You must highlight the information that was utilized from the article,
corresponding to the in-text citation of information, all through your abstract.
Abstracts will not be accepted early or late. The due date is listed in the syllabus. You must be in
attendance and on time on the due date in order to turn in the assignment. This is a required
assignment. Failure to complete this and the other two required assignments will result in you not
being eligible to receive credit for the Test Administration Project (225 pts).
Adhere to APA guidelines for margin settings, spacing, running head, font style, and page numbering
• Use 1” margins on all four sides: top, bottom, left, and right
• Double-space every line of the assignment. Change the default setting from “10” points after to “0”
so that you don’t end up with extra space every time you hit “return”.
• Use Times New Roman 12 point font throughout paper, including the header and page numbers
• Start numbering with title page and finish with the reference page
• Title Page - Include an APA style title page with the following three lines
Title That Identifies your Topic (Title Case)
Your name
The name of your university, fully spelled out
These three lines of type should be centered horizontally, as well as centered vertically in the top
half of the page. That means that the middle of the three lines should be 2 ¾ inches down from the top of
the page. Do not use your article title as the title of your paper. Create your own title, reflecting the
content of the study and the topic, which you chose. Unlike a standard APA style paper, the title page will
not include author notes. Additionally, there will not be an abstract at the beginning of your paper because
the entire assignment is a detailed abstract of the study.
• Running head:
• The running head and page numbers should be at the 1” margins, from the top and sides.
o If using the header/footer function, change the default setting within the header of ½” top margin
to 1”, and then set your page setting top margin to 1.4”. This will double space your first line
below the header, after title page 1.
o If not using the header/footer function, then use 1” as your top margin setting.
• The header is titled “Running head:”, followed by your PAPER TITLE, all in capital letters. This
cannot exceed 50 characters, including spaces. It should be the same as your paper title, or be
shortened, without changing the content significantly if your title is >50 characters. There should be no
abbreviations (except acronyms used in the study, i.e. PACER) or punctuation marks in the header
title. After the title page, continue the header title without the words, “Running head:”. Look for the
formatting “different first page” to format the remaining pages with continuing page numbers.
In accordance with APA style you should begin the second page of the assignment with the title of
your paper, centered. Then continue with double spacing and sections of your paper formatted as follows:
Title
Purpose
Briefly describe the purpose of the study in your own words. Begin this section with the words,
“The purpose of this study was to…”.
Methods
In this section there are Level 2 headings, which should be flush with the left margin, bolded, and title case. Then
indent with regular paragraph margins, (1 tab), after the heading.
Subjects
Tell who the subjects or participants were (e.g. The subjects were 40 young adult females, age 20
± 1.45 years, with weight training experience.)
Measurements
What was measured? Discuss variables measured and explain testing procedures relative to your
topic, using your own words. This is a key point of the assignment! If there were variables measured that
weren’t salient to any interventions or treatments, nor your topic area, you can exclude them.
Experimental Manipulation
Discuss experimental manipulation. For instance, tell if subjects were given a particular
supplement, or subjects performed exercise training three days per week for ten weeks, or trials were
performed in randomized order. It may be that there were special conditions under which testing was
conducted, familiarization provided, or assignment to particular groups, including controls. These should
be discussed as part of the experimental manipulation.
Statistical Analysis
Tell about all of the different statistical analyses that were performed on the data. Oftentimes, the
authors won’t include means and standard deviations in their explanation or lists of the statistics that were
computed. However, as you look through the tables and descriptions in Results, Discussion, and Conclusion
sections of the article, if you see that these were reported, then you should also include them in the
explanation of which statistics were conducted.
Results
Report actual statistics such as means and standard deviations, percentages, medians, and modes.
Identify any differences found through t-tests, ANOVA, or correlations, using numbers and explanations.
Don’t just write that group one increased strength and group two increased endurance. Tell by how much;
for example, group one increased strength by 27.00 ± 1.55 pounds or 15%, p ≤ 0.05.
Conclusions
What did the study show? Note: Conclusions are based on results. In addition to discussing the
authors’ conclusions, write about what you conclude about the study.
Discussion
Explain how this study relates to other things you have read about or discussed in this course or
other college courses. Be specific about which courses and what was discussed.
Practical Application
Give at least one practical application of the information gleaned from this study. How can it be
used in physical education, athletics, sports medicine, allied health, or health and wellness professions? Be
realistic and specific! You only need to discuss application to one of these professional areas. Avoid broadsweeping
statements.
References
Using APA style, start on a new page to cite the article that you have abstracted. This will be the
only entry on the page. Do not use boldface type for the word, “References”. Follow the instructions for
how to cite references using APA style. Use in-text citation throughout the paper to show where you got
information from the article. It must have (authors, year, pages), following APA style.