Hey, I am writing an APA-style proposal of what will later be the report of my study. (This is my first time doing something so big.) I have some doubts about the actual research question. The research question is currently obvious because of my title. It is also obvious because of the way I typed everything, and made sure it was clear at the end of the paper what my paper will be attempting to prove. However, I am not sure if I should pose the question straight-up to the reader. I like it more the way it is because I didn't disrupt the flow of the paper. Besides, I am afraid I will look like an amateur stating the question like this: Should I reinstate the question in question-format or is it okay for it to be in "sentence-format" (...like a thesis statement?)? I used that question ^ to prove what I am trying to say. I discussed what I was gonna ask, and essentially made the point of the thread clear at the beginning. Is it really necessary to put the question in "question-form" or is it okay (and maybe better) to just make it a statement? I hope this isn't confusing or novice ( ) but I am really having trouble deciding on this and my due date is tomorrow. Any feedback/suggestion/replies are greatly appreciated. Thank you, FrustratedAPA-Writer
Could you post a short paragraph, with the sentence/question you're referring to highlighted or bolded, so I can see what you mean? I'd like to help, but I'm confused. (Or if you don't feel comfortable posting a paragraph here publicly, PM me.)
Really, I think it sounds like you've got it all figured out. Are you asking, though, whether to pose it as a statement or a question? All I can say is that you should read that section out loud. Punctuate it in the way that you'd expect it to be read. If it reads easier and with more logic as a question, then that's the way to go, and vice versa. As Mallory said, we need a bit more information. Your post was just a little bit vague is all. C:
It depends what you're writing. I just google APA? This said it was a way of submitting a paper for the American Psychological Association. If so does it have a hypothesis i.e H0 = H1=? I suppose you said like - do what are you writing?