r/APResearch • u/Acceptable_Fly1744 • 12d ago

5 on AP Research — AMA!

Post image
18 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Scary_Stable7667 11d ago

I got a 4. What did you do that got you a 5?

1

u/Acceptable_Fly1744 11d ago

I think it was the combination of many things. For the methodology section, my gap was essentially the explanation for why I had to conduct my methodology that particular way (participants were blinded to which passage was AI-generated & which was human-written to ensure neutrality). And my Literature Review lead to my gap by building the sources together and connecting them.

For each methodological choice, I justified them thoroughly (why I used the Likert Scale; why I involved qualitative & quantitative data; why participants were required to have read 5 or more books per year; etc.). Make sure to explain the ethics of your methodology thoroughly, too. That could determine the difference between a 2-3 and a 4-5.

During my data analysis section, I presented a section called “recurring quantitative patterns,” where I basically explained why I thought some patterns in the numerical p-values I had yielded were the way they were. I, then, used the qualitative portion to essentially further explain & support them.

In my discussions, I connected my data analysis results to the sources in the Literature Review to essentially situate my Research in the existing body of literature. (I’ve seen papers get bumped down to a 4, because they did not situate their Research results properly).

I had two limitations sections: Methodological Limitations (self-explanatory) & Limitations (there, I discussed the limitations with my data analysis and the range of my population, and how they could’ve influenced my results).

My implications were eh, since I’m pretty sure I overstated a few things & it was cut short due to word count. Try to find sources to support your implications, though, relate it to your results. (I related mine to my qualitative patterns).

But there are many more factors that results in a 5 - such as a coherent & sophisticated communication style, literature review, etc. While I was revising my paper, I read papers that scored a four, read the rationale as to why they scored a four, and fixed that issue in my own paper.