APA BOOT CAMP
OCTOBER 21, 2016
Acronyms
Subject – verb
agreement
Indicating
Possession
(not the creepy
type)
PRE-ASSESSMENT
Work through the sheet by yourself, quickly. Just go with your first inclination.
ACRONYMS
• Don’t overuse
abbreviations;
consider writing
clarity.
• If you use a term
less than 3 times
in a paper,
consider writing it
out each time (p.
107)
• “use only those
abbreviations that
will help you
communicate with
your reader” (APA
Manual, 2010, p. 107)
“Because the abbreviations that
psychologists [and other professionals] use
in their daily writing may not be familiar to
students or to readers in other disciplines or
other countries, a term to be abbreviated
must, on its first appearance, be written
out completely and followed
immediately by its abbreviation in
parentheses. Thereafter, use the
abbreviation in text without further
explanation. Do not switch between the
abbreviated and written-out forms of a
term (APA Manual, 2010, p. 107)
EXAMPLE
In light of recent legislative changes such as
the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act (IDEIA, 2004) and The No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001), the field is
now pressed to consider general education
content during instructional decision making for
students in this population (Hardman &
Dawson, 2008; Lowrey et al., 2007).
MORE ON ACRONYMS
APA Style does not require that the
abbreviation be written out in text if it is a word
entry in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary (2005).
• e.g., IQ, HIV
The plural form of an abbreviation is the
acronym with an s added. DO NOT USE AN
APOSTROPHE.
• e.g., IQs, Eds, LEAs, 1900s
MORE ON ACRONYMS
It is best NOT to begin a sentence with an acronym
but you can do so to avoid indirect or awkward
sentence construction.
• e.g., LEAs are responsible for complying with the
requirements of IDEA. OR
• The LEAs are responsible for complying with the
requirements of IDEA.
Lists of common abbreviations/acronyms in the
APA Manual on pp. 108-111.
WHAT DO YOU THINK??
HOW COULD THESE BE IMPROVED?
“The advantage of the LH was clear from
the RT data, which reflected high FP and FN
rates for the RH.” (APA Manual, p. 106)
Children with ESN were excluded from the
LRE at significantly higher rates than
children with MSN.
SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT
“Verbs must agree with their subjects, and
pronouns with the nouns to which they
refer (p. 27, APA Manual, 1974 2nd Ed.)
Sounds simple but gets tricky with plural words
from Latin or Greek that end in ‘a’ (e.g., data,
criteria, phenomena) and with collective nouns
(nouns that denote groups such as faculty,
staff)
COLLECTIVE NOUNS AND VERB
AGREEMENT
(GRAMMARBYTES, N.D.
HTTP://WWW.CHOMPCHOMP.COM/TERMS/COLLECTIVENOUN
.HTM
• The verb form to use depends on context.
When people in the group are part of unit
(acting as a unit), that noun becomes singular
and requires singular verbs and pronouns.
• Today, Dr. Ribley's class takes its first 100-item
exam.
Class = singular; takes = a singular verb; its = a
singular pronoun. All members of the class are
testing at the same time.
COLLECTIVE NOUNS AND VERB
AGREEMENT
(GRAMMARBYTES, N.D.
HTTP://WWW.CHOMPCHOMP.COM/TERMS/COLLECTIVENOUN.H
TM
When the members of the group are acting as
individuals, the collective noun is plural and
requires plural verbs and pronouns.
• After the long exam, the class start their research
papers on famous mathematicians.
Class = plural; start = a plural verb; their = a plural
pronoun. The students are beginning their own
research papers—in different places, at different times,
on different mathematicians.
SIGNIFYING
POSSESSION
Singular nouns
DO use an ‘s regardless of the
final consonant
• e. g., the student’s paper;
Charles’s best friend
Pronouns
Do NOT use an apostrophe
for possessive pronouns
• e.g., hers, its*, theirs,
yours, ours
Plural nouns
If it does not end in s, then add
‘s. If it does end in s, then only
add the apostrophe
• e.g., women’s schedules; cats’
beds
Indefinite pronouns
DO use an apostrophe
• e.g., one’s luggage,
somebody else’s
computer
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
ITS AND IT’S
Its
It’s
Its is a possessive.
It’s is a contraction
of ‘it is’.
The train ran off the
track and landed
on its side.
It’s too windy
outside to walk to
the lake.
SIGNIFYING
POSSESSION
Compound words
Add a ‘s to the end of
compound words
• e. g., the daughter-inlaw’s car
Joint possession of
an object
•
Maria and Jane’s
table; Dr. Jemez
and Dr. Smith’s
protocol
WORK WITH A
PARTNER
REVISIT YOUR PRETEST
Look back at your pre-test. Are there
any answers you would change??
MORE RESOURCES
• OWL website
• The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
• APA Manual (6th Ed.)
Self-study with quizzes
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sv_agr.htm
Game http://www.abcya.com/subject_verb_agreement.htm
Possessives
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/possessives.htm
Azar’s PowerPoints
http://www.azargrammar.com/materials/beg/BEG03_PowerPoi
nt.html