East Carolina University
Department of Psychology
Use of the Active Voice and the First Person in APA-Style
Research Manuscripts
I have long been an advocate of the use of the first person and active rather than passive voice in research manuscripts. Finally, with the 5th edition of the APA Publication Manual, the APA has advocated the appropriate use of first person and active voice. Quoting from the 2.06 the Manual (2.06 in the 5th edition, 3.18 in the 6th edition):
Prefer the active voice.
Poor: The survey was conducted in a controlled setting.
Better: We conducted the survey in a controlled setting.
I was, however, in January of 2004, surprised at how forcefully copy editors are applying the new preference for the active voice. I received galley proofs for one of my research manuscripts that month, and the copy editor wanted numerous changes from passive to active voice. Also of interest, the executive editor (against the wishes of the copy editor) insisted that all occurrences of the word “gender” be changed to “sex.”
Here I reproduce the original text in blue and the edited text in green.
The
physical attractiveness of the litigants was experimentally manipulated. Mock jurors were asked to decide whether the
defendant was guilty or not and to rate their certainty of belief in the
defendant's guilt.
The authors experimentally manipulated the physical
attractiveness of the litigants. The authors asked mock jurors to decide
whether the defendant was guilty and to rate their certainty of belief in the
defendant's guilt (or lack of guilt).
Physically
attractive people are perceived in a more positive fashion than are the
physically unattractive (Dion, Berscheid, & Walster, 1972).
People perceive physically attractive
people in a more positive fashion than they do physically unattractive people
(Dion, Berscheid, & Walster, 1972).
In a
simulated sexual harassment case, physically attractive litigants were treated
more favorably than were unattractive litigants (Castellow, Wuensch, &
Moore, 1990).
In a simulated sexual harassment case, mock jurors treated
physically attractive litigants more favorably than they did unattractive
litigants (Castellow, Wuensch, & Moore, 1990).
When the
association between litigant physical attractiveness and the verdict (Castellow
et al., 1990) was presented to students at the university where this research
took place, and the students were asked to speculate on why jurors most favored
the attractive plaintiff,
When Karl L. Wuensch presented to university students the
association between litigant physical attractiveness and the verdict as found
by Castellow et al. (1990) and asked the students to speculate on why jurors
favored the attractive plaintiff,
It was
made clear to participants that the case materials were fictional.
We made clear to them that the case materials were
fictional.
Three
independent variables were used in a 2 x 2 x 2 design: Gender of participant, physical attractiveness of the plaintiff,
and physical attractiveness of the defendant.
We used a 2 ´ 2 ´ 2 design with three independent
variables: sex of participant, physical
attractiveness of the plaintiff, and physical attractiveness of the defendant.
Participants
were run in small groups,
We ran participants in small groups,
In the
plaintiff’s testimony, it was explained that
In the plaintiff’s testimony, he explained that
In the
defendant’s testimony, all of the plaintiff’s accusations were denied.
In the defendant’s testimony, she denied all of the
plaintiff’s accusations.
The
character witness testimonies were altered from those used by Moore et al.
(1994).
We altered the character witness testimonies that Moore et
al. (1994) had used.
They were
said to have C averages in their evening classes.
We said that they had C averages in their evening classes.
A pilot
study employing the same adjective scale used in the study by Moore et al.
(1994) produced means of 5.1 for the plaintiff and 5.5 for the defendant.
In a pilot study, we used the same adjective scale that
Moore et al. (1994) used, and it produced means of 5.1 for the plaintiff’s
social desirability and 5.5 for that of the defendant.
The
participant response form asked the participants to list their age, gender, race, and academic
classification.
Through the participant response form, we asked the
participants to list their age, sex,
race, and academic classification.
For the
defendant, the attractive photograph was rated significantly more attractive (M
= 7.86, SD = 1.29) than the unattractive photograph (M = 2.90, SD
= 1.74), t(322) = 29.15, p = .000, d = 3.24.
For the defendant, participants rated the attractive version
of the defendant as significantly more attractive (M = 7.86, SD = 1.29) than
the unattractive version of the defendant (M = 2.90, SD = 1.74), t(322) =
29.15, p = .000, d = 3.24.
A logit
analysis was employed to evaluate the effects of gender of juror and physical
attractiveness of plaintiff and defendant upon the verdict rendered.
We used a logit analysis to evaluate the effects of sex of juror and physical attractiveness of plaintiff and
defendant on the verdict rendered by individual mock jurors.
All
effects deleted were so trivial in magnitude that each had a z < .65
and a p > .50.
All effects that we deleted were so trivial in magnitude
that each had a z < .65 and a p > .50.
When the
main effect of gender was dropped from the model,
When we had dropped the main effect of sex from the model,
A three
way factorial ANOVA was employed to evaluate the effects of gender of juror and physical
attractiveness of plaintiff and defendant upon certainty of guilt.
We used a 3-way factorial ANOVA to evaluate the effects of sex of juror and physical attractiveness of plaintiff and
defendant on the juror’s certainty of guilt.
The
unattractive female defendant may be thought of as being sexually frustrated,
The female juror may think of the unattractive female
defendant as being sexually frustrated,
Having
inferred that the attractive defendant’s motivation was sexual, it would be
easier to believe that
Having already inferred that the attractive defendant’s
motivation was sexual, the male juror would find it easier to believe that
Younger
women have been found to be more tolerant of
Investigators have found younger women to be more tolerant of
The original document
contained 8 instances of the once forbidden word “we.” The revised document contained 23.