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.

 

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This page most recently revised on 10. December 2009.