SIP Survival Tips

The following suggestions will help increase the likelihood that you will complete your SIP and that it will be of high quality:

1. Develop a timetable and a regular schedule for the completion of your SIP--It won't write itself. For example, schedule certain hours or days of the week for library research and writing. Develop these habits early and stick with them!

2. If you are in a university setting, talk with the grad students about your SIP (tell them it's a senior thesis). They are likely to be sympathetic and helpful--some-times more helpful than the faculty member supervising your internship.

3. Getting in touch with Psychology faculty members during the summer can be a problem. Your best bet is to e-mail the SIP Coordinator at rbatsell@kzoo.edu. If you don't have access to e-mail, you can try calling at 269-337-7032. However, the Psychology Department is officially closed summers, so you may not be able to reach anyone by phone.

4. If a serious problem comes up regarding your SIP or internship and you are unable to reach anyone, send a letter addressed to Psychology SIP Coordinator at the College, describing the problem. In the meantime, do what you can to salvage your SIP.

5. If you are using a computer to type your SIP, make sure you have: a) a printed copy of your most up-to-date version; b) two copies of the computer files, each on a separate floppy disk; and c) if you are not using Microsoft Word or Word Perfect that you have files which are compatible with that software--e.g., text or RTF format. Check with the Computer Center here (269-337-7237) if you will need to print charts, graphs, or spreadsheet data from other software.

6. Take copies of the College SIP Handbook and any Psychology Department SIP handouts. These contain important information about the format of the SIP. If there are differences in what is suggested by the two documents, follow the Psychology format.

7. Remember that all Psychology SIP's must follow the APA style. It does not have to follow the outline of an experimental report, e.g., having a methods section, if it is not an empirical study, but it must follow APA rules for such things as citations, referencing, use of abbreviations, etc. Make sure you have a copy of the APA Manual (5th Ed.). In general, follow the directions for use of the APA format you learned in Experimental Methods. Your goal is to make your SIP look like an article published in an APA journal, not what would be sent to an editor.

8. Students often ask how long a SIP should be. This is a difficult question to answer but here are some guidelines:
If you are writing a draft of an introduction while doing an applied internship, it should be 15-20 pages, minimum. It should describe each study or theory in sufficient detail to show its relevance to the problem you are investigating.

If you are writing a draft of a methods and results section while doing a research internship, it is difficult to prescribe a minimum length. However, keep in mind that if the reader cannot understand what happened in the experiment and what results where found, you will not be able to complete a two-unit SIP and may not even receive credit for a one-unit SIP.

9. Don't try to make your SIP longer by using wide margins, extra spacing, or larger than usual fonts. Don't use cute, fancy, or sans serif fonts. Use something similar to what you see here: Times and Times Roman fonts are commonly found on Mac and PC software. Use bold-face sparingly, not as your regular font.

10. Start writing early in the SIP quarter. It is the only way to get good quality work of sufficient length.

11. Like the Terminator, the SIP keeps coming and coming and coming…. You can put it aside or out of your mind, but in a quiet voice, it says: I'll be back."
Procrastination is one of the more serious problems which can develop on your SIP (see items #4 and #10, above).