Let's face it. Not many of us look forward to curling up in bed late at night with a spellbinding design section. Although dedicated aficionados of the art of psychological research may be enthralled by clever, creative designs, most of us would rather reserve our passion for theory and data. In the family hierarchy of the psychology research article, experimental design resembles the poor cousin who must be invited to the party but is never the guest of honor.

This situation is in some ways unfortunate. At first glance, focusing on the well-written experimental design section is analogous to describing a new car in terms of the mechanical design of the engine. Engine specifications are what make the car work, but rarely does one leave the showroom excited about engine mechanics. Nevertheless, with a flawed design, the car will sputter and die, but a vehicle with a well-structured engine will keep its passengers sailing smoothly in pursuit of their goals. And so it goes with experimental design. A flawed design will derail even the most impressive theory and hypotheses, whereas appropriate, well-thought-out designs usually lead to informative research and compelling findings.

For this reason, the design section of a psychology journal article may be its most important and informative section. Nearly everything else in the article depends on it. With a design firmly in mind, and some rudimentary knowledge of the literature, experienced readers (such as journal reviewers) can usually discern a study's potential theoretical contribution.