Question

Is it okay to use a made up scenario in an APA Format paper as a way to offer an example of a discussion topic

Answer 1

Well first of all, APA is only a formatting convention. While it was originally designed for psychological and medical journal publication, many schools have adopted the APA standard for their papers and it holds no restrictions on what kind of content that you put into a paper. So when it comes to APA, it doesn't matter what you write, but how you write it.

However, that 's not to say that the instructor does not have his own expectations on content or the class itself for that matter. If he/she is okay with you elaborating through the use of hypothetical scenarios then go for it. However, some classes might not be well suited to such a technique, especially the sciences.

The main rule in any type of writing no matter what class or what instructor is: say it simply. If you can simply state the scenario in one sentence (two at the very most) then you're probably okay to put it in the paper, but if the scenario takes more than that to describe, forget about it. All it will do is detract from the paper by losing the reader's attention or worse confusing them. Remember, many instructors have to read many papers, sometimes hundreds, a day, so they appreciate short succinct papers that are simple and easy to read.

One instructor I know tells every class to kiss their papers. "I do not even want to read your paper unless you kiss it." Then he pauses and enjoys the puzzled looks he gets before turning around and writing on the white board:

Keep
It
Simple,
Student.

Answer 2

Jagatuba., thank you so much for that response. I greatly appreciate it!

Answer 3

You're very welcome.