Meeting Times: Lecture: 1:00-1:50 MWF
Laboratory: 1:00-3:50 T
Texts:Research Methods in Psychology, 3rd ed. Instructor: John H. Krantz
Shaughnessy and Zechmeister Office Hours: TBD by Class
Statistical Applications for the Behavioral Sciences
Grimm (Perhaps this authors is well named?!)
Office: Science Hall 112 Phone: x 7307
Class Tutor(s):___________________________________
Hours and Location:______________________________
Psychology is a science! You have heard that in every psychology course that you have taken so far but you have probably not yet confronted exactly what that phrase means. The fundamental objective of this course is to challenge you with the scientific approach to psychology. As a preview, using a scientific approach is a way of thinking: more particularly specific ways of collecting information (called data), ways of looking at and manipulating the information (statistics for the most part), and how conclusions are reached using that information. These techniques for thinking are not just essential for trying to contribute to psychological knowledge (that is, to do research) but also for understanding what a particular piece of psychological knowledge means. Hopefully, as a result of the course you will think differently about what you have read in psychology so far and also approach your other courses with a more critical eye. To best accomplish these goals we will both cover the theory behind several psychological methods and try our hand at as many as possible. The theory will be covered in class and we will use the labs to perform very small scale psychological research and see how these methods work in some real situations.
Material covered in any course that you take at Hanover College represents more than a collection of facts or ideas loosely held together by the course title. There is an intricate structure to what is included and what is not included which makes that course content distinct from other courses. I find, however, that in the heat of a term students and faculty get caught up in the particulars of the day's lecture or fulfilling the next assignment and sometimes lose sight of how the specifics of the day fit into the overall structure of the course. It is a "lose sight of the forest for the trees" type of phenomenon. In order to help you understand and keep track of the overall structure of this course, I have prepared the following course outline. The reading assignments are listed within the outline so that you can see how the daily lectures relate to the overall structure of the course.
Date/Day Readings
I. Background
A. Psychology as a Science
Sep 4-8 Shaughnessy Chapter 1
Week 1 Grimm Chapters 1-5 (these are review)
LAB: Library Research
On Friday September 8 a test will be given on review concepts in statistics. See procedure below.
B. Ethical Issues in Research
Sep 11-15 Shaughnessy Chapter 2, Appendix C
Week 2 LAB: Serial Position Effect (Results Section only) Report #1
II. Non-Experimental Methods of Research (Descriptive)
A. Observational Methods/Hypothesis Testing
Sep 18-22 Shaughnessy Chapters 3
Week 3 Grimm 6, 7
LAB: Serial Position Effect (Method and Results) Report #2
B. Correlational Methods (Correlation and Regression)
Sep 25-Oct 6 Shaughnessy Chapter 4, Appendix B
Weeks 4-5 Grimm 15, 16
LAB1: Correlation of two psychological variables (Introduction,
Method, Results) Report #3
LAB2: Estimation of Line Length (use of regression) Report #4
III. Experimental Methods
A. Independent Groups Designs
Oct 9-13 Shaughnessy Chapter 6; pp. 269-276
Week 6 Grimm 8
LAB: Midterm Examination
B. Within Subjects Designs
Oct 18-23 Shaughnessy Chapter 7; pp. 276-280
Week 7 Grimm 9
LAB: Facial Perception I Report #5, (cacluate both a within and between subjects t-test. Write up the caclucations and interpret both results and exaplain why they come out differently.)
WINTER BREAK HAVE FUN!!!!
C. Complex Designs
Oct 25-Nov 6 Shaughnessy Chapter 8; pp. 280-285
Weeks 8,9 Grimm 12, 13
LAB1: Facial Perception II Report #6 This is a poster presentation.
LAB2: Muller-Lyer Illusion Report #7
D. Issues in Experimental Analysis
Nov 8-13 Shaughnessy pp. 285-290
Week 10 Grimm 14
LAB: Off or Discussion - will announce later
IV. Alternative Research Methods.
A. Single Subject Designs/Nonparametric Designs
Nov 15-20 Shaughnessy Chapter 10
Week 11 Grimm 18
LAB: Effectiveness of Different Schedules of Reinforcement Report #8
B. Quasi-Experimental Designs
Nov 27-Dec 1 Shaughnessy Chapter 11
Week 12 LAB: OFF (We might finish lectures here to begin class presentations
on Wednesday or Friday.)
V. Presentation of Final Lab Projects.
Dec 4-8 LAB: Poster presentation of own projects.
Week 13
December 11-15 During Final Exam Period Final Exam
Basic Statistical Knowledge Examination. At the beginning of the course, I will give a test that all must pass covering the basic concepts of statistics that even the weakest statistics course should cover. Read the first five chapters of Grimm for review as the concepts covered will come from that book. The procedure will be as follows: 1) I will give the exam the first time during class on the first Friday. All who pass are not required to take it again, but given the fundamental nature of the information on the exam, you cannot get a higher grade than what you get on this exam. All that fail must take it again. 2) All who take it again will schedule individual times with me to take it again. 3) The test may be taken until Sep 23 when we will be moving beyond those concepts. You may take it as many times as you like until then.
Examinations. There will be two examinations, a mid-term and a final. The format of the examinations will be problems to solve and essays. Both examinations will be three hours in length. The final examination will be cumulative. The midterm will be worth 150 and the final will be worth 200 points for a total of 350 points.
Laboratory Assignments.
Library Research. Library research is fundamental. To give you some experience in library research, the first week will require you to find the answer to some library questions. (50 points).
Reports. As the class is about research methods, a laboratory component of the course is obvious. In these laboratories, we will usually collect a small amount of data and conduct a small piece of research to demonstrate what we are discussing in class. Then you will write up the research. Initially only sections will be required until full research reports will be required. The first report will be worth 25 point, the second 50, the third 75 and all others 100 points for a total of 750 points.
Your own Laboratory Project. Each of you will be required to propose and conduct your own research. Because of the size of the class, you will work in teams of two, assuming that the class stays with an even number. Prior to deciding on a project, you must pick another member of the class to work with. Pick a technique and project and write a two page proposal by Monday, Oct 2 (50 points). I will approve or modify the proposal. You will then collect the data and analyze it. You will present the results in two ways, as a poster and as a read paper. The final lab session will be taken up with the poster session (all other faculty will be invited as well as other students). The final week will be the oral presentations. Each will be worth 75 points for a total of 150. Both members of the team will receive the same grade. I do not have any means of assessing the separate contributions of each member. If you have any ideas, I will be glad to listen.
Network Use Assignments: This past fall, Hanover College established a computer network that is local to the campus and established links to the Internet which stretches around the world. The implications and possibilities of such computer communications strikes me as staggering and to a great extent unrealized. However, I find it important that you begin gaining experience with at least some aspects of the network because it will alter many aspects of at least your work lives, by providing access to information not previously available, and probably your home lives in the context of the information highway. Therefore, I have designed a few small assignments to give you experience on the network in ways that I believe will shape the future of Psychology.
Assignment 1: All of you have been set up e-mail accounts. You need to go to one of the computer laboratories (I don't care which) with a disk and have the laboratory assistant set you up an e-mail disk and show you how the e-mail works. Then e-mail me a message. The message is irrelevant. (10 points)
Assignment 2: Create a file in a word processor of your choice. Save the document as a text file and include that file to me in another e-mail message (this is a second message). I will cover the specifics for this assignment in a laboratory class. Both assignment 1 and 2 must be completed one week before the first journal assignment is due as you will use these techniques to submit your papers. (10 points)
Assignment 3: I have had the Academic Computing center create a news discussion group for the class. This is to be a means for you to communicate ideas/successes/frustrations/questions to each other and to me. This third assignment is for you to post a message to the class on the group. (The initial post is worth 20 points. Continued use of the group is worth 30 points).
Participation in and regular attendance of classroom activities and discussions will be worth 70 points. I expect each student to participate fully in discussions in class and laboratories. These discussions are integral to getting the greatest possible benefit from this class.
I grade on a point system which means that each assignment of the course is worth a certain amount of points towards the final grade. When you get an assignment back you will be given a grade with the points earned over the total number of points. Thus, you should be able to follow your progress in the course on your own. There are a total of 1550 points in this course.
Grades will be assigned as follows:
A 1500 - 1350
B 1349 - 1200
C 1199 - 1050
D 1049 - 900
F < 900