RESEARCHDESIGN AND STATISTICS

Psychology 220

Fall 1997

Class Tutor(s):___________________________________

Hours and Location:______________________________

Objectives:

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, it is specific ways of collecting information (called data), ways of looking at and manipulating the information (statistics for the most part), and the way in which 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.

Course Outline:

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.

I. Background

A. Psychology as a Science and What is Psychological Research

B. Ethical Issues in Research

II. Non-Experimental Methods of Research (Descriptive)

A. Observational Methods/Hypothesis Testing

B. Correlational Methods (Correlation and Regression)

III. Experimental Methods

A. Independent Groups Designs

B. Within Subjects Designs

C. Complex Designs

D. Issues in Experimental Analysis

IV. Alternative Research Methods.

A. Single Subject Designs/Nonparametric Designs

B. Quasi-Experimental Designs

V. Presentation of Final Lab Projects.

Dec 8-12 During Final Exam PeriodFinal Exam

Assignments and Examinations:

• Class Discussion Questions and other Class Assignments: Most units will be preceded by my handing out a series of questions that will be used to frame the discussion for that unit. You need to be prepared to discuss any question when called. In addition, there will be periodic assignments for the class. These activity combined will be worth 150 points total. Lack of preparation on a given assignment will result in a zero for that time, and that time only.
• Basic Terminology Tests: One of the purposes of a major at Hanover College is to teach the student the basic vocabulary of the discipline. This is echoed in the Psychology Department's own structuring of its major. It has been my experience that this class has not sufficiently helped students to be precise in the use of the language of research methodology and statistical usage. Therefore I am implementing short 10 minute vocabulary drills to occur on 10 Fridays of the term (Marked above by a *). The will be 5 definitions to be given and any term up to that point of the semester may be used. (15 points each for 150 points total.)

• 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. (75 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 point value of each report is indicated in the course schedule above next to each lab report. The total point value for the lab reports is 425.
  For help in preparing your reports check out:
• Preparing your Laboratory Report but Dr. Jan Kennedy at;
  http://www.gasou.edu/psychweb/tipsheet/labrep.htm
• Library Research in Psychology by the APA at
  http://www.apa.org/science/lib.html
• 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 Friday, September 26 (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.
  For some help on your project check out:
• Library Research in Psychology by the APA at
  http://www.apa.org/science/lib.html
• If you need a psychological test check The Eric/AE test locator at:
  gopher://vmsgopher.cua.edu./11gopher_root_eric_ae:[_tc]
• 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. Get this syllabus and bring to class on Wednesday, Sep 3. (10 points)
2. 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. Due by the end of the second week. (10 points)
3. 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 due on the newsgroup by the end of the third week. (The initial post is worth 20 points. Continued use of the group is worth 30 points.)

Class Participation:

Participation in and regular attendance of classroom activities and discussions will be worth 100 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.

Review Resources

If you need some additional help for the class check out these resources on the web:

• Logic Problems like those used in class: http://psych.hanover.edu/classes/logic.txt
• For Statistics Help:
• Statistics Glossary: http://www.cas.lancs.ac.uk/glossary_v1.1/main.html
• Statistical Calculator (does a few stats we use): http://www.stat.ucla.edu/calculators/
• The Problems with Statistics (a short paper on reasoning with statistics):
  http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~taflinge/evistats.html

Grading:

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 1500 points in this course.

Grades will be assigned as follows: