|
This course serves as an introduction to the experimental method and its use in the study of behavior, coupled with an in-depth treatment of statistics as applied to psychological research. Statistical topics include principles of probability, central tendency, variability, hypothesis testing, and statistical inference. Lab exercises focus on designing experiments, collecting data, applying statistical methods (using SPSS), and presenting data through written assignments.
By the end of the semester you should be able to design both experimental and questionnaire studies, think critically about psychological methodologies, understand and use (with SPSS) the basic statistical tests frequently employed by psychologists, and write a research report in APA style.
Instructor Information
|
Course Documents & Links |
|
Homework
|
Topics, Schedule, & Readings
Date |
Topic |
Readings |
Assignments |
Week 1 |
|
|
|
M: 1/18 |
No class: MLK Day |
- |
|
W: 1/20 |
Course introduction |
- |
|
F: 1/22 |
Overview of research methods in psychology |
P&B 1; P&B 2 pp. 26-50 |
|
T 1/19: |
LAB: No lab this week |
- |
|
Th 1/21: |
LAB: Intro to lab; The process of research |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 2 |
|
|
|
M: 1/25 |
Threats to valid inference making |
P&B 3 |
|
W: 1/27 |
Threats to valid inference making |
P&B 5 |
|
F: 1/29 |
No class: SPSP confernence |
- |
|
T 1/26: |
LAB: Intro to lab; The process of research |
- |
|
Th 1/28: |
LAB: No lab this week |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 3 |
|
|
|
M: 2/1 |
Basics of research designs |
P&B 6-8 |
|
W: 2/3 |
Basics of research designs |
- |
|
F: 2/5 |
Research ethics |
P&B 2, pp. 50-57 |
|
T or Th |
LAB: Brainstorming the questionnaire study |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 4 |
|
|
|
M: 2/8 |
Measurement |
P&B 4 |
|
W: 2/10 |
Descriptive statistics |
G&W 1-2 |
|
F: 2/12 |
Central tendency |
G&W 3 |
|
T or Th |
LAB: Work on questionnaire study |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 5 |
|
|
|
M: 2/15 |
Variability |
P&B 10, G&W 4 |
|
W: 2/17 |
Z-scores |
G&W 5 |
|
F: 2/19 |
Probability and sampling |
G&W 6-7 |
Problem Set #1 due |
T or Th |
LAB: Intro to SPSS; frequencies and descriptives (Activity #1) |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 6 |
|
|
|
M: 2/22 |
Hypothesis testing |
G&W 8 |
|
W: 2/24 |
One-sample t-test |
G&W 9 |
|
F: 2/26 |
One-sample t-test |
- |
Problem Set #2 due |
T or Th |
LAB: Manipulating data in SPSS (Activity #2) |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 7 |
|
||
M: 3/1 |
TBA |
- |
|
W: 3/3 |
Review for exam |
- |
|
F: 3/5 |
EXAM 1 |
- |
|
T or Th |
LAB: Histograms, one-sample t-test in SPSS (Activity #3) |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 8 |
|
||
| SPRING BREAK | - | ||
|
|
|
|
Week 9 |
|
|
|
M: 3/15 |
Correlation and regression |
G&W 15 |
|
W: 3/17 |
Correlation and regression |
- |
|
F: 3/19 |
Correlation and regression |
- |
|
T or Th |
LAB: Brainstorm experiment |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 10 |
|
|
|
M: 3/22 |
Comparing two means |
G&W 10 |
Problem Set #3 due |
W: 3/24 |
Comparing two means |
G&W 11 |
|
F: 3/26 |
Comparing two means |
- |
|
T or Th |
LAB: Correlation in SPSS (Activity #4); Work on experiment |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 11 |
|
|
|
M: 3/29 |
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) |
G&W 13 |
|
W: 3/31 |
ANOVA |
- |
|
F: 4/2 |
ANOVA |
- |
Problem Set #4 due |
T or Th |
LAB: Independent samples and paired samples t-test in SPSS (Activity #5) |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 12 |
|
|
|
M: 4/5 |
Factorial ANOVA |
G&W 14 |
|
W: 4/7 |
Factorial ANOVA |
- |
|
F: 4/9 |
Factorial ANOVA |
- |
|
T or Th |
LAB: One-way ANOVA in SPSS (Activity #6) |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 13 |
|
|
|
M: 4/12 |
Repeated measures in ANOVA |
P&B 9 |
|
W: 4/14 |
Mixed ANOVA designs |
- |
|
F: 4/16 |
TBA |
- |
|
T or Th |
LAB: Factorial ANOVA in SPSS (Activity #7) |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 14 |
|
|
|
M: 4/19 |
Non-parametric tests |
G&W 16 |
Problem Set #5 due |
W: 4/21 |
Non-parametric tests |
- |
|
F: 4/23 |
Meta-analysis |
- |
|
T or Th |
LAB: Analyze experiment data in SPSS |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Week 15 |
|
|
|
M: 4/26 |
How to write a good lab report |
P&B 11, Appendix 3 |
|
W: 4/28 |
Review for Exam |
P&B 12 |
|
F: 4/30 |
Exam 2 |
- |
|
T or Th |
LAB: Analyze experiment data in SPSS |
- |
|
Week 16 |
|
|
|
|
Finals week |
Final Paper due at the end of Finals week |
|
