Research Methods in Psychology PSY225
Spring
Semester 2004
Course Description: In this
course, we will discuss different approaches and relevant issues in conducting
psychological research. What are the
factors that one must consider in asking and answering scientific questions in
the domain of psychology? How does one go about designing and implementing an
effective research project? The aims of the course are to prepare you to
conduct your own research, to make you able to critically evaluate other peoples
research, and to improve you scientific report-writing skills. The written assignments for this class are
designed to give you step-by-step preparation and feedback for your final
research paper. The lab portion of this course is devoted to conducting a group
research project which will include choosing a topic, preparing materials,
collecting data in an ethical manner, statistically analyzing data, presenting
your project, and writing up an APA style research paper.
Instructor: Dr. Marie Walker
Office: SSC 18, Phone: ext. 7412 (The best way to
reach me is by e-mail)
Email: mwalker@gac.edu
Office Hours: W:
2:30-3:30, F: 11:30-12:30 or by appt.
Class Hours: M, W, F:
10:30-11:20 in SSC 27
Lab Hours: Lab A: T 10:30-12:20,
Lab B: T 2:30-4:20 in SSC 27
Required Texts:
Goodwin, J. C. (2002). Research in
psychology: Methods and design (3rd ed.). New York: John Wiley
& Sons.
Strongly
Recommended Text:
American Psychological Association.
(2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th
ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author
Evaluation
(out of 515 points)
·
3 tests = 3 X 75 = 225
·
Quizzes on assigned articles: 4 X 10 = 40
·
Homework Assignments:
5 X 5 = 25
·
Article Summary = 25
·
Results Section = 25
·
Draft of Introduction = 50
·
Final experimental paper = 75
·
Group Work: Ethics application and Group presentation = 2 X
25 = 50
In
addition, Gustavus has an Honor Code, which is discussed in the Student Guide
and Course Catalogue. The following statement indicates your understanding of
the Gustavus Honor Code and its relationship to plagiarism; please include the
statement in full and sign below it on every graded assignment: "On my
honor, I pledge that I have not given, received, nor tolerated others' use of
unauthorized aid in completing this work."
Note It is marked very clearly on the syllabus when an assignment is to be written up and handed in as a group versus as an individual. If the assignment is to be done individually, similarity among the work of group members will be regarded as plagiarism and all parties involved will be disciplined.
Special
Accommodations: If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or
learning disabilities and require accommodations, please let me know during the
first week of class so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. You
will need to provide documentation of your disability to Laurie Bickett,
Disability Services Coordinator, in the advising center (204 Johnson Student
Union, x6286) All discussions will remain confidential.
Tests: You will be writing 3 tests over the course of the semester
consisting of multiple choice and short essay questions. The tests are not cumulative and the first
two tests will be written during class time - see scheduled dates below. You will be tested on the textbook chapters
(this includes all material in the chapter unless omitted), lectures,
and any articles that have been assigned for reading.
Test
1:
Mar. 10 - Chapters 1, 3-5, lectures, and assigned readings
Test
2:
April 17 - Chapters 2, 6-8, lectures, and assigned readings
Test
3:
May 22 - Chapters 9-12, lectures, and assigned readings
Class Quizzes: There will
be 4 class quizzes throughout the semester.
A week before the quiz, you will be given a copy of a journal article to
read. These articles will provide an
example of some aspect of the material being covered in class. As you would
with any article, you should be looking for specific information. What was the purpose of and theoretical
reasoning for the study? What was the hypothesis and how is it reflected in the
independent and dependent variables?
How were the i.v.s and d.v.s measured and what methodology was
employed to test the hypothesis? What
were the results and did they support the hypothesis? What were the main problems or shortcomings of the study and how
could they be corrected. When assigning
the articles, I may ask you to think about a more specific question, but, in
general, be prepared to answer any of the above questions. I am not trying to test your memory, but
rather your understanding and thus, I will allow you to refer to the article
and any notes you have made during the quiz.
Be sure to bring this material with you on the day of the quiz! Following the quiz we will take up the
article and you will answer a series of questions in small groups. You will have a question regarding the
article on each test so be sure to take notes.
Homework Assignments: Six times
during the semester, you will be assigned a short reading, a set of questions,
or a brief assignment to take home and bring to class for the next class
period. The purpose of these assignments is to get you thinking about relevant
concepts for class. Research involves thinking actively about problems that may
arise at any point in the research process and rather than always having me
lecture, Id like you be prepared to share your ideas and opinions in class
about the take-home assignments. I will
drop the lowest grade from the 6 assignments.
Article
Summary:
This summary is designed to get you thinking critically about research that is
relevant to your research project. You
are required to read 1 of the articles from the list I provide. This will be the starter article for your
research project, but remember that these summaries are to be written up
individually. Your summary should be written in paragraph format and should
provide a description of the research.
More details will be given before the due date. Your summary should be
no more than 2 double-spaced pages
and written individually.
Results Section: We will
conduct a study in lab for which you will write up an APA style results section
for the findings from a complex research design. You will be expected to represent your data accurately and report
all analyses in appropriate format.
This will be a dry run for your final paper as the analysis will be
almost identical to the one for your own projects. Include a figure or table
with your data. This assignment will be approximately 1-2 double-spaced pages (not including the figure/table) in length and
should be written individually.
Draft of
Introduction: To give you some early feedback, you will be handing in a
draft of your introduction for your final paper. This assignment will consist of a title page, an introduction
section, and a reference page. You
should describe at least three different experimental studies in your
literature review and a theory should be described to explain the rationale
behind the hypothesis. This draft should
be 3- 4 pages, double-spaced (not including the title or reference page). This
assignment must be in APA format and written
up individually.
Ethics Application: In order to
conduct ethical research with human participants, you will need to put together
an ethics application for the Institutional Review Board (IRB) here at
Gustavus. You will be required to fill
out the application (it will be handed out in class), write a summary of your
research purpose and methodology according to the IRB requirements, and attach
all materials. This will be written up as a group and you will be
marked as a group for this assignment.
You will have to submit your corrected applications to the IRB via the
Internet. Based on the feedback you
receive from me on this assignment, you will need to correct any errors before
handing out materials to your participants.
Experimental Paper: You will be working in groups of 2 or 3 to conduct a
psychological experiment. As a group,
you will decide on a topic based on a list of journal articles that I will give
to you. Once you have decided on the
general topic, you will then conduct a literature search to determine your
hypothesis. As a group, you will create
materials for the project, collect, and analyze data. The final paper will be
written up individually.
A large part of learning to write up a
paper entails learning correct APA format.
This will be discussed in class, but important sources of information
are Appendix A in your text and the APA Publication Manual. The required length of the paper is 10-12,
double-spaced pages, from the Abstract to the references. You are required to cite a minimum of 6 references in your final paper. Only
for legitimate medical or compassionate reasons will deadlines be
extended. Otherwise, the late penalty for the paper is 5% off
per day.
Presentation: As a group, you will be required to present
your research to the class in a professional conference-style format. This will be a 10-minute presentation that
describes the purpose of your study, the relevant literature on the topic, your
hypothesis, the results, and a discussion of the findings and possible future
research. You can each present part of
the material or you can have one or two group members present the material
prepared by the rest of the group. You will not be marked on how your study
turned out (i.e., whether you have significant findings), but rather on the
clarity and content of your presentation.
Assignment due
dates:
Results Section - April 23
Draft of Introduction - May 3
Experimental Paper - May 14
Presentations - May 17/19
THE BASICS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Feb.
9 - Introduction
Feb.
11-13 - What is Psychological Research: Ch. 1 (omit p. 24-27)
Feb. 16-20 - Developing
the Research Hypothesis: Ch. 3 (omit p. 96-99) (Quiz1 Feb. 20)
Feb.
23-Mar. 1 - Measurement and Sampling: Ch. 4 (Article summary due Mar. 1)
Feb. 24 Lab:
Brainstorm and decide on project topic. Prepare for literature search.
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
Mar. 10 - Test 1
Mar.
9 Lab: The Introduction and Reference sections. Finalize hypothesis and begin
developing materials.
Mar. 12-17 - Research Ethics: Ch.
2
Mar. 16 Lab: The Method; Develop all materials (including consent & debriefing)
Mar. 19-24 - Experimental Control:
Internal and External Validity: Ch. 6
(Quiz 2 Mar. 24)
Mar. 23 Lab: Finish up IRB
applications: IRB due in lab
Mar.
26-April 2 - Design and Analysis of Simple and Complex Experiments: Ch.
7 (omit p. 229-237) and Ch. 8 (omit p. 262-266) (Quiz 3 Mar. 31))
Mar. 30 Lab: The Discussion and
Abstract sections (Submit corrected IRB electronically by April 2)
April 3-12 - Spring Break
DESCRIPTIVE
AND APPLIED RESEARCH
April 14 - Test 2
April 13 Lab: The Results Section
(collect data for results section assignment)
April
16-21 - Correlation: Ch. 9 (Results
Section Assignment due April 23)
April 20 Lab: Final preparation for
data collection and set up data file for analysis
April
23-30 - Quasi-Experimental Design: Ch. 10 (Introduction draft due May 3)
April 27 Lab: Analysis of data;
Create Figures
May 3-7 - Observational Research:
Ch. 12 (omit p. 405-410) (Quiz 4 May 7)
May
4 Lab: Analysis of data cont
May 11 Lab: Work on group
presentations
May 18 No Lab
Test
3 Sat., May 22, 10:30-12:30 in SSC27