Statistics
Psych 201
Spring, 2008
Instructor: Vinai Norasakkunkit, Ph.D.
Time: MW: 9:00am – 10:45am
Location: AH 29
Office hours: AH36, TuTh: 4:00pm - 5:00pm; MW:
9:00am – 12:00pm
Phone: X6317
E-mail:
vinai.norasakkunkit@mnsu.edu
Syllabus and grades located on D2L
Course overview
The objectives of this course are for you to understand and
utilize statistics as it is applied to psychological research. According to your text
(reference below), statistics "refers to a set of methods and rules
for organizing, summarizing, and interpreting information" (p.4). Thus, the content of this course will focus
on learning how to summarize, analyze, and interpret elementary statistical
data, psychological or otherwise. The
primary goal of the course is to help you develop the conceptual background and
problem-solving skills needed to critically evaluate the statistics you
encounter in psychological journals, other coursework, as well as in everyday
life. It is my hope that by the end of
the course, you will develop an intuitive understanding of the statistical
methods we will be learning. This means
going beyond mere rote memorization of abstract formulae to appreciate what the
terms in those formulae stand for, and what they tell you about the underlying phenomenon
being investigated.
Equipment
Two pieces of "equipment" are essential for this
course. One is the textbook (see
reference below). It should be available
at the bookstore by the first day of class.
The textbook contains a number of important tables and figures that we
will refer to throughout the course, especially once we begin studying
statistical inference. The other piece
of essential equipment is a hand calculator.
In order to help you better understand the theory behind statistics, you
will be computing elementary statistics manually. This will require that you have a hand
calculator to do your homework assignments as well as to follow along statistical
computations that will be demonstrated during class lectures. Your calculator should have at least a square
root function.
Structure of the course
Mastery of the material requires that you stay current on the
reading assignments, homework assignments, and attend class regularly. I will
assume that you have already done the reading for the day, so your
understanding of each lecture will be best if you have done the reading
first. Keep in mind that reading
statistics is different from reading regular texts. Most likely, you will need more time to read
the same number of pages and you will probably need to spend more time thinking
about and reviewing the readings. The
positive side is that you will have less material to read in this class than in
other classes. Also, statistics is
particularly interesting when it is understood in the context of something else
you are trying to understand, such as human behavior. Thus, I will try to talk about statistical
concepts in the context of psychological research as much as possible, and
hopefully, that should help you better understand that statistics is an applied
branch of mathematics and therefore is used as a means to an end. You will also
work in groups to go over the homework problems that you did at home for up to a
maximum time of 20 minutes in class. All homework problems should be completed
before class. Those who did not attempt to finish the homework on their own
should not count on group time in class to do their homework
problems for the first time. Those who have tried this in the past have had their
grades suffer significantly.
Assignments
Homework: As with any mathematics course, the key to
grasping mathematical material is practice!
Therefore, homework will be assigned for each chapter we cover in class
and is to be completed by the beginning of class (specific assignments will be
regularly announced in class). As
you do the homework assignments, you should be aware that what is important is not just understanding the procedures for solving
problems but understanding the concepts behind each problem. We will spend time at the beginning of class
reviewing the homework and addressing the more challenging problems. Homework assignments will be assigned a score
between 1 – 5 and will contribute to 20% of your final
grade. Getting full credit for your
homework (i.e., 5 points) requires that you: 1) do the problems correctly and
2) show all your work for each problem.
Homework assignments will not be accepted late. Keep in mind that it will be very difficult
to learn the material, and thus pass the class, if you do not practice the
problems provided in the homework and understand the concepts behind all the problems
(the lectures will be emphasized the concepts behind the problems). The goal of the homework assignments and
exams is for you to understand the relevant concepts, not just memorize
equations and procedures.
Exams
There will be four exams in this course. The lowest exam of the four exams will be
dropped. The exam questions might feel a
little different from the homework assignments in that they really test your understanding
of concepts, while it may be possible to get by on the homework assignments by
simply applying relevant equations without fully understanding concepts
(although I hope that this is not the case for most of you). There will also be a cumulative final
exam. The good news is that except for
the questions relating to chapter 15 (the last chapter we will cover), the rest
of the exam questions on the final exam will be sampled right out of the first
four exams. This means that, even though
the lowest of the four regular exams is dropped, you will still need to take
all four exams before the final exam to be prepared for the final exam. Thus, the final exam should be an opportunity
to boost performance for those who need it most. Although exams will be multiple choice, you will still need to work through every problem
step by step using scratch paper and a calculator in order to compute your
final answer. Exams will cover
statistical theory, statistical computations, and interpretation of data.
Requirement
- Homework (20%)
- Exam 1- 4 (45%) – 3 exams (15% each); the lowest
of 4 exams is dropped
- Group and class participation
(15%)
- Final Cumulative Exam (20%)
Total 100%
Statistics Tutoring:
Free walk-in statistics tutoring for all MSU students! Center for Academic Success – ML 116. Go to www.mnsu.edu/cas or 389-1791
to find out their schedule. Mavcard required for admittance!!! (Check
website or office for specific statistics hours)
Extra credit
Students will be expected to concentrate on the course assignments at hand.
However, extra credit assignments that will be considered are volunteering
as a participant in psychological research at MSU and/or doing a one-page
writing assignment. Each hour of research students participate in (or each
writing assignment) will add 1% to the FINAL percentage that determines your
course grade with a limit of three extra credit assignments (research hours
and/or paper) in total. Students will be responsible for bringing the
research credit slips in to me for each research study they participate in.
Keep in mind that opportunities to participate in research studies are contingent
on how many psychological research projects looking to recruit participants are
taking place in any given semester. Therefore, opportunities to participate in
research may vary from semester to semester. In any event, students should not
count on research participation to work as a substitute for showing up in
class, doing the readings, or studying for the exams but rather as an
opportunity to slightly improve their overall grade.
Make-up exams
Make-up exams will only be considered in the event that a
student misses an exam due to a medical, and sometimes, personal emergency.
Students are expected to speak with me at my office hours before an exam day to
discuss circumstances. I reserve the right to ask for documentation of the
emergency should the need arise.
INCOMPLETES
Incompletes are meant to be used in cases of extreme
medical or personal emergency. These are the only situations in which an
incomplete will even be considered. If a situation of this type should arise, I
would need to be contacted as soon as possible so that a contract could be
negotiated to outline what work would need to be finished and in what time
frame. I reserve the right to ask for documentation of the emergency should the
need arise. University policy states that any consideration for incompletes is
contingent on the student having already completed the majority of the required
course work.
DISABILITIES
Every attempt will be made
to accommodate qualified students with disabilities. If you are a student with a documented disability,
please see me as early in the semester as possible to discuss the necessary
accommodations, and/or contact the Disabilities Services Office at
(507)389-2825 (V) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY).
ACADEMIC
DISHONESTY
It is assumed that in this class each student and I will act in a
professional and honest manner. Therefore, any student who engages in an
act of Academic Dishonesty, cheating on an exam, etc., will receive a
failing grade for that assignment/test and in most cases a failing grade for
the course. Please review the sections on Academic Standards, Cheating,
and Plagiarism in your student handbook. If you still have questions about
Academic Honesty or expectations in this course see me as early as possible in
the semester.
Text: Gravetter, F.J., & Wallnau, L.B. (2007). Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (7th
Edition). Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth.
Tentative Calendar
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Week of
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Topic
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Reading before class
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Reminders
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Jan
15
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Overview
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Introduction to Statistics/Methods
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Chapter 1
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Homework
assignments will be announced in class.
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Jan
22
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Frequency Distributions
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Chapter 2
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Jan 22
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Central Tendency
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Chapter 3
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Jan 29
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Variability
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Chapter 4
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Exam 1 next Thurs, Feb 7 (ch. 1-4)
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Feb 5
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z-Scores: Location of Scores and Standardized
Distributions
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Chapter 5
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Exam 1
this Thurs (ch. 1-4)
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Feb 12
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Probability
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Chapter 6
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Feb 19
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Correlation and Introduction to Regression
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Chapter 16 and part of Ch. 17
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Exam 2 on Thurs, Feb 21 (ch.
5-6, 16).
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Feb 26
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Probability and Samples: The Distribution of Sample Means
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Chapter 7
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Exam 2 this Thurs(ch. 5-6, 16-17).
No office hours until March 6.
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March 4
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Introduction to Hypothesis Testing
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Chapter 8
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Substitute
instructor on March 4. No office hours until March 6. Spring break next week.
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March 18
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Introduction to the t-Statistic
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Chapter 9
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Exam 3 Next Thurs on March 27 (ch.
7-9)
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March
25
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T Test with two independent samples
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Chapter 10
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Exam 3
this Thurs (ch.
7-9)
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April
1
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T Test for Two Related Samples
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Chapter
11
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April
8
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Introduction to Analysis of Variance
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Chapter 13
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April
15
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Two-Factor Analysis of Variance
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Chapter 15
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Exam 4 Next Thurs on April 27 (ch. 10, 11, 13)
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April
22
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Catch-up period
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Exam 4 this Thurs (10, 11, 13)Final
exam next week.
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