Experimental
Psychology
Psych 211
Spring, 2006
Instructor: Vinai Norasakkunkit, Ph.D.
Time: MW: 8:00am – 9:45am
Location: WC 133B
Office hours: AH36, Tue: 1:00pm – 5:00pm; Wed: 10:00am – 11:00am; 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Phone: X6317
E-mail: vinai.norasakkunkit@mnsu.edu
Syllabus located at http://krypton.mnsu.edu/~norasv/syllabus211.htm
Course overview:
The objective of this course is to provide you with a unique opportunity to learn new skills in conducting and evaluating research. By the end of the course, you should be able to understand the different options for a research design and the methods that go along with each design, critically evaluate research in the social sciences, comprehend articles in scientific journals, and write in APA style. You will also be able to carry out the process of planning and designing a study that will scientifically test a research question of your own.
Structure of the course
The readings and lectures are designed to convey the structure, definitions, and guidelines used in research methods in psychology. Mastery of the material requires that you stay current on the reading assignments and attend class regularly. To help encourage reading and attendance, we will have four quizzes, unannounced in-class exercises, and homework assignments that will be part of your grade.
The culminating exercise for the course will be a research project that needs to be written up in APA style and presented in a 10-15 minute oral presentation. You will be required to come up with an interesting research question based on your knowledge of the literature in the topic of your choice and design a study that will strategically test your research question. This project will entail having you do the necessary literature review from only primary sources (books, scientific journals articles, and anthologies from the library) and determine the appropriate design and methodological strategy to use for testing your research hypothesis. You will also be required to collect and analyze the relevant data and then write up your results and discussion sections based on your findings. Your research project (write-up and oral presentation) will constitute 25% of the course grade. Engaging in the project will be an ongoing process from the beginning of the semester, starting with developing a testable research idea and then synthesizing the concepts and the scientific process that you will learn throughout this course. Thus, the research project should offer an exciting and challenging opportunity for you to apply what you have cumulatively learned in this course.
Prerequisite
The prerequisite for this course is Statistics for Psychology (Psyc 201). I will assume that students are already familiar with descriptive statistics (measures of central tendency and variability) and inferential statistics (correlations, z-test, t-tests, ANOVAs). Although we will review some statistics in the course, the review will in no way serve as a substitute for having taken the course. Students who have not taken Statistics or are currently taking statistics should not be enrolled in this course until after they have passed a course in statistics.
Paper assignment
You will be required to write about a 10-20 page (not including reference pages) research paper on a psychological topic of your choice that details: 1) a review of the relevant background literature on your topic, 2) rationale for conducing your research, 3) hypothesis related to your research question, 4) methods and design, 5) data analyses and results, and 6) discussion. The format should be in APA writing style with proper citations in the body of the text, a title page and reference pages. The paper should also be in 12-point Times-Roman font, double-spaced, and 1 inch margins. All references must be primary sources (i.e., scientific journal articles, book chapters, or books). No internet or textbook sources are allowed as citations or references. Keep in mind that internet sources constitute watered-down, secondary sources for non-experts. Primary sources are what psychologists read and then summarize in their own manuscripts, and that is what will be expected of you in this course. The only exception to this is when internet sources are used to cite statistical information. For example, if, for some reason, you want to know how many countries McDonald’s operates in, then you can look up that information on the McDonald’s website and cite the website in your paper to support the statistic. Papers will not be accepted after the due date and will be screened for plagiarism through TURNITIN.COM. Therefore, you must submit a soft copy of the final research paper through TURNITIN.COM and turn in a hard copy to me.
Requirement
Late work
Students will be responsible for turning in all assignments on time. If you are unable to attend class on a day that a homework is due, please make arrangements to either have the homework turned in early or have someone turn it in for you. Assignments will not be accepted after their due dates. There will be no exceptions to this policy. All due dates are indicated on this syllabus, unless otherwise changed by the instructor.
Make-up quizzes/exam
Make-up quizzes/exam will only be considered in the event that a student misses a quiz/exam due to a medical, and sometimes, personal emergency. Students are expected to speak with me at one of my office hours before a quiz/exam day to discuss circumstances. I reserve the right to ask for documentation of the emergency should the need arise.
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 they participate in (or for 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.
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).
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 of incompletes is contingent on the student having already done passing work for the semester.
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, such as cheating on an exam, plagiarism, etc., will receive a failing grade for that task 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:
Bordens, K.S., & Abbott. (2005). Research Design and Methods: A
Process Approach (Sixth
Edition).
Recommended Text and Software Package
Pavkov, T.W., & Pierce, K.A. (2003).
Ready, Set, Go! A Student Guide to
SPSS 11.0 for Windows.
Tentative Calendar
|
Date |
Lecture |
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Hmwk/Quizzes/Reminders |
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Week of Jan 17 |
Introduction
/ Explaining Behavior |
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Week of Jan 24 |
Review
of Descriptive Statistics |
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Week of Jan 31 |
Review
of Inferential Statistics |
|
Quiz
1 next Tues (ch. 1, 12, 13) |
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Week of Feb 7 |
Learning
the Basics of SPSS (related to Hmwk 1) Developing
Ideas |
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Quiz 1 this Tues during the first
half of class (ch. 1, 12, 13) Hmwk
1 due next Tues Start
thinking about a research topic (for hmwk 2) |
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Week of Feb 14 |
Reviewing
the Scientific Literature Library tour |
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Hmwk 1 due this Tues Start
reviewing the background literature on your research topic (for hmwk 2) Hmwk
2 due next Thurs |
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Week of Feb 21 |
Choosing
a Research Design |
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Hmwk 2 due this Thurs Quiz
2 next week (ch. 2, 3, 4) |
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Week of Feb 28 |
Writing in APA style |
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Quiz 2 this Thurs (ch. 2, 3, 4) Hmwk 3 due next week |
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Week of March 7 |
Making Systematic Observations |
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Hmwk 3 due this Thurs Hmwk 4 due next week |
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Week of March 21 |
Research
participant Issues |
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Hmwk 4 due this Thurs Quiz
3 next week (ch. 15, 5, 6) |
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Survey
Research |
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Quiz 3 this Thurs (ch. 15, 5, 6) Hmwk 5 due next week |
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Week of March 28 |
Experimental Design |
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Hmwk 5 due this week Start collecting data from 10-15 individuals for your research project |
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Week of April 4 |
Specialized Designs |
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Quiz 4 next week (ch. 8, 9, 10) Collect data from 10-15 individuals for your research study this week |
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Week of April 11 |
Going over data analysis for your research project (Hmwk 6) in class. You will need to have collected your data by this week |
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Quiz 4 this week (ch. 8, 9, 10) Hmwk 6 due next week Research Presentation starts next week |
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Week of April 18 |
Presentation of Research |
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Start putting together your research paper, taking into account the feedback from the relevant homeworks. |
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Week
of April 25 |
Presentation of Research |
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Research paper due next week |
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Week of May 2 |
Presentation of Research |
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Research paper due Date and time of final exam will be announced in class |