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A Sample Syllabus
(for actual syllabus, please contact me)
PSY 2040: Research Methods for Psychology I
(Section 1)
This course is designed to provide you with an understanding of the different methods used in psychology within the research process. In addition to the research process and its methods, you will also acquire the knowledge needed to conduct research from the beginning stages of hypothesis formation to research design and data collection to analyzing your data and understanding the outcomes of the research process. Research is not only about methods, it is also about how design a good research study employing knowledge and awareness of such concepts as internal and external validity, reliability and ethics. Additionally, you will learn the important skill of communicating in both the written and verbal forms what has been learned from the research. We will be spending time on how to write up research and also learning how to read research articles. We’ve got a lot to do this semester so please be prepared to work!
Course Requirements:
Textbooks:
Kirszner, L. G., & Mandell, S. R. (2004). The pocket handbook for psychology. Boston, MA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Milinki, A. K. (2000). A cross section of psychological research: Journal articles for discussion and evaluation. Los Angeles, CA: Pyrczak Publishing.
Pyrczak, F., & Bruce, R. R. (2003). Writing empirical research reports (4th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Pyrczak Publishing.
Smith, R. A., & Davis, S. F. (2003). The psychologist as detective: An introduction to conducting research in psychology (3rd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Attendance and Participation:
Attendance is required at all class meetings. This is for a number of reasons. First, this course will be both lecture and discussion based. Therefore, your interpretations, insights, experiences, and point of view will be an integral and necessary part of the class. Because of this, it is expected that you come to class prepared to discuss in detail the reading assignments. Additional information will be presented in the form of lecture. This information will be needed for quizzes, exams and papers. Second, there will be a lot of group work completed within the class. Groups rely on the equal participation of each of its members. Finally, I will periodically give quizzes in the beginning of each class. These quizzes allow me to evaluate your understanding of the information presented in the previous class as well as your understanding of the reading assignments. These quizzes will also serve as a record of your attendance. Quizzes will be given in the beginning of class and if you are late to class, you will not be able to make up the quiz.
Exams:
There will be two exams. The exams will include essay, short answer and multiple choice questions regarding topics covered in class lectures as well as the readings. Exams will not be cumulative. Exams must be taken during the scheduled class time and no make-ups will be given except in extreme circumstances such as a significant illness documented by a letter from a physician (or doctor’s office), an extremely serious family problem (e.g., death of a family member), or another very serious impediment (e.g., jury duty, delivery of a baby, National Guard call-up, etc.). In the case of such extreme circumstances, you must notify me within 24 hours of the exam time in order to be allowed to take a make-up. If I am properly contacted within 24 hours of the exam and the excuse is a legitimate one, you must take the make-up exam prior to the next class period. After that time, no make-ups will be given.
Data Collection
Exercises:
As stated above, one of the main objectives of this course is to familiarize you with research methods used in psychological research. The best way to become familiar with such techniques is to actually use them. Therefore, throughout the semester, you will engage in data collection exercises employing various research methods. Successful completion of these exercises entails the determination of a clear hypothesis and research design, completion of the data collection, and analysis of the results. These projects will require time outside of the classroom.
In addition to conducting these exercises, you will be required to write up each of these data collection exercises according to a particular format. These papers are expected to be APA style papers including an introduction, method, results and discussion sections. While some of these papers will be based on group work, the papers are expected to be entirely your own. If you are unclear about this, please see me and please also read the section on plagiarism and academic dishonesty in your Student Handbook.
Journal Discussions:
Throughout the semester, I will assign journal articles for you to read from the Milinki book. Journals are the primary vehicle for the dissemination of research. However, reading journal articles can take some getting used to. Because of this, we will be discussing in class how to read a journal article and how to also critique a journal article. Each week, we will discuss a journal article that has been assigned from the Milinki book. In order to prepare for these discussions, you will be required to formally respond to the questions following the article and submit them to me at the beginning of class.
Blackboard.com:
I have created a course site for this course on the website Blackboard.com. To access this site, go to: http:// blackboard.mville.edu. In order to enroll in the course you will need to follow these directions:
· Without logging in, click on the “Course Catalog” button
· Without logging in, click on the “Preview” button
· Click on “Psychology” under the list of subjects in the Course Catalog
· Find the name of our course and course number “Research Methods for Psychology I (PY3001)” and click on the “Enroll” button to the right of the course name.
· If you have already created an account on Blackboard, you can sign-in directly. If you do not already have a Blackboard account, please using the following directions to create yourself an account.
· Click on “Create” to create an account. Please fill in all of the information with a red asterisk. Please include an e-mail address that you use on a regular basis and a contact telephone number. Then click on “Submit.”
· You will receive a confirmation that you have created an account with a particular username. Click on “OK.”
· On the next page you will enroll in the course. Click on “Submit.”
· You will receive a confirmation that you have created an account with a particular username. Click on “OK”.
· You will then be taken to the homepage of our coursesite.
· In the future, simply login using your username and password.
On this site, you will find any class announcements, the course syllabus and there is also a discussion board. The discussion board allows you to posts questions or comments regarding the material we are learning about and other students can then post answers and responses. Throughout the course, you will be required to post questions as well as respond to them. I will also use the Blackboard.com site to post announcements and important handouts so please check this site regularly.
e-Reserve:
This is an electronic reserve that allows you to download the reading via computer. You can access this site via the Manhattanville Library homepage or via the “External Links” on our course page in blackboard.mville.edu. Once on the E-Res homepage, please follow these directions to access the readings:
· Go to the “Select an instructor” pop-up menu and scroll down to my name (Alison Carson). Click on “Go.”
· Then click on the name of our course “Research Methods for Psychology I (Section 1) (PY3001)”.
· Here you will be prompted to enter a password. The password is our course number: 3001 and then scroll down and click on “Accept.”
· The next page will list all of the readings for our class. The readings are listed in order and there is also a link to a copy of our syllabus if you forget the assignment. Click on the link to the reading and be patient as it opens up. Adobe Acrobat Reader will open and then the paper will open in a separate web-browser window. If you are downloading the paper via a modem connection, it can take up to ten minutes to download. Downloading will be much fasted via a networked computer.
Grading:
Homework 11.2%
Quizzes 11.1%
Exam 1 11.1%
Exam 2 11.1%
Write-up #1 11.1%
Write-up #2 11.1%
Write-up #3 11.1%
Write-up #4 11.1%
Attendance & Participation 11.1%
Grades will be determined as follows:
A 90-100 Excellent
B 80-89 Good
C 70-79 Satisfactory
D 60-69 Pass but unsatisfactory
F Below 60 Failure
Class Schedule
Week 1 -
January 22 Introduction to the Research
Process
APA Style
Read:
Smith & Davis: Chapter 1 & 14
Week 2 -
January 26 & 29
1/26 Developing Hypotheses
Read: Smith
& Davis: Chapter 2
Pyrczak
& Bruce: Chapter 1 (Homework: Sections A, B, & C)
Pyrczak
& Bruce: Chapter 2(Homework: Section A)
1/29 Searching the
Psychological Literature
Week 3 -
February 2 & 5
2/2 Ethics in Psychological Research
Read: Smith
& Davis: Chapter 3
2/5 How to Read and Critique Journal Articles
Read: Smith
& Davis: Chapter 13 (pgs 346-355)
Pyrczak
& Bruce: Chapter 3 (Homework: Section A)
Pyrczak
& Bruce: Chapter 5 (Homework: Section A)
Pyrczak
& Bruce: Chapter 6(Homework: Sections A, B, & D)
Week 4 -
February 9 & 12
2/9 Descriptive
Methods I: Observations
Read: Smith
& Davis: Chapter 4
Pyrczak
& Bruce: Chapter 7 (Homework: Section A)
Pyrczak & Bruce: Chapter 8 (Homework:
Section A)
2/12 Data Collection Exercise #1 (Observations) (Paper due February 26)
Read:
Milinki:
Article #5
Week 5 -
February 16 & 19
2/16 Qualitative Methods
Read: Pyrczak
& Bruce: Chapter 9 (Homework:
Section A)
Pyrczak & Bruce: Chapter 10 (Homework: Section A)
2/19 Qualitative Methods
Read: Milinki:
Article #21
2/23 Qualitative Methods
Read: Milinki: Article #22
Pyrczak & Bruce: Chapter 12
(Homework: Section A)
2/26 Data Collection Exercise #2 (Interview) (Write-up due March 18)
Due: Write up of Data Collection #1
Week 7 -
March 1 & 4
3/1 Descriptive Methods II: Surveys
Read: Smith
& Davis: Chapter 5
3/4 Read: Milinki: Article #1
Week 8 -
March 8 & 11 Spring Break
Week 9 -
March 15 & 18 Descriptive
Methods II con’d
3/15 Read: Milinki: Article #7
3/18 Data Collection Exercise #3 (Survey) (Paper due 4/8)
Due: Data Collection Exercise #2 (Interview) Write-up
Week 10 - March 22 & 25
3/22 Exam #1
3/25 Experimental Methods I
Read: Smith
& Davis: Chapter 6
Week 11 -
March 29 & April 1
3/29 In
computer lab
4/1 Experimental Methods II
Milinki: Article #10
Week 12 - April 5 & 8
4/5 Experimental Methods III
Read: Smith
& Davis: Chapter 9
4/8 Data Collection Exercise #4 (In-class experiment) (Paper due 4/19)
Due: Data Collection Exercise #3 (Survey) Write-up
Week 13 -
April 12 & 15
4/12 Experiments with Two Groups
Read: Smith
& Davis: Chapter 12
4/15 Read: Milinki: Article #12
Week 14 - April 19 & 22
4/19 Experimental Methods IV
Read: Smith
& Davis: Chapter 13
Due: Data Collection Exercise #4 (Experiment) Write-up
4/22 Read: Milinki: Article #23
Week 15 -
April 26 & 29
4/26 Catch-up
4/29 Poster Presentations in class
**Second exam scheduled during Final exam period to be announced**