Research (Thesis), Spring
2020
Class Information |
Instructor Information |
|
PSYCH 6299 |
Helen C. Harton, Ph.D. |
|
Bartlett 34; 2080; 2079 |
Bartlett 2080 |
|
tba |
273-2235; harton@uni.edu |
|
Office Hours: M 3-4; F 1-2:50; whenever I’m around
Course Information
Course Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course, you should be able to:
·
Analyze, critically evaluate, and integrate previous research;
·
Design a study to assess an original hypothesis or research
question based on previous research
·
Collect, manage, and analyze empirical data or obtain an existing
dataset to test a hypothesis or research question;
·
Demonstrate knowledge of ethical principles in research through
practices such as ethical interactions with participants, concern for privacy
and participant well-being, proper documentation of sources, pre-registration,
and transparency in materials, data collection, and analyses;
·
Present and defend your research project; and
·
Write a scientific paper describing your research project.
Instructor Course Description: You will complete a Master’s Thesis. You must
have or obtain IRB training, participate regularly in research team meetings,
and present your research at at least one conference.
For your thesis, you will read and review past literature, design the study,
collect data, analyze the data, write up a thesis, and defend it publically. I
will help and advise you during all the steps of the project. You will also
help with other projects in the lab, getting involved in at least one group
project with student co-PIs and helping provide feedback and collect and/or
analyze data for other projects. One credit equates to about four hours per
week of work.
Course Catalog Description: Research. Prerequisite(s): consent of department.
Course Policy
Information
Missed Meetings Policy: We will have regularly scheduled meetings to discuss the progress of projects in the lab. When you miss a meeting, you affect the progress of the entire research team. You may miss one meeting per type (i.e., large group, small group) for good reason (e.g., illness, conference presentation) per semester without any penalty. Missing more than one meeting may negatively affect your grade.
Academic Ethics Policy Statement: Students must observe the Academics Ethics Policy (http://www.uni.edu/policies/301). You
should adequately cite your sources on PowerPoint slides and in your
presentations and papers. You should not use another’s words on your slides or
in your presentation without proper attribution. All sources should be ones
that you’ve read directly; do not cite secondary sources.
Open Science Policy: My lab is committed to open science principles.
As such, all studies will be pre-registered, materials and data will be made
public where possible, and we will strive for transparency and ethicality in
all our projects.
Diversity and Inclusion Policy: It is my intent that students from all diverse
backgrounds and perspectives be well served by this course, that students’
learning needs be addressed both in and out of class, and that the diversity
that students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength, and
benefit. It is my intent to present materials and activities that are
respectful of various types of diversity, including but not limited to gender,
sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, religion,
and culture. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. Please let me
know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally or for
other students or student groups. In addition, if any of our class meetings
conflict with your religious events, please let me know so that we can make
arrangements for you.
Civility Policy: It is important that we discuss topics calmly
and respectfully. We want to have an open setting where everyone feels free to
contribute, where no one tries to dominate the conversations, and where we all
remain open to other’s ideas. Ad hominem comments are not appropriate.
Credit Hour Statement: This course meets the Course Credit Hour
Expectation outlined in the Course Catalog. Students should expect to work a
minimum of 2 hours per week outside of class for every course credit hour.
Since this is a graduate course, the expectation is that you will work
approximately 4 hours per week outside of class for every course credit hour.
Harassment Policy: You do not have to put up with inappropriate
treatment (e.g, verbal, physical, or sexual
harassment) of any kind. If you have problems with a lab member, participant,
or conference goer (or other person you interact with through your lab
assignments), please let me know. It is important to note that if you do report
it to me, I may have to report it to the university. If you are not comfortable
talking with me about the issue, you can talk to the department head, Adam
Butler.
Authorship Policy: You are expected to be
first author on your thesis, indicating that you have done the majority of the
work. If the project is later published in a journal, you would also likely be
first author, but authorship may change depending on how much work you are
willing to contribute to the manuscript. For small group projects, authorship
is determined by the amount each person in the group contributes to the
project. For conference presentations, I will usually take last author, but for
manuscripts the order may change based on contributions, especially to writing.
Required Readings
Required readings can be found at https://osf.io/enm45/. They include:
· Harton Lab pre-registration form
· Harton Lab instructions for running psychology studies
· Introduction to OSF
· Lab inclusion-exclusion (of data) document
· Qualtrics basic information
·
Harton, H. C., & Nail, P. R. (2008). Political orientation and contemporary racism
in America. In M. A. Morrison & T. G. Morrison (Eds.), The psychology of modern prejudice (pp. 51-75). New York: Nova Science
Publishers.
· Harton, H. C., & Bourgeois, M. J. (2004). Cultural elements emerge from dynamic social impact. In M. Schaller & C. S. Crandall (Eds.), Psychological foundations of culture (pp. 41-75). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Students will do also
readings relevant to their projects as well as general readings relevant to
psychology methods or lab topics.
Course Elements
and Expectations
Research Project/Thesis:
You
will design and carry out a research project. Some of the steps along the way
include a successful proposal meeting, followed by a list of changes (signed
and submitted to the psychology office). Then you will get IRB approval if
needed and pre-register the study. After you collect data, you will analyze it
using best practices and write up your thesis and revise it until it is ready
to go to the committee. Make sure you run statcheck
at this point as well. After the thesis defense, final changes are likely. Then
you will turn it in to the Graduate College (when you have all the signatures
of the committee members) and they will do additional reviews before the thesis
is finalized. I ask that all my students order a copy of their thesis for me to
keep (in addition to the copies you’ll make for the library and the psychology
department).
Small Group
Project: You will also be asked to work on a small group project with 2-3
other students. In this project, we’ll work together to design a study related
to one of my areas of research interest (e.g., social influence, political
psychology, research ethics), as chosen by you. We will generally design and
collect data in the fall and analyze and present in the spring.
Lab activities: As a member of my
lab, you’ll also work on projects that benefit others in the lab. For example,
you may be asked to give suggestions on a questionnaire, pretest a study, or
serve as a confederate.
Meetings: You’ll schedule
a half hour meeting with me each week for your thesis and another for your
small group. We’ll also have one, hour-long large group meeting per week. You
are expected to attend and participate actively in these meetings.
Presentation: You will submit
to one or more conferences in the fall and present at one or more regional,
national, and/or local conferences in the spring. Presentations may be posters
or oral presentations.
Open Science
Requirements: You will create an account on OSF and keep all of your study
materials up-to-date there. All studies will be pre-registered and gain IRB
approval before data collection begins. Materials and data will be made public
where possible. All data will be independently analyzed by at least two people,
and files will contain proper and clear documentation.
Data Blitz: Toward the end of the
semester, you will do a 5 minute presentation on your project for the lab.
Final Grade
Determination
Grading in the course is based on the
quality of your participation (e.g., punctuality, meeting attendance and
participation, preparation, ethical behavior, attention to detail,
pre-registration, data cleaning, data analysis), timeliness (e.g., meeting
deadlines), and your outputs (e.g., quality of poster and presentation). If you
do everything well, you will earn an A in the course. Deficiencies in one or
more areas will result in a lower grade. To get a grade in the fall, you need
to have successfully completed your proposal meeting, gotten IRB approval,
pre-registered, and gotten materials ready for data collection. To get a grade
in the spring, you need to have successfully defended your thesis.
Course Schedule
These
are general time guidelines. Other assignments related to the large group will
arise as needed (e.g., helping as a confederate).
Week of |
Tasks/Topic |
Jan
13 |
Complete
data collection, cleaning and documentation |
Jan 20 |
Revisions
to introduction |
Jan
27 |
Revisions
to introduction |
Feb
3 |
Analyze
data |
Feb
10 |
Analyze
data |
Feb
17 |
Analyze
data and write up; revisions |
Feb
24 |
Write
discussion (I’ll be gone to SPSP February 26-March 1) |
Mar
2 |
Revisions
on discussion |
Mar
9 |
Paper
revisions; Submit abstract to UNI conferences |
Mar
23 |
UNI
presentation completed; Copy of thesis to committee |
Mar
30 |
UNI
conference (March 30); Prepare thesis defense |
Apr
6 |
Complete
thesis defense; UNI grad conference April 7 |
Apr
13 |
Complete
revisions; run turn it in and statcheck |
Apr
20 |
Get
thesis to Graduate College; Present at MPA (April 22-25) |
Apr
27 |
Complete
thesis changes; Clean up files in OSF; data blitz |
Exam
week |
Complete
any final documentation |
Resources
and University Policy Statements
Counseling Center: UNI’s Counseling Center is free, confidential,
convenient, and effective. It is the mission of the University of Northern Iowa Counseling Center to promote the personal
development and psychological well-being of all students and to encourage a
college environment that is conducive to growth and learning. To make an
appointment, call 273-2676 (8:00-5:00 M-F). For urgent situations outside of
office hours, call the Counseling Center at 273-2676 and press 2 to speak to a
crisis counselor. Call 911 in case of immediate danger.
The Learning Center: The Learning Center @ Rod Library has office
hours for assistance with writing, math, science, and college reading and
learning strategies. A graduate assistant assigned to help graduate students
with writing will be in the LC Mondays and Thursdays from 11-2. You can also
schedule appointments with Kat Wohlpart at https://uni.libcal.com/appointments/meetwithkat.
Beginning week two, The Learning Center (TLC) operates on a walk-in basis and
is open 10:00 am to 10:00 pm Monday through Thursday for general help. For more
information, go to https://tlc.uni.edu/tutoring, email TheLearningCenter@uni.edu
, call 319-273-6023, or visit the TLC desk located on the main floor of
Rod Library. If you are unable to come in during normal tutoring hours, online
tutoring is available through Smarthinking. You will
need your CATID and passphrase to gain access. To access the Smarthinking platform go to https://tlc.uni.edu/schedule.
Rod Library: Rod Library is here to help, so take advantage
of their services. Need help finding resources for a research paper? Need to
find some information and can’t figure out where to look? Contact the Rod
Library! You can stop by, chat, email, text or call
the library all hours the library is open. www.library.uni.edu/research/ask-us
Need Other Assistance?: I am happy
to help you with class content, program issues, writing, etc. If you’re a
victim of a crime, you can call 1-800-770-1650 to talk to an advocate 24/7 or
text IOWAHELP to 20121. If you are experiencing food insecurity, you can access
the Panther Pantry in the lower level of Maucker
Union (right of the computer lab) from 12-7pm (til 8
S-Th) for confidential help. I can also help you locate
other resources, but be aware that if you report certain things to me (e.g.,
sexual abuse, criminal activity), I may be required to report it to the
university.
Office of Compliance and Equity Management
Statement: The University of Northern Iowa
does not discriminate in employment or education. Visit 13.03 Equal Opportunity
& Non-Discrimination Statement (https://policies.uni.edu/1303)
for additional information.
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(UNI) complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008
(ADAAA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Fair Housing Act,
and other applicable federal and state laws and regulations that prohibit
discrimination on the basis of disability. To request accommodations please
contact Student Accessibility Services (SAS), located at ITTC 007 for more
information, either at (319) 273-2677 or via email to
accessibilityservices@uni.edu. Visit Student Accessibility Services (https://sas.uni.edu/) for additional
information.