Research Methods Fall 2009
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Class Information |
Instructor Information |
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400:101:04 |
Dr. Helen C. Harton |
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SEC 116; lab in WRT 112/119 |
Baker 357 |
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MWF 1:00-1:50 + M 2:00-2:50 |
273-2235; harton@uni.edu |
Office Hours: MF 11-11:50, W 2-3, by appointment
TA: Sara Estrada, saraestrada@gmail.com
Textbooks: 1) Elmes, D. G., Kantowitz, B. H., & Roediger, H. L., III (2006). Research methods in psychology (8th ed.). St. Paul, MN: West. (EKR)
2) American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author. (APA)
Course Description: In this course, you will learn how to design, interpret, present, and evaluate psychological research. Course topics and readings include:
1. Beginning psychological research (EKR 1)
2. Conducting library research (EKR 3)
3. Scientific explanation (EKR 2)
4. Observational research (EKR 4)
5. Survey research (EKR 5)
6. Basic experimentation (EKR 6)
7. Sharing your findings and writing clearly (APA 1-5; EKR 14)
8. Ethics (EKR 12)
9. Measurement (EKR 7)
10. Advanced experimentation (EKR 8, 9)
11. Research hybrids and special cases (EKR 10, 11)
12. Interpreting results (EKR 13)
13. Descriptive and inferential statistics (EKR App. A, B)
14. Being a good consumer of research
Attendance Policy: Attendance is strongly recommended. You will be responsible for all material presented during class, for any changes to the syllabus, and for readings and assignments distributed during class. Attendance, particularly at lab sections, will affect your course grade.
Makeup and Late Paper Policies: Makeup tests will only be given in very limited circumstances usually requiring a doctor's note or death notice. Homework assignments and papers will be accepted up to one week past the due date, but one half letter grade will be deducted for each day (ending at 5:00 pm) until they are turned in. Plan ahead and don’t wait until the last minute to finish these assignments, in case something unexpected arises. There are no makeups for in-class or lab exercises (unless you are absent because of a university-sponsored event, in which case I must be notified ahead of time). If you know you are going to miss class, you should see the instructor or teaching assistant before that date to turn in any assignments that may be due.
Plagiarism and
Cheating Policies: The UNI Student
Handbook (p. 43) says, “Cheating of any kind on examinations and/or plagiarism
of papers or projects is strictly prohibited. Also unacceptable are the
purchase of papers from commercial sources, using a single paper to meet the
requirement of more than one class…and submission of a term paper or project
completed by any individual other than the student submitting the work.
Students are cautioned that plagiarism is defined as the process of stealing or
passing off as one’s own the ideas or words of another, or presenting as one’s
own an idea or product which is derived from an existing source.” Plagiarism and/or
cheating of any kind (including using a paper from another class to fulfill a
requirement of this class) will result in a 0 on the assignment in question and
may also result in referral to university authorities. For more information on
UNI’s academic honesty policies, read pages 43-44 in the Student Handbook. If
you have any questions about what is acceptable, ask. Ignorance is no excuse.
Disabilities: Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help accommodate your needs. Students who desire or need instructional accommodations or assistance because of a disability should contact the Office of Disability Services.
Mailserv: Announcements and other class information will sometimes be sent via the class mailserv. If you registered for this class prior to August, your UNI e-mail address should already be on the list. If you use another e-mail account and/or added the class late, you will need to join the mailserv. To do so, send an e-mail message from your account to mailserv@uni.edu. Leave the subject line blank, and in the message, type SUB 400-101-04-fall.
Writing Center:
The
Course Requirements:
Exams. There will be three tests and a partially comprehensive final. Test 1 will be on September 23 and will tentatively cover topics (not chapters) 1-3. Test 2 will be on October 21 and will tentatively cover topics 4-7. Test 3 will be on November 20 and will tentatively cover topics 8-10. The final exam will cover topics 11-13 in detail along with material from the entire semester (half of the final exam will be new material, and the other half comprehensive). The final is scheduled for 1:00-2:50pm Tuesday, December 15. Tests will be multiple choice and short answer and will cover information from the textbooks, class lectures, and class handouts.
Literature review. After carefully reading many psychological articles on a topic, you will write a literature review summarizing what is known about the topic. This is not just a litany of findings; you should organize the studies you read in a coherent manner, analyzing what others have done and forming conclusions. These papers should be typed and in accordance with APA style. There are sample “A” papers on reserve in the library. Note that these, however, were done using previous versions of APA style (you’re responsible for the latest version of APA style, as indicated in your APA manual).
Proposal. You will also write a research proposal based on your literature review. You will design an original study that would further knowledge in the area you summarized before. Proposals contain an introduction summarizing relevant previous research and explaining why you are doing the study and what you expect to find, a method section detailing who your participants would be and what you would have them do, a results section describing what your expected results are and how you would analyze to find them, and a discussion section detailing the implications of your expected results. These should be followed by a list of references (in APA style), tables and/or figures, and appendices (including questionnaires used). Sample proposals can be found on reserve in the library.
Homework/Lab exercises. There will be homework exercises and/or lab exercises each week that will be assigned in class to give you practice with course concepts. They may include library assignments, article summaries, critical analyses of news media, computer exercises, class demonstrations, and data collection. The pre-paper assignments (e.g., rough drafts, reference section, outline) count as part of your homework grade. In-class assignments such as practice sheets will also be included in this part of your grade. Lab assignments generally count twice as much (10 pts.) as in-class activities (5 pts). Points for homework assignments vary from 5 to 25 depending on the assignment.
Grading summary:
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Test 1 |
10% |
Earning 90% of the possible points will |
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Test 2 |
15% |
earn an A, 80%, a B, etc., with these |
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Test 3 |
15% |
categories being further subdivided by |
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Final |
15% |
pluses and minuses |
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Literature review |
17.5% |
(e.g., 80-82 = B-; |
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Proposal |
17.5% |
83-86 = B; 87-89 = B+). |
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Homework/Lab |
10% |
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August 31 |
Class in Rod Library, room 373 |
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September 4 |
Literature review topics due |
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September 11 |
Final topic and search plan due |
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September 14 |
Bring rough draft of first article summary to class for peer review |
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September 18 |
First article summary due |
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September 21 |
Bring rough draft of second summary to class for peer review |
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September 23 |
Test 1 |
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September 25 |
Second article summary due |
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October 2 |
Reference section due. All articles should be collected by now. |
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October 9 |
Outline of literature review due |
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October 19 |
Rough draft of literature review due |
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October 21 |
Test 2 |
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October 30 |
Summary of research proposal due |
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November 2 |
Literature review due |
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November 6 |
Rough draft of hypothesis and proposal method section due |
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November 16 |
Rough draft of complete proposal due |
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November 20 |
Test 3 |
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November 20 |
Last chance to participate in extra credit research |
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December 4 |
Proposal due |
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December 11 |
Extra credit due |
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December 15 |
Final exam (1:00-2:50) **Tuesday |
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