University of Baltimore   Division of Applied Behavioral Sciences    

Office Hours (Academic Center 209 D): 
   Tuesdays and Wednesdays 12 - 2:00    
Class:  
Wednesdays 8:15 PM - 10:45 PM Room AC 235

Sakai Logon Course information Objectives of course General Goals Text required Assignments and exam dates Readings

Assessment Requirements for SPSS projects Guidelines for Writing Lab Reports Instructions for Installing Citrix (to access SPSS remotely) SPSS labs  UB Achievement and Learning Websites for Psychology

    Websites for Psychology

• Langsdale Library Guides (Lucy Holman) very useful for help with research projects
• American Psychological Association
• Association for Psychological Science
• Psychological Research on the Net (APS)
• Psychological Journals Online (Hanover College)
• Cozby, P. C. (2001). Methods in behavioral research. (7th edition)
• Statistics Homepage
• SPSS helper (UCLA)  

Journals of interest to this class:

• Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (APA)
• Journal of Applied Psychology (APA)
• Psychological Bulletin
• Annual Review of Psychology

Sources attached to this syllabus:

• Greek Alphabet
• Kerlinger definitions of theory and other key terms
• Tips for writing a paper (ARC Nancy Bates)
• Questions to critique an experimental report
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
• APA Style.org (tips on style)

     B.  Course description: This course will provide a detailed description of fundamental research methods with their associated statistical procedures.

II. Objectives of course:

The primary objective of this course is to prepare the student to critically evaluate the validity, adequacy and relevance of psychological research. The student will learn the relative merits of various methods of studying behavior, and the circumstances under which each is appropriately applied.

III. General Goals:

• To provide the student with an understanding of how various research designs can be used to answer questions about  behavior.
• Understand the process of research including shortcomings of the various designs and practical difficulties in conducting research.
• Develop a sound understanding of how statistical tools are used to describe and analyze data.

IV.  Class format: Assigned material will be discussed and clarified. Class time will also be used to discuss students' SPSS lab projects.

Required:   Weathington, B. L., Cunningham, J. L., & Pittenger, D. J. (2010),. Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
                    ISBN: 9780470458037 

                    APA (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition  ISBN: 10-4338-0561-8

Optional:   Morgan, S. E., Reichert, T. & Harrison, T. R. (2002). From Numbers to Words: Reporting statistical results for the
                   social sciences. Allyn & Bacon, Pub.   ISBN 0 8013-3280-X

• Exams: midterm and final exams (30% each)       60%
• Three SPSS data analysis labs    (10% each)       30%  (to be submitted to Sakai)
• Responses to Chapter questions on Sakai            10%       
                                                               total  100%

Note: If you expect to miss a class, it is your responsibility to make sure you get notes or  handouts and changes in assignments. *** Assignments turned in late will result in a reduction in grade points ****

Other sources for writing the research reports:

• Tips for writing a paper (ARC Nancy Bates)
• Critique questions to critique an experimental report)
• Questions to critique an experimental report
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
• APA Style.org (tips on style)
• effect and affect...know the difference!!!!
• Cozby: See: Appendix A: Writing Research Reports      
• Cozby: See: Guides for writing research reports            

Policy on Academic Integrity (Plagiarism): see more detail at Plagiarism (Tulane)

"Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional presentation of another person's idea or product as one's own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to the following: copying verbatim all or part of another's written work; using phrases, charts, figures, illustrations, or mathematical or scientific solutions without citing the source; paraphrasing ideas, conclusions, or research without citing the source; and using all or part of a literary plot, poem, film, musical score, or other artistic product without attributing the work to its creator. Students can avoid unintentional plagiarism by carefully accepted scholarly practices. Notes taken for papers and research projects should accurately record sources of material to be cited, quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, and papers should acknowledge these sources in footnotes." (Anonymous).

  Session 1:  Jan 25 

• Review of Syllabus  
• Discussion of Lab topics topics: SPSS lab projects
• Text: Appendix A Stats behind the Research (p. 548) (understand and be prepared to discuss)

Resources for Appendix A:

• Variance calculator/linear regression/correlation calculator
• Statistics Homepage                                                                          

  Session 2: Feb 1    

• Chap 1 Research and the Social Sciences (p. 3)
• Chap 2 Ethics and Research (p. 32)   

        Resources Chap 2:

• Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP)
• APA Ethical Principles and Guidelines
• UB Institutional Review Board information http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/ 
• IRB Application and Exempt Checklist -- required for ALL IRB requests
• Responsible Conduct in Human Subjects Research
• Responsible Conduct of Research Training and Oversight Plan 

Session 3:  Feb 8    

• Chap 3 The Foundations of Research (p. 66)

        Resources Chap 3:                      

• Kerlinger's definitions of theory and other key terms
• Scales of Measurement ppt.
• Construct Validity
• Maps for theory, procedures, etc. 

        Articles Chap 3:  

• Schroeder et al. (1985) (handout)
• Cold Fusion: Another chance. Does theory matter? Cost of Type II error
• Phone conversations tax Drivers' minds
• Forget Gum: Walking and Using Phone is Risky, NYT 1/18/10

 Session 4: Feb 15    

• Chap 4 An Overview of Empirical Methods (p. 101)                                          

          Assignment due:  *** Proposal topic due With Completed Maps: Maps for theory, procedures, etc ***

Session 5: Feb 22        

• Chap 5 (Review) Writing the Research Report (p. 141)

• Using SPSS and importing tables and figures into MS Word  (demonstrated in class)
   
• Chap 6 (Review) Reviewing the Literature and Forming Hypotheses (p. 75)                       

        Activity:

• Visit Langsdale Library                     

 Session 6: Feb 29    

• Chap 7 Sampling: The First Steps in Research (p. 196)  
• Lab 1 due date moved to March 6
  
                                     *** Review for Midterm ***                                   

             March 6 Assignment due:   ***Lab 1 DUE: Hypothetical Relationships ***    

 Session 7: March 7            ******** Midterm Exam Chapters 1-7 ***************  Bring blue book            

Session 8:  March 14 

• Chap 8 Creating and Using Assessments, Surveys, and Objective Measures (p. 228)

            Resources Chap 8:

• Interrater reliability and agreement Excel  file

                    March   21                                  No Class: ******* Spring Break ********* 

Session 9: March 28      

• Chap 9 A Model for Research Design (p. 265)

        Resources Chap 9:

• R&R Effect size pdf

• http://www.uccs.edu/~faculty/lbecker/ effect size calculator

 Session 10: April 4   

• Chap 10 Correlational Research (p. 297)                               

        Resources Chap 10:

• Multiple Regression                            
• G. David Garson North Carolina State
• StatSoftInc.com Multiple Regression                             

Session 11: April 11  

• Chap 11 Between Subjects Designs (p. 335)

        Resources Chap 11:

• Relations between alpha, beta, power

          Assignment due:   ****  Lab 2 DUE: MR **

Session 12: April 18   

•  Chap 12 Single-Variable Between-Subjects Research (p. 371)

Session 13: April 25  

• Chap 13 Between Subjects Factorial Design (p. 407)

        Resources Chap 13:

• Cozby Chapter Factorial designs  
• Two way ANOVA tables and graphs (handout)

        Assignment due:  *** Lab 3 DUE: One Way ANOVA  ***      

Session 14:  May 2  

• Chap 16 Research with Categorical Data (p. 502)

        Resources Chap 16:

•  Chi Squared (Ppoint) for nominal data 
•  Fisher's exact test for small expected values 
•  Categorical Data Analysis (Prentice Hall Ppoint)

Session 15: May  9  **Final Exam Chapters 8-13, 16 -- bring blue book **

Readings: (Handouts)

• Schroeder, A., Johnson, D. E., & Jensen, T. D. (1985). Reading Research Reports: A brief introduction. In Johnson, D., & Jensen, T. (Eds). Contemporary Readings in Social Psychology.
• Maps for theory, procedures, etc.
• Figure 1.2 Sample One-Experimental Paper (details for using APA style). Adapted from:
  Leclerc, c. M., & Kensinger, E. A. (2008). Effects of Age on Detention of Emotional Information. Psychology of Aging, 23, pp. 209-215. American Psychological Association
• Statistical Abbreviations and Symbols