Statistics and Research Methods II

 

Course Overview for Fall, 2005

 

Sect. 1:  Tue., Thu., 12:15 – 1:30, S 242

Sect. 31:  Tue., Thu., 5:40 – 6:55 pm, S 242

 

Instructor:  Dr. Linda Rueckert                         

office:  Science 307C    phone:  442-5841

office hours:   Tue. 1:30 – 3:30; Thursday 1:30 – 4:30

e-mail:  L-Rueckert@neiu.edu

 

co-teachers:      Avi Fleischer, office hours Tue. 4:15-5:30 S 351; Thu. 1:30-2:50 caffeteria

                        Nisha Mkrdichian, office hours Tue. 4:15-5:40 S 364; Thu. 10:45-12:15 2nd floor landing

 

 

Texts:

 

American Psychological Association.  (2001) Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition.  Washington, DC:  American Psychological Association.

 

 

Heiman, G.  Understanding Research Methods and Statistics  2nd Edition  New York:  Houghton Mifflin.

 

George, D., & Mallery, P. (2003).  SPSS for Windows Step by Step, 13.0 update.  4th edition.  Boston:  Allyn and Bacon.

 

 

 

Course Objectives:

 

This is the second half of a sequence intended to prepare the student to be an intelligent consumer/producer of research.  In this course you will learn to design, conduct, analyze, evaluate the results, and write up psychological research.  It is assumed that you have learned the basics of research design, descriptive statistics, and writing APA style in Statistics and Research Methods I.  This course will focus mainly on statistical analyses, by hand and by computer, although we will also cover research design, and writing.

 

 

1. To be able to evaluate the validity of published psychological research.  This objective will be assessed on the exams, paper, and homework assignments #5 and #12.

 

2. To be able to design and carry out a valid psychological study.  This objective will be assessed on the exams, paper, and homework assignment #6.

 

3.  To be able to determine which statistics are appropriate for a particular experimental design, and to be able to calculate these statistics by hand.  This objective will be assessed on the exams and homework assignments #1, #3, #4, #7, #8, and #9.

 

4.  To be able to calculate statistics on the computer using  SPSS for Windows, and to be able to interpret the output.  This objective will be assessed on the exams and homework assignments #2 and #11.

 

5.  To be able to write a report of a psychological study according to APA style.  This objective will be assessed on the paper, and on homework assignment #6.

 

 

Web Site

 

This course is on the World Wide Web at:  http://www.neiu.edu/~lruecker.  The site includes the syllabus and schedule, homework assignments, handouts, and links to other psychology-related sites.  It will be updated periodically throughout the semester.  In the rare case that a class must be cancelled due to illness or weather, I will try to put something on the web site about any changes in schedule or due dates.

 

 

Course Requirements:

 

 

Attendance and class participation  25 points

 

Because this is an interactive class, attendance is mandatory. You may miss three classes without penalty.  Beyond that, you will be excused only for illness or an emergency situation.  You are expected to have read the assigned reading before coming to class so you will be able to participate in the discussion.  If you miss more than three classes, you can make up the lost points if you participate a lot in class.  You are also expected to bring a calculator and a memory stick to each class.

 

 

Homework Assignments  100 points

 

Periodically, homework assignments will be made, usually consisting of answering questions in the text, or conducting analyses on the computer.  These assignments are on the Web page (see below), and will not be given out in class.  Make sure you know about them well in advance, because the University's server occasionally goes down, which means that the web page won't be available.  This will not be an excuse for turning an assignment in late. 

 

No late homework will be accepted after we have gone over it in class.  If you cannot make it to class, have a friend bring it, or leave it in my mailbox (Psych. Dept. office Science-313F).  Psychology Dept. policy says that students may not fax homework. If there is a good reason you cannot make it to class, and you let me know as soon as possible, I may accept it during the next class  period for half credit.

 

Note that the first homework assignment will be based on the pretest you take during the first and second class periods.  The better you do on the pretest, the fewer problems you’ll have to do.  If you get all of the pretest questions right, you’ll automatically get 10 pts on homework #1.  You’ll need your calculator for the second pretest.

 

Some of the homework assignments will require the use of SPSS, a statistical software program.  It is available on all on-campus computers. You will need some way to back up your data, such as a USB flash memory stick.  You can buy one at the NEIU books store, or other stores such as Office Depot.  You can get more information about this at http://www.neiu.edu/~deptac/Client_Support/documentation.html

SPSS is also for sale in the bookstore.  You are not required to buy it, but you may buy it if you would like to work on these assignments at home.

 

Exams  150 points

 

There will be 2 in-class exams, and one final, each worth 50 points.  The exams will be cumulative in the sense that information learned at the beginning of the semester is usually necessary for solving problems covered later.  But there will be greater focus on recently-covered information.  The exams will cover both lecture and text, and will include multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions.  All exams will be open-book and open note.  You will definitely need to bring a calculator to each exam.  Exams must be taken on the assigned date.  In rare circumstances, you may take an exam early.  No late exams will be given for any reason.

 

There are copies of old exams linked through the web page and you are strongly encouraged to take a look at these, since the format will be very similar.  The class period before each exam will include a review session. 

 

 

Paper  50 points

 

There will be a final paper, about 5 to 10 pages, which must be written according to APA style.  It will consist of a short introduction, methods, results, and brief discussion of an experiment that will be carried out in class.  You will turn this paper in twice.  You will get more information on the paper later.

 

 

Extra Credit  up to 5 points

 

You may obtain extra credit points by participating as a subject in studies that are currently being conducted by Northeastern faculty in the psych. dept.  You will get 1 point for each half hour of participation.  Additional extra credit opportunities may be made available as well.

 

 

Grades will be determined based on the total number of points accrued in the following manner:

 

292 - 325:        A

260 - 291:        B

227 - 259:        C

195 - 226:        D

below 195:       F

 

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Academic Dishonesty

 

Anyone caught cheating on an exam, copying homework assignments from other students, or plagiarizing on the paper, will be given an F for the course.