Psychology 450

Location: 213 Norton

Research Methods

Syllabus

Course Goals / Course Outline / Readings / Course_Requirements

Fall 2010

Mon, Wed, Fri

11:00 - 11:50

Instructor: James R Sawusch

Office: 360 Park Hall

Email: jsawusch@buffalo.edu

Phone: (716) 645-0238

Office Hours:

Mon 2:00 - 5:00

or by Appointment

Teaching Assistant: Mary M Flaherty

Office: 392 Park Hall

Email: maryflah@buffalo.edu

Phone: (716) 645-0254

Office Hours:

TBA

or by Appointment

Course Goals

 

This class covers the scientific methodology used in the study of human and animal behavior. Topics include basic issues in experimental design and survey research, interpretation and presentation of data, some review of statistics, the ethical treatment of subjects, ethics in scientific research, and how to use the scientific literature. As an advanced class in research methods, the class emphasizes the design of research to answer specific questions and the communication of research ideas. The class also covers selected topics in Experimental Psychology (perception, attention & performance, memory, human factors) to provide a content area for the application of the scientific method.

 

The basic goal of the class is to provide students with a sufficient background to be able to conduct their own research. This includes the refinement and distilation of an idea into a testable hypothesis, research design, statistics and evaluation of data, and scientific writing. Some of the material from earlier courses (Statistics, Scientific Inquiry) is repeated here with greater elaboration and application to a content area.

Objectives for Student Learning

Design and conduct basic studies to address psychological questions using appropriate research methods.
a. Locate and use relevant databases, research, and theory to plan, conduct, and interpret results of research studies
b. Formulate testable research hypotheses, based on operational definitions of variables
c. Select and apply appropriate methods to maximize internal and external validity and reduce the plausibility of alternative explanations
d. Recognize that theoretical and sociocultural contexts as well as personal biases may shape research questions, design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation

Follow the APA Code of Ethics in the treatment of human and nonhuman participants in the design, data collection, interpretation, and reporting of psychological research.

Understand the limitations of psychological knowledge and skills.

Tentative Course Outline:

DATE

TOPIC

READING

Readings

Class Requirements

The class is a lecture-discussion format. Material is from the text, readings, and lecture. The text for the Fall, 2010 semester is Tools of Critical Thinking (2nd edition) by David A Levy. Experimental Psychology (8th edition or later) by Kantowitz, Roediger, and Elmes is recommended and may help students with further reading related to topics in class. The other readings are selected journal articles and book chapters and are available on-line through the University Library. There will be two examinations (each is 25% of the final grade), one research paper (25% of the final grade), and 4 short papers (each is 6.25% of the final grade). In addition, you have the option to revise the research paper, using the comments provided by the instructor and TA. If you submit a revised version, the grade for the revision will be used in place of the original. You must also complete the SBSIRB tutorial on ethics in human participants research. The final grade is based on a fixed scale and the culumative score across the assignments and examinations, expressed as a percentage of the maximum possible score. Plus and minus grades will be given for scores in the upper and lower thirds of each grade range. The scale is given in the table below.

The examinations. The two examinations will be given in class. The first will occur near the semester midpoint and cover the material in the first half of the class. The second will be given in finals week and cover the material in the second half of the class. The exams are mostly short answer (about 80%) plus some multiple choice. Sample questions will be posted with the lecture notes (see below).

The research paper. This paper will be a research proposal that describes a study that you propose. It is to be written in APA format like a journal article. The goal of this assignment is to provide students with experience in writing a concise summary of research that includes relevant background, the problem to be investigated, how the research would be done and possible results and their implications. Students will have the option of revising and resubmitting this paper. More detail is provided in the notes for the topic Class Overview and in the course outline above (Proposal, Research Paper).

The short papers. Each of these two page papers is designed to provide students with practice on applying the material on research design to a content area or problem.

SBSIRB tutorial on human participants. You must complete the web based tutorial on ethics in human participants research. If you have already done this tutorial, that is sufficient. Confirmation of completion of this tutorial is required for you to pass the course. Further detailes are in the Class Overview and the course notes on Ethics.

On the web. The lecture notes will be posted on the web and can be accessed through the topic in the tentative course outline. Notes will include sample exam questions and problems that are designed to assist you in learning and applying the concepts of the course. Answers to the sample questions and problems will be posted with a subsequent lecture. If you have trouble with the sample questions or problems, or with the comments provided on the written assignments or the exams, discuss them with the instructor. The topics for the short papers will be posted and will include the due date. The topic Research Paper proposal due is a link to the requirements for the Research Paper and the due dates for the proposal, first version of the paper, and revised version.

Due Dates & Exam Dates

Make up exams are only given for legitimate reasons per University recommendations. Similarly, extensions for due dates for the short papers and research paper will only be given for legitimate reasons. If a short paper is up to 48 hrs late, it will receive only one half of the score it would have gotten otherwise. It will not be accepted more than 48 hours late. For the research paper, the maximum score drops by 25% for each 48 hours that it is late.

Academic Integrity

The University has a responsibility to promote academic honesty and integrity and to develop procedures to deal effectively with instances of academic dishonesty. Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect for others' academic endeavors. By placing their name on academic work, students certify the originality of all work not otherwise identified by appropriate acknowledgments.

Students with Disabilities

If you have a disability which makes it difficult for you to carry out the course work as outlined and/or requires accommodations such as recruiting note takers, readers or extended time on exams, please contact the Office of Disability Services, 25 Capen Hall, phone 645-2680. Also contact the instructor, preferably within the first two weeks of class. ODS will provide you with information and review appropriate arrangements for reasonable accommodations.