SYLLABUSPsychology 201: Psychology Research I Spring, 2003 Section# (index #): 03 (3964)Instructor: Jeff Aspelmeier, Ph.D. Office: Russell Hall 402Phone: 5520 Web Page: www.radford.edu/~jaspelmeClass Meeting Time: MW: Lecture 8:00-8:50 pm (lab: 2:00 - 2:50)Class Meeting Location: RUS 346 (lab = RUS 301)Office Hours: M-TH: 10:00-11:00Also by appointment and just about any time you can catch me.(The hours given above are tentative; they may be changed. All changes will beannounced in class.)Required Texts: Zechmeister, J. S., & Zechmeister, E. B., Shaughnessy J. J. (2001). Essentials of ResearchMethods in Psychology. Boston: McGraw-Hill.Welkowitz, J., Ewen, R. B., & Cohen, J. (2000). Introductory statistics for the behavioralsciences (5th ed.). Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.(This Book comes with a study guide attatched)Recommended Texts:American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the AmericanPsychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author.Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Feeney, B. F., (2001) A simple guide to SPSS for windows (revisededition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Course Objectives: The student will be engaged in a series of activities designed to develop understanding of concepts, issuesand procedures related to research methods and statistics. Through class lecture, discussions, and other componentsof evaluation (see below), the student will be acquainted with information about statistical and research methods. This process will encourage the student to develop insight into and think objectively about the use of research inevery-day life, how research influences the socio-cultural environment, and how to interpret research in moremeaningful ways.This course is designed to help you (1) understand and perform the procedures for many basic researchdesigns and their associated statical tests; (2) learn to carry out statistical computations by hand and using computerbased statistical packages; (3) gain a better understanding of reports of psychological research and the methods andstatistics reported in them, (3) further develop your quantitative and analytic thinking skills, and (4) prepare for moreadvanced courses in research methods. By learning how research is preformed, you will hopefully become a betterconsumer of information Class Mechanics :Class sessions: Class attendance is not required (though it is a very good idea to come to class). If you donot come to class, you remain responsible for all material covered in class and for any announcements made inclass. (Note: if you do not come to class you will have a difficult time passing this course) You are expected to bring your statistics text book to all classes (lab and lecture).You are expected to bring some kind of calculator to all classes (lab and lecture).You will need two blank, IBM formated 3.5 inch floppy discs for Lab class, bring it to all lab classes.You will need to print things in lab class, so keep your printing account adequately credited. Obviously, lectures cannot cover everything contained in a textbook (unless it is a very bad textbook). Therefore, some of the material in the text will not be dealt with in class. This does not mean that the material isunimportant-only that there is not enough time to cover it in class. Also, there will sometimes be things covered inlecture that are not in the text. In other words, you should pay attention to both the text material and the lecturematerial in your studying.As a note: the best time to see me, especially if you need to persuade me to do something in some way, isnot immediately before class or immediately after in the class room. All grade inquiries, personal requests, excusegiving (ha!) etc. should be done in my office during office hours following class sessions, or during scheduledappointments. This is more for your benefit than mine because I tend to forget things if I don't write them down inmy calendar/class book.Class Announcements and Course Handouts: Many class announcements and other course information will besent via the course e-mail alias. These announcements will also be made in class. However, all students are expectedto regularly (every other day or so) check their e-mail for class announcements. Further, all course handouts will beposted on my web page (see above). They will be presented in a PDF format (Adobe Acrobat format). All campuscomputers have the ability to open pdf files. If you are working from your home or dorm room you may need todownload the free Adobe Acrobat Reader program. This is available from my website as well. If you are unfamiliarwith e-mail, e-mail attachments, navigating the web, or opening files on the web, then please schedule anappointment with me and we will go over it. Evaluation: The student’s progress in meeting course objectives will be inferred from performance on the followingnumbered components.1. Exams: Two 100-point midterm exam and a 100-pint final exam will be given, the dates for each are listed in thecourse outline. Exam questions will be approximately 50% from lecture and 50% from text and will consist ofmultiple choice, short answer, and computational problems. All exams will be open book and open notes. Keep inmind that open book open note tests do require studying. There will not be enough time for you to continuallylook up material, there will only be enough time for you to find formulas and tables needed to complete the exam.-University policy for Academic Dishonesty will be enforced (so do us both a favor and don't cheat).-Students should bring their RU ID's with them to exams. You may be asked to present them. Studentsmay not retain copies of the exam questions. Do not arrive at an exam late: once anyone has finished the exam andleft, no one else may start the exam and a make-up will be administered on the scheduled make up day.Make-up exams: If a student misses an exam and has an adequate written excuse, s/he may take a make-up exam. The instructor reserves the right to decide on the adequacy of excuses. A special test session will be used for givingall make-up exams. This will probably be Thurs., April 17th at 9:00 a.m. Details will be announced in class. If anexam is missed and no make-up is taken. a zero will be given for that exam. See me at once if you miss an examfor any reason, or when you anticipate missing an exam. You must see me, in person, in my office for this. 2.Laboratory : Approximately