SYLLABUSPsychology 201: Psychology Research I Fall, 2006 Section# (index #): 03(4368)Instructor: Jeff Aspelmeier, Ph.D. Office: Washington Hall B17Phone: 5520 e-mail: [email protected] Web Page: www.radford.edu/~jaspelmeClass Meeting Time: MW: Lecture 9:00-9:50 pm Lab Meeting Time : M W 10:0 - 10:50 Class Meeting Location: Ingles B02 (lab = Wash 400)Office Hours: M& Tues 1-2; Wed 12:30 - 1:30Also by appointment and just about any time you can catch me.(The hours given above are tentative; they may be changed. All changes will be announcedin class.)Required Texts: Cozby, P. C. (2004). Methods in behavioral research, 8th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.Schacht, S. P., & Aspelmeier, J. E. (2005). Social and behavioral statistics: A user friendly approach, 2nd ed.. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Recommended Texts:American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author.Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Feeney, B. F., (2006) A simple guide to SPSS for Windows version 12.0 & 13.0 .Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Course Objectives: The student will be engaged in a series of activities designed to develop understanding of concepts, issues and proceduresrelated to research methods and statistics. Through class lecture, discussions, and other components of evaluation (see below),the student will be acquainted with information about statistical and research methods. This process will encourage the student todevelop insight into and think objectively about the use of research in every-day life, how research influences the socio-culturalenvironment, and how to interpret research in more meaningful ways.This course is designed to help you (1) understand and perform the procedures for many basic research designs and theirassociated statical tests; (2) learn to carry out statistical computations by hand and using computer based statistical packages; (3)gain a better understanding of reports of psychological research and the methods and statistics reported in them, (3) furtherdevelop your quantitative and analytic thinking skills, and (4) prepare for more advanced courses in research methods. Bylearning how research is preformed, you will hopefully become a better consumer of information Class Mechanics :Class sessions: Class attendance is not required (though it is a very good idea to come to class). If you do not come to class, youremain responsible for all material covered in class and for any announcements made in class. -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 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 thematerial in the text will not be dealt with in class. This does not mean that the material is unimportant-only that there is notenough time to cover it in class. Also, there will sometimes be things covered in lecture that are not in the text. In other words,you should pay attention to both the text material and the lecture material 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, is not immediately beforeclass or immediately after in the class room. All grade inquiries, personal requests, excuse giving (ha!) etc. should be done in myoffice during office hours following class sessions, or during scheduled appointments. This is more for your benefit than minebecause I tend to forget things if I don't write them down in my calendar/class book.Class Announcements and Course Handouts: Many class announcements and other course information will be sent via thecourse e-mail alias. These announcements will also be made in class. However, all students are expected to regularly (every otherday or so) check their e-mail for class announcements. Further, all course handouts will be posted on my web page (see above).They will be presented in a PDF format (Adobe Acrobat format). All campus computers have the ability to open pdf files. If youare working from your home or dorm room you may need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader program. This is availablefrom my website as well. If you are unfamiliar with e-mail, e-mail attachments, navigating the web, or opening files on the web,then please schedule an appointment with me and we will go over it. Evaluation: The student’s progress in meeting course objectives will be inferred from performance on the following numberedcomponents.1. Exams: Two 100-point midterm exam and a 100-pint final exam will be given, the dates for each are listed in the courseoutline. Exam questions will be approximately 50% from lecture and 50% from text and will consist of multiple choice, shortanswer, and computational problems. All exams will be open book and open notes. Keep in mind that open book open notetests do require studying. There will not be enough time for you to continually look up material, there will only be enough timefor 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. -Students may not retain copies of the exam questions. -Do not arrive at an exam late: once anyone has finished the exam and left, no one else may start the exam and a make-upwill 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 instructorreserves the right to decide on the adequacy of excuses. A special test session will be used for giving all make-up exams. Thiswill probably be Thurs., Nov 15th at 11:00 a.m. Details will be announced in class. If an exam is missed and no make-up is taken.a zero will be given for that exam. See me at once if you miss an exam for any reason, or when you anticipate missing anexam. You must see me, in person, in my office for this. 2.Laboratory : Approximately 50% of your course grade will be based on points accumulated during lab. Students will meet inlab for two hours per week. The purpose of lab is to