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PSYC 612Advanced Statistical and Research Methods for Psychology IISPRING 2012Instructor: Patrick E. McKnight, Ph.D.Office: David King 2064/2065Office Hours: Tues 10:30am-12:00pm and by appointmentPhone: (703) 993-8292E-mail: [email protected] Location: Robinson B113Class Date/Time: Tues 4:30pm-7:10pmClass website: http://mres.gmu.edu/PSYC612/TA: Simone ErchovEmail: [email protected] (Hours): DK 2065 (Thur 10:30-11:30pm)TA : Dan BlalockEmail: [email protected] (Hours): DK 2065 (Wed 1:30-2:30pm)Course OverviewPsychology 612 is the second course of a two-course se-quence that serves to introduce psychology graduate students tostatistics, research methodology, research design, and measure-ment. Traditional graduate psychology statistics courses em-phasize statistical techniques as a matter of declarative knowl-edge. Students are expected to know each procedure and its“appropriate” application. An alternative approach tends to-ward technical discourse (e.g., matrix algebra, formula memo-rization, and hand calculations) and requires greater attentionto minute detail and mathematical vernacular. A less used butequally suitable approach treats statistics as a method of prin-cipled argument. The method I use for this course is a hybridof the three approaches. You will be expected to know the sta-tistical terminology, apply your knowledge in both carrying outthe procedures as well as interpreting the results, and then youwill be expected to use the results in a manner consistent withscientific discourse.Course ObjectivesThe course’s purpose is to further your introduction to dataanalysis, research design, and measurement. Your course workto date ought to have prepared you well by covering measuresof central tendency, measures of dispersion, measures of associ-ation, and measures of difference. Due to time constraints, I donot intend to review these terms or their purposes so I urge ev-ery student to review that material prior to this course. WhatI do intend to cover is a comprehensive view of univariate, bi-variate and multivariate statistics - why we use statistics, whyyou should learn these tools, and what are the most impor-tant features to learn and understand. You will gain practicalskills in interpreting, applying and explaining statistical proce-dures. The combination of an interactive lecture and a weeklylaboratory will offer each student the opportunity to see theprocedures, conduct the procedures yourselves, and then teachone another what you learned. This approach is the commonmedical model of education - see one, do one, and teach one -that results in better retention and deeper understanding.Course Pre-requisitesStudents are required to earn a “B” or better in PSYC 611(or equivalent) to enroll in PSYC 612. Additionally, studentsought to understand the following concepts and terms: mea-sures of central tendency (e.g., mean, median, mode), measuresof dispersion (e.g., variance, standard deviation, range), testsof difference (e.g., t-tests, ANOVA), measures of association(e.g., correlation, covariance), tests of association (e.g., multi-ple regression, chi-square), and research design. Students whorecognize that they are not prepared to take the course will bestrongly encouraged to take a more introductory course.Required Textbooks2 Dunteman, G.H. and Lewis-Beck, M.S. (1989). Princi-pal component analysis. (Sage University Paper Series onQuantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, No. 07-069). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. (ISBN: 9780803931046)2 Kim, J. and Mueller, C.W. (1978). Introduction to factoranalysis: What it is and how to do it. (Sage UniversityPaper Series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sci-ences, No. 07-013). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. (ISBN:0-8039-1165-3)2 Iacobucci, D. (2008). Mediation Analysis. (Sage Univer-sity Paper Series on Quantitative Applications in the SocialSciences, No. 07-156). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. (ISBN:9781412925693)Optional TextbooksStudents who struggle with general writing or basic under-standing of statistical terminology may benefit from Zinsser’sbook “On writing well” and Gonick and Smith’s humorous “Thecartoon guide to statistics”, respectively. I recommend bothbooks to all students since we all struggle with writing and ba-sic concepts. These books present both topics in very easilydigestible formats.2 Zinsser, W. (2006). On writing well, 30th Anniversary Edi-tion: The classic guide to writing nonfiction. Colllins: NewYork.2 Gonick, L and Smith, W. (1994). The cartoon guide to1statistics. HarperCollins: New York.Students who are interested in more than just the general“nuts and bolts” of the standard statistical procedures oughtto consult the following books. Many of the points I make inclass come from these books but it is always best to read themfrom a more original source.2 Abelson, R.P. (1995). Statistics as principled argument.Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ. (ISBN: 0-8058-0528-1).2 van Belle, G. (2002). Statistical rules of thumb. Wiley-Interscience: New York. (ISBN: 0-4714-0227-3)Additional ReadingAt times I will post additional readings that are optional(and free) for all students. Many of these readings provide ex-cellent examples of the topics we discuss in class. Please seethe course website for links to the electronic versions of thesereadings.Grading CriteriaGrades will be determined by each student’s observed per-formance on three statistics modules. Each student must per-form a set of statistical procedures in the presence (or via proxy- more later) of the TA or the instructor and demonstrate profi-ciency. There will be a 15 minute time limit on the performance;speed and fluency of your performance will be indicative of yourproficiency. Students may complete a module (i.e., demonstrateproficiency) at any time after the last module lecture but nolater than 3 weeks following that lecture. Each studentmay retake one and only one module after failure. Due to lim-ited resources, we must limit the number of retakes to one andthe retake must be completed within the time frame specifiedabove. Special consideration to individual cases may be pro-vided but do not expect more than two retakes or more than aweek grace period. Every student must complete no fewer thanone module in my presence - not by proxy but in person.Performance on the modules will be graded on ternary scale(3-levels) where level 0 represents a failure to complete the mod-ule, level 1 represents a passing


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MASON PSYC 612 - Syllabus

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