Course Description
This course provides an introduction to methods in psychological research. This includes the examination of the scientific method, hypothesis testing, and designs of qualitative and quantitative research. Other topics include the search and evaluation of research literature in psychology, descriptive statistical analysis, fundamentals of scientific writing, ethical issues and cross cultural considerations in psychological research. This course culminates in a research study created, conducted, analyzed and presented by students.
Learning Outcome
By the end of the course students will have:
- Appreciation of the rigor applied to
scientific research.
- Understanding of ethical research in
use of both human participants and animal subjects.
- Gained a sense of community in
creating scientific inquiry in a small group setting.
- Understanding of the difference
between scientific thinking and other types of thinking.
- The ability to compare strengths and
weaknesses of different research methods.
- The ability to search databases for
psychological literature.
- Understanding how to summarize and
critically examine a psychological journal article.
Course Content
- Characteristics
of Science
- The
research process
- Statistics
- Research
ethics
- Measurements
- Observational research
- Surveys/test
- Correlation and Causation
Compulsory Reading Materials
- Pelham,
B. W., & Blanton, C. J. (2007). Conducting research in psychology:
Measuring the weight of smoke (3rd Ed.). Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth.
(Required)
- Cozby, P. C. (2007). Methods in
Behavioral Research, 10th Ed. New York: McGraw Hill.
- Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (6 th Ed.) (2009). Washington, D.C.: the American
Psychological Association.