Psy 231 Statistics/Methods I Spr

Day	Date	Topic	Assignment Due
Th	1/10	Introduction
	1/10	No lab this week
T	1/15	Scientific Inquiry & Method	G&F Ch. 1
Th	1/17	Research Ideas	G&F Ch. 2
	1/15 & 1/17	No lab this week
T-Th	1/22-1/24	Defining & Measuring Variables ID 779--Reading Research Reports ID 783--Drinking Glucose Improves Listening Span	G&F Ch. 3 Article Assign. 1 (1/22) Article Assign. 2 (1/24)
	1/22 & 1/24	LAB: Literature search
T	1/29	Ethics	G&F Ch. 4
Th	1/31	Sampling	G&F Ch. 5
	1/29 & 1/31	LAB: Ethics scenarios
T-Th	2/5-2/7	Sampling (cont.) Intro to Statistics	G&W Ch. 1 Lab assign. 1 due (2/5)
	2/5 & 2/7	LAB: Review
T	2/12	Exam 1 Jeopardy Review	Lab assign. 2 due
Th	2/14	Research Strategies—an Overview Internal & External Validity ID 781--An Unobtrusive Measure of Racial Behavior in a University Cafeteria	G&F Ch. 6 Article Assign. 3
	2/12& 2/14	LAB: Identifying Research Strategies--Part 1 of Lab assign. 3 NO LAB THURSDAY!
T	2/19	Descriptive Research Strategy ID 782--College Students' Responses to Content-Specific Advisories Frequency Distributions	G&F Ch. 13 (not Ch. 7) Article Assign. 4 G&W Ch. 2
Th	2/21	Correlational Research Strategy ID 780--Social Support, Self-Esteem, & Positive Health	G&F Ch. 12 (not Ch. 7) Article Assign. 5
	2/19 & 2/21	LAB: Frequency Distributions using SPSS--Part 2 of Lab assign. 3	G&W Ch. 2-4
T	2/26	Percentiles	G&W Ch. 2 Lab assign. 3 due
Th	2/28	Central Tendency Variability	G&W Ch. 3-4
	2/26 & 2/28	LAB: Interpreting Central Tendency & Variability
		No Classes 3/3 to 3/7—Spring Break
T	3/11	Variability (cont.) Jeopardy Review
Th	3/13	Exam 2	Lab assign. 4
	3/11 & 3/13	LAB: No lab this week
T	3/18	Correlation Coefficients Regression	G&W Ch. 16 G&W Ch. 17 up to p. 556
Th	3/20	z-scores	G&W Ch. 5
	3/18 & 3/20	LAB: Correlation Using SPSS Instructions
T-Th	3/25-3/27	z-scores (cont.) Probability	Lab assign. 5 due 3/25 G&W Ch. 6
	3/25 & 3/27	LAB: Plotting Regression Line & Practice w/ calculation Regression Example
T		Probability (cont.) and Jeopardy Review
Th	4/3	Exam 3	Lab assign. 6
	4/1 & 4/3	LAB: No lab this week
T	4/8	The Distribution of Sample Means	G&W Ch. 7
Th	4/10	Hypothesis Testing	G&W Ch. 8
	4/8 & 4/10	LAB: Using the sampling distribution in hypothesis testing Lab worksheet to print out
T	4/15
Th	4/17	Hypothesis testing (cont.) Intro. to t-tests--Single-Sample t-test	Lab assign. 7 due 4/17 G&W Ch. 9
	4/15 & 4/17	~~LAB: Using SPSS for t-tests-~~-cancelled
T	4/22	Independent Samples t-test	G&W Ch. 10
Th	4/24	t-tests (cont.) In-class t-test assign. 8 due end of class
	4/22 & 4/24	LAB: SPSS for t-tests---work on assign. 9 SPSS Single-sample t SPSS Independent Samples t
T	4/29	Wrap up and Jeopardy Review	Lab assign. 9 due 4/29
F	5/2 @ noon	Exam 4—Cumulative Final	Lab assign.10 at exam Bring back unit exams

Required Texts:
Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences. (2006, 2^nd ed.). F.J. Gravetter & L.B. Forzano.
Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. (2007, 7th edition). F.J. Gravetter & L.B. Wallnau.
Writing Papers in Psychology. (2006, 7th edition). R.L. Rosnow & M. Rosnow.

Prerequisites: Psychology 113 or equivalent and Math 099 or equivalent. (The Math 099 Requirement may be waived if the student has had two years of high school algebra or has passed a mathematics proficiency test administered by the Mathematics department of MSUM).

Course Description: This course is an introduction to scientific method, ethics, measurement, APA format, and basic descriptive and inferential statistics.

Course Goals: Students will understand the numerous considerations in carrying out a psychological experiment and will also learn about statistics and the use of computers in research and statistical analysis. This information is presented with the goal of helping students read, understand, and evaluate research. This information will also act as a foundation for students who will eventually gather, analyze, and present information in higher-level experimental psychology courses.

Assigned Reading: Reading assignments will come primarily from the three texts (designated G & F, G&W, and R&R in the course schedule). In addition, approximately five research articles will be placed at the library reserve desk and due dates will be posted. ALL readings must be completed before class.

Lab Assignments: (200 pts) There will be 10 lab assignments worth 20 points each. Assignment instructions and due dates will be posted on the web and discussed in class. A portion of most assignments will require students to work out of class through specific problems presented in the texts. The remainder of each assignment will involve in-lab written or computer tasks designed to provide hands-on experience with concepts and analyses presented during lecture sessions. Lab assignments often will require the use of information covered in lecture and lab. Additional instructions, help, and time will be available during lab meetings. Therefore, missing more than a couple of class meetings (lecture or lab) will surely affect your grades on lab assignments. Further, missing lab sessions will require you to make up the lab activity on your own or forfeit the points assigned to the in-lab portion of the assignment.

Due dates will be posted in the on-line course schedule. Please monitor the on-line course schedule for assignment instructions and due dates. Assignments must be turned in at the beginning of the class session in which they are due. Assignments must be neatly written or typed (when specified), with all calculations displayed and the final answer clearly marked. Assignments may not be submitted via e-mail. If you will miss a lab, turn in the out-of-class portion of the assignment (if applicable) BEFORE the scheduled lab to receive credit for that portion of the assignment. Late assignments will NOT be accepted—no exceptions. Please staple all assignments and include your full name and lab day. You may wish to run a copy of the out-of-class portion of the assignment before you hand it in, as it is not always possible to return all assignments for study before exams. Lab sessions are scheduled for Tuesdays (section 000551) or Thursdays (section 000552) from 3-5 pm in Bridges 364. Lab sessions generally last about one hour and 15 minutes, although students are always free to stay and work until 5 pm. Remember to register for one lab session in addition to registering for the course. You must attend the lab session for which you are registered unless you receive permission from the professor beforehand. Always bring your G&W stats book to lab.

Article Assignments: (50 pts) There will be five short writing assignments (10 pts. each) requiring thoughtful responses to the assigned research articles. Assignment instructions and due dates will be posted on the web and discussed in class. These assignments must be typed, stapled, and must include your full name and lab day. Article assignments are due at the beginning of the class specified in the syllabus. Late article assignments will not accepted—NO EXCEPTIONS. If you anticipate an absence, hand in the article assignment before the actual due date.

Exams: (250 pts) This class will have 4 exams. Exams 1, 2, and 3 will be unit exams worth 50 points each. Exam 4 (the cumulative final) will be worth 100 points. The questions will be a combination of short answer, computation, multiple choice, and true/false formats. The formula sheet from the inside cover of the G&W text will be provided during all exams, however, students must appropriately apply the formulas without any help from the instructor. All exam s will be collected at the end of the 75-minute testing session.

Exam Make-Up Policy: If you know you will miss an exam due to a valid reason, alert the instructor about 1 week prior to the exam to arrange an early exam (Note: wanting to start your weekend/vacation early is NOT a valid reason). If you miss a test for medical reasons, you must provide documentation of illness. Any request for a make-up exam must be accompanied by a written excuse from the health center or attending physician (in the case of a medical reason), or some other kind of documentation. Otherwise, no make-up exam will be given. I reserve the right to refuse a make-up for an unexcused missed exam.

Extra Credit: Extra credit will be given for participation in experiments run in the department. Students can receive up to 16 extra credit points (2 points for each 15 minutes of participation) by participating in research. A few other smaller opportunities for extra credit will be offered throughout the semester during lecture and lab. If you happen to miss that class meeting, you also miss the extra credit opportunity—NO EXCEPTIONS. These in-class opportunities will total approximately 10 extra credit points.

Grading: Final grades will be determined from a total of 500 points. Final grades will be assigned as follows:

A = 448-500 points (90-100%)
B = 398-447 points (80-89%)
C = 348-397 points (70-79%)
D = 298-347 points (60-69%)
F = 297 points or less (59% or less)

PLEASE NOTE: These grade cut-offs are fixed. The borders have already been relaxed as much as possible, so there will be NO EXCEPTIONS. Please monitor your progress and earn any necessary extra credit points (if possible) to secure your grade category.

Academic Honesty: Copying test answers or papers from classmates or other sources (including the web) is considered plagiarism and is the equivalent of scholarly or "literary" stealing. Such activities reflect shabby standards of personal integrity and such conduct is professionally unethical. In the event that you are caught plagiarizing or copying, you will be failed in the course, regardless of the level of work on other class activities.

Student Responsibilities: It is the responsibility of each student to be aware of all information in the syllabus, including dates and procedures for assignments and grading; to frequently check the course web page for class announcements or changes; to complete the reading assignments before each class; to take an active role in learning the material; to seek out help from the professor in a timely fashion; to monitor your performance in this class, including keeping track of your grades and extra credit points; and to inform the professor ahead of time in the case of special needs. Be aware that it is common courtesy to arrive and leave class on time so as not to disturb the professor or other students. Also, all electronic devices such as cell phones and pagers must be turned off upon entering the classroom. Laptops may be used for taking class notes. If the professor suspects a student is abusing the laptop privilege (e.g., sending/receiving instant messages or working on other coursework), the student’s privilege will be revoked.

Special Accommodations: Students with disabilities who believe they may need an accommodation in this class are encouraged to contact Greg Toutges, Coordinator of Disability Services, at 477-5859 (voice) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY) in CMU 114 as soon as possible to ensure that accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.