Research Methods and Laboratory in Psychology
PSYC-52A Section 3– Fall 2017
Instructor: Ellen Wright Office Hours:
Office Phone: 781-736-2809 Email:
Office: Brown 128 Class: Tues & Thurs, 3-4:50 pm, Goldfar 230
Course website: http:://latte.brandeis.edu
Graduate Teaching Fellow:
Jeremy Simon
Volen 220 Office Hours:
Textbook:
Price, Research Methods in Psychology: Core Concepts and Skills, v. 1.0
I. Course Description:
Psychology 52a is an introduction to psychology as a science. You surely encounter psychological findings in your courses, the media, conversations with friends. This course will show you the experimental designs undergirding such research, allowing you to evaluate the findings you encounter and separate the brilliant from the bunk. You will learn to proceed through the scientific method from generating a hypothesis to creating a test to analyzing the result. The course’s novel design will allow class time to be filled with activities and conversations, while concepts will be taught through easily-accessible videos. Required for psych majors.
II. Format and Procedure:
This course will be using the “Flipped classroom” methodology. Students are required to read text and view lectures prior to class that are accompanied by short quizzes for knowledge retention. In class, students will work on activities and assignments with their peers and under the guidance of the instructor. All relevant materials will be posted in LATTE on the course site, such as the course syllabus, video lectures, assignment details, discussion forums, links/resources to course-related texts, and quizzes. Access information is emailed to enrolled students before the start of the course. To begin participating in the course, review the first week and read the first Course Announcement.
III. Course Requirements:
Overall, success in this 4-credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (videos, readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.).
A. Examinations: three tests, each worth 100 points. One quiz, worth 50. All exams will be unit tests (NO cumulative exams). The format for each exam will include a combination of multiple choice and short-answer questions (which may include some matching). Lecture, all in-class materials and discussions, and reading assignments will be covered. The ONLY excuses acceptable for missing a quiz are illness (documented by a note from a physician), funeral of close friend/relative (documented by a funeral notice or funeral bulletin), mandatory religious obligations or other unavoidable circumstances or University activities. If one of these difficulties occurs, you should immediately contact the office of Student Life, who will document the difficulties and take care of notifying your professors. If you must be away at the time of an examination, you may schedule an early exam. You will receive a review sheet (posted on Latte) that serves as a general guide. Test questions will not be limited to this review sheet, but the short questions posed on the review sheet should help prepare you for the short-answer questions.
B. Assignments: There will be three written assignments. Specific details will follow about the format and due dates. These will be submitted on line and will be due by midnight the night of the class it is due. Assignments turned in late will be docked with an 1-point penalty for each day that the assignment is late. Computer problems are no excuse. If you need some assistance with your assignments, please plan to talk to the instructor or TA in advance of the deadlines, if you have questions about the assignments. The Writing Program also offers helpful services: http://www.brandeis.edu/programs/writing/ In addition, there will be a final poster presentation at the end of the course.
C. Class attendance and participation: Required. Please inform the professor if you will have to miss class.
IV. Evaluation: Your grade will be based on three in-class exams, one quiz, three papers, one presentation, and several online and in-class assignments, including online discussion questions (to be provided in detail later on). Your grade will be on a standard grading scale out of 1015 total points (A > 92, A- 90-92, B+ 87.5-89.5%, B 82.5-87, B- 80-82%, C+ 77.5-79.5%, C 72.5-77%, C- 70-72, D+ 67.5-69.5%, D 62.5-69, D- 60-62%).
V. Special Needs If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.
VI. Academic Honesty: You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. The University policy on academic honesty is distributed annually as section 5 of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the University. This includes copying a classmate’s paper, using your phone or iPad/tablet to look up answers during the exam or any other form of cheating. If you have any questions about my expectations, please ask.
VII. Personal Reactions To Topics
Sometimes material covered in a Psychology class can bring up personal feelings and reactions that you may not know how to handle. In these cases, please feel free to make use of the counseling services available on campus at the Psychological Counseling Center, located in the Mailman House at (781) 736-3730. More information is available on their website: http://www.brandeis.edu/pcc/.
Course Schedule
8/31 / Introduction
9/5 / Ethics
9/7 / Quantitative Reasoning Pre-Test / CITI Training Certificate
9/12 / Scientific Thought
9/14 / Scientific Thought
9/19 / Communication / Reference Assignment
9/21 / Rosh Hashanah – No Class
9/26 / Ethics/Scientific Thought Quiz
9/28 / Archival Research
10/3 / Archival Research / Archival Study Proposal
10/5 / Sukkot – No Class
10/10 / Archival Research / Archival Study Lit Review
10/11 / Brandeis Thursday Survey Research
10/12 / Shmini Atzeret – No Class
10/17 / Survey Research / Archival Paper
10/19 / Survey Research / Survey Study Proposal
10/24 / Survey Research
10/26 / Archival/Survey Quiz
10/31 / Experimental Research
11/2 / Experimental Research
11/7 / Experimental Research
11/9 / Experimental Research / Experimental Study Proposal
11/14 / Experimental Research / Survey Study Paper
11/16 / Experimental Design Test
11/21 / Experimental Research
11/23 / Thanksgiving – No Class
11/28 / Single Subject Design
11/30 / Quasi-Experimental Research
12/5 / Analysis Exam
12/7 / Poster session
12/11 / Finals Week – No Class / Experimental Study Paper and all Rewrites Due