Psychology 450
Advanced Research Methods in Psychology
Spring, 2007
Instructor:Dr. Gretchen B. Sechrist
Office: 351 Park Hall
Phone: (716) 645-3650 ext. 351
E-mail:
Office Hours: Tuesday2pm-3pmor by appointment
Course Information:
Time:Tuesday and Thursday11am-12:20pm
Location: 88 Alumni
Required Texts:
Stangor, C. (2007). Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences (3rd Edition). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Recommended Texts:
American Psychological Association. (2004). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). WashingtonDC: Author.
Stangor, C. (2007). Using SPSS for Windows (4th Edition). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Course Website: https://ublearns.buffalo.edu/
Course Objectives:
Advanced Research Methods in Psychology is designed to teach you how social psychologists conceptualize, design, and conduct research. The course covers the design and analysis of observational, survey, correlational and experimental research. The major objectives of this course are as follows:
(1)Acquisition of skills and methodology principles to:
(a)design, implement, and analyze your own research
(b)evaluate and critique research performed by others
(2)Experience conducting laboratory and field research
(3)Practice in writing research reports
Course Requirements and Grading:
Additional information about each assignment will be provided in lecture.
- Two Exams. The exams are not cumulative. Chapters and material that will be covered on each exam are listed in this syllabus. Each exam will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions. Exams are scheduled to be given onFebruary 13 and March 8. (each is 20% of the final grade)
- Take-Home Exam. For the take-home exam, you will be asked to create research hypotheses and test those hypotheses using the statistical package SPSS. The take-home exam is due April 10. (10% of the final grade)
- Research Proposal. A proposal for a research project also is required. These proposals will be designed and written in small groups of 4-5 students. The proposal is due March 27. (15% of the final grade)
- Research Report. Students will continue to work in their small groups to implement, analyze, and present the experiment described in the proposal. The research report is due May 1. (15% of the final grade)
- Poster Presentation. Students will present their group projects in a poster session. The poster session will occur on the last day of class, April 26. (10% of the final grade)
- Three Short Paper Assignments. The purpose of the short paper assignments are to get students thinking about their experiments and to keep groups progressing with their projects. The short paper assignments will consist of a) individually writing a one-page summary of a research idea interesting to the student, b) individually writing a one-page summary of a journal article relevant to the group’s research project, and c) in small groups, writing a one- to two-page summary of the research proposal topic. The assignments will be graded as pass/fail. The first two assignments, written individually, will each make-up 2% of the final grade and the third will make-up 1% of the final grade. The assignments are due February 1, February 8, and February 15. (5% of the final grade total)
- Class/Group Participation. Your class/group participation grade will be based upon grades given to you by your fellow group members, as well as your classroom attendance. This portion of your grade represents the effort you put forth on the project. Classroom attendance is very important because you have other students depending upon you. Please be an active member of your research team. (5% of the final grade)
Final Grades. Your final grade will be based on the sum of your performance on all of the above items. The grade distribution is as follows:
94.0 - 100.0 = A87.0 - 89.99 = B+77.0 - 79.99 = C+67.0 - 69.99 = D+
90.0 - 93.99 =A-83.0 - 86.99 = B73.0 - 76.99 = C60.0 - 66.99 = D 80.0 - 82.99 = B- 70.0 - 72.99 = C- below 60.00 = F
Administrative Details:
The following information is presented in the interest of fairness for all students.
Missing Exams:
Make-up exams are granted only for illness or extreme circumstances beyond your control. Except in emergencies, you must notify the instructor in writing before the start of the exam that you will not be able to attend. If this is not possible, you must phone the instructor at 645-3650 ext. 351 before the start of the exam (your message will be time-stamped). In all cases, you will need written documentation of the reason for which you missed the exam (i.e., if you had car trouble, bring in your towing and/or garage receipts). Except in extreme cases, documentation of the reason for which you missed the exam must be presented within one week of the exam. Delays beyond one week will result in the loss of one letter grade per day. Once your excuse for missing an exam has been approved by the instructor, a makeup exam will be scheduled. Although makeup exams will cover the same material as the original exam, the instructor reserves the right to administer the makeup exam in a different format from the original (for example, essays and short answers instead of multiple-choice).
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:
Any student enrolled in Psyc 450 who has a documented disability and who wishes to discuss academic accommodations should contact the course instructor as soon as possible during the first week of class. Students also should contact the Office of Disability Services, 25 Capen Hall, phone 645-2608 (http://www.student-affairs.buffalo.edu/ods/). Students who qualify for special accommodations for exams must provide notice directly to the instructor at least one week in advance and are responsible for scheduling their exams at the same time as the rest of the class.
Academic Dishonesty:
Don’t even consider it. Get help during office hours, ask for an extension, do anything but cheat. The time you would spend studying to take an exam honestly would be far less than you would spend trying to fight failing the class or being expelled from the university. As a student, it is in your best interest to try to prevent cheating and plagiarism. Please be attentive to such issues when you are taking exams for this class. For more information on the University’s Academic Integrity policy see the Undergraduate Catalog (http://undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/course/integrity.shtml).
Incomplete Grades:
As stated in the Undergraduate Catalog, a grade of incomplete (“I”) may be given to students who have not completed all of the assigned work in a course if 1) they have a passing average and 2) there exists a well-defined means by which the course requirements can be completed. That is, no Incompletes will be given to students with failing grades. The grade of “I” must be removed within a period of fifteen months. Students may not re-register for a course in which they have a grade of Incomplete. For more information, please see the Undergraduate Catalog or ask your instructor.
PSY 450 versus PSY 350:
PSY 450 was previously listed as PSY 350. Students who have taken PSY 350 and take this class will be considered repeating the course. They will not receive additional credits for this class. Standard university repeat policy will be applied and the second class grade will be the one calculated in students’ GPA.
CLASS SCHEDULE
(Please note that this schedule is subject to revision.)
Day Class DiscussionAssigned Reading
1/16Introduction to the CourseChapter 1
1/18Research Methods and Ethics in ResearchChapters 2 and 3
1/23Measures and MeasurementChapter 4
1/25Research Projects
1/30Reliability and Construct ValidityChapter 5
2/1Research ReportsAppendix A
Assignment #1 Due – Research Idea
2/6Survey and Observational ResearchChapters 6 and 7
2/8Research Topics
Assignment #2 Due – Journal Article
2/13Exam 1 (covers chapters 1 through 7 and Appendix A)
2/15Hypothesis Testing and Correlational ResearchChapters 8 and 9
Assignment #3 Due – Summary of Proposal Topic
2/20Experimental DesignsChapters 10 and 11
2/22Experimental Designs (cont.)
2/27Internal ValidityChapter 12
3/1External Validity and Quasi-Experimental DesignsChapters 13 and 14
3/6Research Projects – Groups
3/8Exam 2 (covers chapters 8 through 14)
3/13Spring RecessNo Class
3/15Spring RecessNo Class
3/20Research Projects – Groups
3/22Research Projects – Pilot Testing Bring Research Materials
3/27Statistical Analyses – Using SPSSResearch Proposal Due
3/29Pilot TestingBring Research Materials
4/3Data Collection
4/5Data Collection
4/10Data CollectionTake-home Exam Due
4/12Data Collection
4/17Statistical AnalysisBring Data
4/19Writing Research ReportsBring Results
4/24Reports and PresentationsBring All Research Materials
4/26Poster Presentation Session
5/1Final Research Report Due