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Santa Clara University

Department of Psychology

Psychology 40: Statistical Data Analysis

Winter 2010

Tuesday and Thursday: 9:55 AM – 11:40 AM, Arts & Sciences Building 128

Instructor: Katerina Bezrukova

E-mail: y

Office: Alumni Science 201

Office hours: By appointment

Course Description

This course is designed to provide you with an introduction to statistical methods in the behavioral and social sciences, both descriptive (organization and presentation of data) and inferential (drawing conclusions from data). Topics include graphical descriptive techniques and numerical descriptive statistics, sampling distributions, tests of hypotheses, t-tests, correlation and simple linear regression, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Use of SPSS is required, but prior experience with computerized data analysis is not expected. Major emphasis is given to practical applications in psychological research.

The objectives of this course are:

·  To gain some experience in using samples of data to make inferences about a population.

·  To learn some of the basic statistical techniques used to analyze data.

·  To get hands-on experience in computing with data.

Required Course Materials:

Spatz, C. (2008). Basic Statistics: Tales of Distribution (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning (with SPSS 16.0 software).

Additional Supplies:

Calculator

Student Responsibilities

My goal is to provide you with the best educational experience possible. However, it is up to you to take advantage of the instructional activities that are planned. Some of your responsibilities include:

- Attend all class and lab sessions

- Arrive on time

- Read all assignments on the schedule prior to class

-Allow sufficient time to prepare for class (12 to 18 hours per week outside of class)

Administration

Your grade will be based upon a maximum of 100 points, distributed as follows:

Homework/SPSS problems (40%)

Tests (2 x 15%)

Final Project (30%)

Homework

There will be approximately six homework assignments in this course. These assignments will count towards your final grade, and hence you each must submit your own homework solution.

Homework will be assigned at lectures, usually a week prior to its due date. All of the homework assignments will be graded, and solutions will be made available. Graded homework will usually be returned one week after the due date.

NO LATE HOMEWORK will be accepted. However, your lowest homework score will be dropped when calculating your final overall homework score.

Test

There will be two written midterms and a final project for this class. The only excuses for missing an exam are: a serious illness or a major family crisis. You must provide proof in the form of an official document. A note from a family member is not sufficient. To be clear -- To prove that you are seriously ill, you need to have a note from a physician documenting that you could not take the particular exam. A note from a physician saying that you were seen for a problem is NOT sufficient. Minor illness or problems are not acceptable to be excused from an exam. Colds, sinus problems, upset-stomach, slight fever and the like are not valid reason for missing an exam.

THERE ARE NO MAKEUP MIDTERM EXAMS. If you miss an exam and do not have an acceptable excuse as described above, you will receive a ZERO for that exam.

The exams will be closed book exams. You will need a calculator for all exams.

Grading/Re-grading Policies

·  Any dispute arising in grading of homeworks and exams should be submitted in writing. This letter should clearly state clearly the question(s) where you think there has been a grading error and what you think that error is. Simply asking for a "re-grade of question #2" is not sufficient. Requests that are incomplete or that do not clearly explain the problem will not be considered. Note that upon resubmission the entire exam or homework may be re-graded and not just the disputed question.

·  There is a one week time limit for submission of disputes for both exams and homeworks. The one week limit starts from the day the homeworks/exams have been returned in class. If you are not present in class when the exams/homeworks are returned, it is your responsibility to collect them.


Tentative Schedule of Lectures

Class / Book
January 5
#1 / Overview of course and introduction
January 7
#2 / Describing and Exploring Data: Central Tendency / “Basic Statistics,” chapters 1 - 2
January 12
#3 / Describing and Exploring Data: Variability
PROBLEM #1 DUE / “Basic Statistics,” chapters 3 - 4
January 14
#4 / Probability, Sampling Distributions & Hypothesis Testing
SPSS PROBLEM #2 DUE / “Basic Statistics,” chapters 6 - 7
January 19
#5 / The one-sample t test
GROUP CONTRACTS DUE / “Basic Statistics,” chapter 8
January 21
#6 / The two-sample t test: Independent samples designs
SPSS PROBLEM #3 DUE / “Basic Statistics,” chapter 9
January 26
#7 / The two-sample t test: Independent samples designs / “Basic Statistics,” chapter 9
January 28
#8 / No Class / Prepare for the test!
February 2
#9 / Test 1 / Prepare for the test!

February 4

#10 / The two-sample t test: Correlated samples designs / “Basic Statistics,” chapter 9

February 9

#11 / The two-sample t test: Correlated samples designs
SPSS PROBLEM #4 DUE / “Basic Statistics,” chapter 9

February 11

#12 / Analysis of Variance (ANOVA): One-way classification / “Basic Statistics,” chapter 10
February 16
#13 / Analysis of Variance (ANOVA): Factorial Design
SPSS PROBLEM #5 DUE / “Basic Statistics,” chapter 11
February 18
#14 / Analysis of Variance (ANOVA): Factorial Designs / “Basic Statistics,” chapter 11
February 23
#15 / No Class / Prepare for the test!
February 25
#16 / Test 2 / Prepare for the test!
March 2
#17 / Choosing tests and writing interpretations / “Basic Statistics,” chapter
March 4
#18 / Wrap-up and Review / Work on your final project
March 9
#19 / Final Project Presentations
March 11
#20 / Final Project Presentations
Final Project Paper due