PSY 211 Research Methodology for Behavioral Sciences Section 001a M/W 9:30 – 10:45 am Fall 2016

Instructor: Dr. Amy E. Coren Email address: [email protected] (BEST way to contact me) Phone: 703.845.6242 Office Location: Bisdorf A 427 Office Hours: M-W 12:30pm – 2:00pm and by appointment

Text: We will be using the following text:

Morling, B. (2015) Research Methods in Psychology (2nd ed.) New York: Norton Publishers.

The textbook access can be purchased at the NOVA bookstore, ordered directly through Norton Publishers, or found on Amazon.com

Course Description and Objectives: This course is designed to introduce you to various research procedures used in the social sciences, with an emphasis on their application in Psychology.

During this course, we ask questions such as: - What is empirical reasoning and how can we apply it to research? - Why is research important? How do we find the best sources of information for our research? - How are major research projects designed, developed, and delivered? - What role can the principles of research methods play in everyday life?

We will also develop skills in reading about research findings, thinking critically, presenting research ideas orally, and writing reports in APA style.

By the end of the course, you should be able to: - Identify the major types of methods used in social science research - Explain both the value and limitation of survey research - Explain what it means to reason empirically - Apply material from this course to become a more critical consumer of information

Course Format: The course will be a combination of lecture and working together in small groups. I will post the lecture slides before the beginning of each class. Students often find it useful to print the slides out to make notes as we discuss each slide. You are expected to have read the assigned reading materials before each class period.

We will also engage in class discussions and watch short videos in an effort to solidify understanding of the concepts covered. We will use material covered in your textbook to jumpstart our class discussions.

Course Requirements & Assignment Descriptions: You are expected to have read the assigned reading materials before each class period. All grades will be posted on Blackboard in Grade Center.

Your grade will be based on: 2 exams, a popular press assignment, and a research project & presentation.

Your course grade will be determined by the following assignments and according to the following scale: Assignment Points 2 exams @ 100 pts each 200 Popular Press Assign. 200 Research Project 500 Project Presentation 100 Total 1000 Grade Points Percent A 900-1000 90-100 B 800-899 80-89 C 700-799 70-79 D 600-699 60-69 F 0-599 0-59

Exams (2 total, 100 points each)

You will have 2 exams, each worth 100 points. They will cover the assigned reading materials and lectures. The tests will be a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions. For the multiple choice section, please bring a scantron and a No. 2 pencil.

Please note that make-up exams will NOT be given, except for medical emergencies (doctor’s note required). Make- up exams for medical emergencies must be taken at the testing center within 1 week of the date of the original exam.

Research Project & Presentation (600 points) Over the course of this class, you will design and carry out a small research project, the results of which your group will present to the class. Please see the detailed project guide located in ASSIGNMENTS RESEARCH PROJECT on BB for more information.

Popular Press Assignment (200 points)

For this assignment, your group will find and analyze an example of popular press coverage of psychological research. Your assignment is to intelligently critique the claim of the popular press coverage by using a psychology research article. Your overall goal is to use your research methods skills to answer this larger question: Is this popular source’s claim an accurate representation of the original article, or is it misleading to people?

For more detailed information on the Popular Press Assignment, please see the detailed instructions in ASSIGNMENTS POPULAR PRESS ASSIGNMENT on BB.

Extra Credit After each chapter, you will have the opportunity to take a short quiz (10 questions) on the material in the chapter. These quizzes are open-book, open-note and can be taken as many times as you like - BUT, due to time out issues, they must be completed within 60 minutes. These quizzes are worth 5 points each.

Your accumulated extra credit quiz points will be added to your overall points for the course.

Attendance and Participation Your success in this class depends on your own behavior. Psychology is a reading-intensive discipline. It is your responsibility to keep up with readings, assignments, test dates, etc. The best way to do this is to attend class attend every class and be on time. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to get class notes from a classmate. If you are frequently absent, this may impact your grade. I encourage all students to participate and will reward you for doing so. There will be many opportunities to voice your opinions and ask questions!

Cheating & Plagiarism: Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class. Cheating includes dishonesty of any kind on tests or assignments. Plagiarism includes the failure to give credit to another’s work. Giving and/or receiving unauthorized help on tests or assignments are both considered cheating. NOVA and I regard these as serious offenses. The minimum sanction for such behavior is an F on the assignment; the maximum sanction is dismissal from college. You may read the full policy on academic dishonesty in the Student Handbook.

Academic and writing help: For free, personalized, tutoring or writing help, call or visit the Academic Center for Excellence in room 229 (703-845- 6363).

Special needs and accommodations: Please speak with the professor about any special problems or needs at the beginning of the course. If you are seeking accommodations based on a disability, you must provide a disability data sheet, which can be obtained from the counselor for special needs (Bisdorf 185, 703-845-6208).

Schedule of readings & homework assignments This schedule may change and I will notify you of any changes in advance. You are expected to have read the assigned reading materials before each class period, so that you can participate in the class discussions. In the Assigned Reading section, Morling refers to your textbook

Emergency Preparedness Please refer to your syllabus on BLACKBOARD for more information. Materials concerning emergency preparedness are located in the SYLLABUS tab  Emergency Preparedness Resources.

Schedule of readings and assignments on next page. This schedule is open to revision. I will provide a new schedule if this one changes.

ADDITIONAL D DATE D WEEK TOPIC ASSIGNED READINGS ASSIGNMENTS Course introduction; Morling Chapter 1 08/22 - 08/28 1 Psychology Is a Way of Thinking Finding the best information; Morling Chapter 2 08/29-09/04 2 Library sources

MODNAY – LABOR DAY Morling Chapter 3 NO CLASS; 09/05-09/11 3 Interrogation Tools for Consumer Research Morling Chapter 3 Popular Press 09/12-09/18 4 Validities Assignment due Wends. 9/14 Identifying good measurement; Morling Chapter 5/6 09/19-09/25 5 Intro to survey research, design Morling Chapter 6 09/26-10/02 6 Observational research Morling Chapter 7 Research Project Part 1 10/03-10/09 7 Sampling, coding, etc. due Wends. 10/5

REVIEW FOR MIDTERM; REVIEW FOR MIDTERM Work on research 10/10-10/16 8 MIDTERM – Wends. 10/12 projects, popular press assignments Morling Chapter 4 Research Project Part 2 10/17-10/23 9 Ethics in Research due Mon. 10/17

10/24-10/30 10 Correlational Research I Morling Chapter 8

Research Project Part 3 10/31-11/06 11 Correlational Research II Morling Chapter 9 due Weds. 11/09

11/07-11/13 12 Intro to simple experiments Morling Chapter 10

11/14-11/20 13 Confounding/obscuring Morling Chapter 11 variables

11/21-11/27 14 Thanksgiving week – NO CLASS Work on Research Project

Quasi-Experiments & Small-N designs Morling Chapter 13 Research Project Part 4 11/28-12/04 15 Morling Chapter 14 due Weds. 12/02 Replicability & the real world Presentations MON. & Research Project Part 5 12/05-12/11 16 WEDS. REVIEW FOR FINAL – FINAL PAPER due 12/07 FINALS PERIOD PSY 211 Final – DEC. 12th 9:30-11:10AM