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Welcome to Research in Psychology
This course reviews scientific method in Psychology. It is meant for Psychology majors or students with a clear interest in research. We will discuss how science "works", how scientific reasoning differs from religious or political thought, how politics or culture can bias science, and what we can and cannot learn from the different research strategies Psychologists use.
Students will understand the virtues - and problems - of measurement or correlational studies, "true" experiments, and the "quasi"-experiments (or field studies) often used in Psychology. Students will also be introduced to statistical reasoning in science, and to basic statistics.
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Overview
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The class is CRN 14661; it meets Monday / Wednesday, 9:00 am, Lecture Center C, room 6 .
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Lecture attendance is assumed: all course materials and the content of your exams will be provided in lecture.
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Course content is given primarily in Power Point slide sets I will use for lecture, accompanied by readings I provide on this web site, and the text. There are a good number of newspaper or other readings - many from the New York Times - the we will use to illustrate many of the basic research principles we will discuss. You are expected to read those carefully. Others are "bonus" articles that I provide for interested students.
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Your grade is determined by three exams (each worth 15% of your grade), discussion group attendance (15%), lecture attendance (10%), and a term paper worth 30% of your grade.
Text
Ray, W.J. (1999/2008). Methods: Toward a Science of Behavior and
Experience, 5th ed. or later, Belmont, CA. Wadsworth
. Buy any recent edition of the Ray book; they are all the same. Look
on Amazon.com, e-Bay (half.com takes
you directly to eBay textbooks), or other used bookstores for cheap copies. UIC
bookstore may have used copies. On Amazon or e-Bay use the advanced
search and enter “Ray” as author and “Methods” as
the title, or simply “Methods, toward a science of behavior” in
the search window.
If you cannot find a used copy of the Ray book you can always get a new one (they are expensive!) or get any comprehensive-looking text covering research methods in Psychology. To use another text, see what chapters I have assigned from Ray (in your weekly web page), look up the topics they cover here, and read those chapters in whatever book you bought.
New this semester: we will be using the i>clicker system for you to respond to questions and interact with the lectures during class. These are little hand-held classroom response devices that are available new or used in the bookstore, or used from Amazon (used ones cost about the same as new, so it probably is not worth it to order used on-line unless you find a real deal). I will be posting registration instructions in the first week of January. You cannot share one of these - each student must have his/her own. You should bring these to class every lecture.
Lectures, Class notes and updates
Students are required to use the WEB and an e-mail
account. Readings,
lecture notes, and discussion group assignments are available in the "Weekly
notes & assignments " link above. I post class updates on the web, so check this site regularly. Lecture attendance will be tracked by your responses to lecture questions on i>clicker devices; lecture attendance will be worth 10% of your grade. The i>clicker responses to lecture quesions will also help you track course material.
All your grades will be posted on the course Blackboard site, as will your "track record" for responding to lecture questions.
Exams
There are three exams, each covering about 1/3 of
the course, each worth 15% of your grade. Exams are cumulative, but most questions will address material
covered since the last exam, with an emphasis on lectures and discussion
groups. Most exam items are short answer or "fill in the blank," not multiple
choice. There are NO make up exams.
What will be on the exams? All exam material is covered in the lectures. I provide Power Point lecture notes each week that, combined with my actual lectures, present all the exam content. Attend lectures! During each lecture I announce specific topics that will show up on the exam; to know how to study attend lectures (and ask questions!), then use your annotated Power Point notes to study. I do not provide detailed study guides: all the information you need is in lecture. Examples of exam items are posted Here. Each exam focuses on the material we have covered in that section of the course.
Term paper
The term paper consists of a short research project,
due in your discussion group during the 14th week of the term. All papers
must be typed in a computer text editor (we prefer Microsoft Word), formatted
in American Psychological Association style. The paper is worth 30% of
your grade. Many
discussion groups will be devoted to the development of this paper.
Complete instructions for the paper are given in the paper
assignment pages. Use these web pages to write your paper, and for links to other paper resources.
If you want comments on your paper submit
it with a self addressed envelope (stamps are not necessary). Give a
first draft to your TA for feedback if you want to maximize your points!
Office Hours & Communication
My office hours (1058b BSB) are Monday and Wednesday,
from 10:00 to 12:00, or by appointment. Please e-mail me with questions, comments, or to make appointments. I am happy to hear from
students on any & all
issues related to the course. Names, e-mails, and office hours for Teaching Assistants
are given below. Feel
free to e-mail your TA for an appointment any time, or just show up during
office hours. TAs for the course are:
- Shanika Blanton shanikab@gmail.com, office hours - Friday 12:00 - 1:00, BSB 1061
- Sarah Beehler sbeehl1@uic.edu; office hours - Friday 11:00 - 12:00, BSB 1080.
- Steve Lang slang6@uic.edu, office hours - Tuesday 11:00 - 12:00, UH cafe
Discussion groups
Attendance and completion of discussion group assignments
are mandatory. Your research paper will be developed in these groups. Discussion
group assignments and attendance will be worth 15% of your final grade
(1 point per week). Discussion group assignments are given in links
in the class schedule, for the week they are due. Part
of your discussion points are awarded for attendance in the group, part
based on the quality of your homework. Do not submit homework
assignments by e-mail: they must be handed in during discussion group
itself.
Call
# |
Day & Time |
Room |
Teaching Assistant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14651 | Friday, 10:00
|
310 Addams Hall | Sarah Beehler |
| 14652 | Friday,
11:00
|
2435 Education, Performing Arts & Social Work | Steve Lang |
| 14653 | Friday, 12:00
|
2419 EPASW | Steve Lang |
| 14654 | Friday, 1:00
|
217 Douglas Hall | Shanika Blanton |
| 14658 | Friday, 2:00
|
104 Stevenson Hall | Shanika Blanton |
Academic Honesty:
The great majority of students are honest, and
I rarely have to take action on cheating in this class. However, in fairness to other students
note that I will not tolerate cheating. If you cheat on any test
or assignment you will receive at best a '0' on that assignment / test, and may fail the entire class. If
I feel it appropriate I will notify the Dean of Students, who will place
a notice about the incident in your permanent record. There are no exceptions
to this policy.
Cheating includes, but is not limited to, looking on others' tests or letting them look on yours during a test, copying or giving others test answers, and plagiarism. Plagiarism includes copying the words of a fellow student or any other author in your papers, copying even short phrases from written work that you are using as a reference (even if you cite it properly), handing in work that you have handed in for another class, or handing in papers you've gotten from the internet or from other students.
If you have any concerns about this policy or about cheating in the class, please contact me directly to discuss it.
New: The Psychology Channel web site - psychology-related videos, blogs, search engine, interesting stuff here.
