Week |
Date |
General topic |
Discussion group |
1/12/09 |
Basic assumptions of the scientific method. |
Politics & science: evolution v. creationism. |
|
1/19/09 |
General methods & theory in science. |
The role of science in society: What does science "do", "Neuro-law". |
|
1/26/09 |
Developing hypotheses, basic research designs. |
Identifying theories, hypotheses, & methods in a research article. |
|
2/2/09 |
Ethics in research. |
Ethics and bias in research. |
|
2/9/09 |
Experimental design, the research context. |
Meet in 2057 BSB. Main topic of your research paper due this week. |
|
Exam # 1 Wednesday,
2/11/09.
| |||
2/16/09 |
Finish experimental control, Sampling |
Exam overview. Analyze the key design features of a published study. |
|
2/23/09 |
Quasi-experimental and evaluation designs. |
Measurement v. experimental studies as they apply to your paper topics. |
|
3/2/09 |
Descriptive research; Quantitative & qualitative studies. |
Introduction & design of your paper due this week. |
|
3/9/09 |
Surveys & questionnaires, general sampling issues. |
Design a survey. |
|
3/16/09 |
Finish Surveys, begin basic statistics. |
Methods section for your paper due this week. |
|
Exam # 2, Wednesday,
3/18/09 |
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Spring break, week of 3/23 |
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3/30/09 |
Basic statistics; variance and distributions. |
Exam overview, basic frequency distributions |
|
4/6/09 |
Inferential statistics: t-tests, correlations, Chi square |
The logic of the t-test, calculate a t-test by hand, initial paper results. |
|
4/13/09 |
Multiple independent variables, factorial designs, interactions. |
Correlations: Statistics & results for your paper due this week. |
|
4/20/09 |
Multivariate and within-subjects designs. |
Science in the public domain: “Relative risk” statistics. |
|
| Papers due in discussion group, Week 14 |
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4/27/09 |
Finish multivariate designs, within-subject designs, final course overview. |
Course evaluation during discussion group, review for final exam. |
|
Exam #3, Tuesday, 10:30-12:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 5. |
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