Description:

This course is designed to provide students with a thorough grounding in various methods of research and in statistical techniques relevant to psychology. The aim is to develop students' understanding of the processes involved in scientific research and to give them the skills to be able to design and implement studies of their own. Topics to be discussed include researching an idea, the translation of ideas to testable hypotheses, different methods for testing those hypotheses, ethical and ecological issues in research, statistical methods for analyzing data (very little math knowledge required), and writing in APA approved format.

Texts:

Required:

Ray, W. Methods toward a science of behavior and experience. (5th ed.) 1997

Spatz, C. Basic statistics: Tales of distributions. (6th ed.) 1997

Grading and Requirements:

Exams: 3

Exam 1: short answer, statistics problems - 12.5%

Exam 2: short answer, statistics problems, essay - 12.5%

Final: 25%

Research Projects: 2

Paper 1: 12-14pp. - 15%

Paper 2: 12-14pp. - 25%

Homework - 10%

Prerequisites:

Psychology 301 with a grade of C or better, Mathematics 302 or higher-level mathematics course with a C or better, and a major in psychology.

Updated 24 February 1998
Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts
University of Texas at Austin

Some graphics courtesy of Ann Pommerehn