A. GOALS

The basic goal of this course will be for you to learn about psychological research. As a result of taking the course, you will be better able to evaluate and communicate the results of research. It is a methods course, rather than a content course. The idea is to learn the skills and techniques used in research, rather than a specific content area.

The ability to perform research is important to science, as well as other areas, such as business and law. Thus, research skills will be useful to all students, including those who do not intend to pursue a career in psychology. The following is a summary of the major goals of this course:

• To understand the need for research.
• To be able to use the library for research.
• To perform research.
• To be able to critique research claims.
• To understand the role of statistics in research.
• To use a computer as a research tool (for statistical analyses and data manipulation).
• To communicate research results in writing using the format of the American Psychological Association (APA).
• To communicate research results verbally in the form of a presentation.
• To learn about some research problems that are unique to the field of psychology.

B. BOOKS & SUPPLIES

We will use the following textbook (available from the college bookstore): Bordens, K. S., & Abott, B. B. (1996). Research Design and Methods: A Process Approach (4-th Edition). CA: Mayfield Publishing Co. In addition to the required text, there are/will be books on reserve (e.g., the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Statistics Books) that you may wish to consult. You may also wish to purchase a book on the Minitab Statistical Program available on campus. Lastly, you will need a couple of floppy and/or Zip discs for work we do on the computer.

C. ATTENDANCE

While I do not formally take attendance, it is unlikely that you will do well in the course if your attendance is poor. This is due to the difficulty and cumulative nature of the material as well as the fact that the exams include some material only presented in the lectures. If you miss a class, it will be to your benefit to find out what occurred during that class from a classmate.

While cell phones have become popular and useful tools, I have found them to be extremely disruptive to the class. Thus, if you bring such devices to class, please disable any sounds they make.

It is expected that you check your university email account several times per week since this is a convenient way for me to communicate with the class. I will let you know when grades are posted and make other announcements via this medium (e.g., if I need to cancel a class, I will send an email early that morning).

D. EXAMS

There will be two exams; a midterm and a final. Each will constitute 25% of your grade. The format of the exams may vary, including multiple choice, short answer, essay questions, etc. The final exam will be cumulative. On the exams you will be responsible for both the assigned readings and the lecture material. I should also note that you must print on the exams rather than writing in script. The results of the exams will be posted (assuming you have entered an appropriate code in the Background Information Survey) on the Internet a few days after each of the exams.

E. GRADING POLICY

The exams make up 50% of the grade and the projects make up the other 50%. Also, class participation and/or improvement in performance over the semester may help you. I will give you an estimated of your grade in the course just after the midterm. Finally, any cheating or plagiarism will be dealt with harshly.

F. OFFICE HOURS

My office is located in Science B-341. I hold regular office hours or you can arrange to see me by appointment. You can reach me at 346-3961 (and please leave a message if I'm not available) or through electronic mail at mplonsky@uwsp.edu. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Also, if you wish to send a comment or question to the whole class, the address is PSYC389.3_200320@uwsp.edu
 

1. The reason some days do not have a topic is because of laboratory time, computer training sessions, and the fact that many of the topics will take more than one lecture.
2. We will not always cover topics in the order listed, however, the readings are listed in the order they should be read.
3. Most of the readings are listed for the early part of the semester, since you will be busy writing papers, etc. toward the end.
4. Those students who don't take the readings seriously do not do as well as they would like to in the course.
5. I would like to emphasize that this schedule is tentative.

• PSY110 S'88 student data (INTS88Da.xls)
• PSY389 & PSY400 student data (AEXData.xls)
• DrugSurv.mpj
• SJS Data for Project #3