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Muhlenberg College
Psychological Statistics (PSY-103)
Fall 2007
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Instructor: Learning Assistant: |
Mark J. Sciutto, Ph.D. Justin Laplante (jl234076@muhlenberg.edu) |
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Class Meetings: |
Section 01: T - R
9:30 - 10:45 p.m., Moyer 309 Section 02: T - R
2:00 - 3:15 p.m., Moyer 309 |
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Office Hours |
TR 11:00-12:00, WF 1:00-2:00, or by appointment. |
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Required Texts: |
Jaccard, J., & Becker,
M. A. (2002). Statistics for the
Behavioral Sciences (4th edition). Textbook Companion
Website: http://www.wadsworth.com/psychology_d/
and click on Statistics books. Direct link available via electronic version
of the syllabus. |
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Recommended Texts: |
American Psychological
Association (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (5th ed.). (2 copies are available in
the Library) Strongly recommended for
students pursuing graduate study in psychology. |
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Course
News, Documents etc. |
Blackboard.com
(http://blackboard2.muhlenberg.edu/). This link is also available from the MuhlNet
Start Page. |
Course Objectives:
· To develop an understanding of the key principles of descriptive and inferential statistical analyses as applied to psychological research.
· To cultivate the fundamental skills used by researchers in psychology, including the following: critical analysis of methodological and statistical arguments, use of computer technology to facilitate the research process, written and oral presentation of research findings, and collaboration with peers.
· To enhance interest in research and to foster an appreciation of the potential applications of statistics to your own experiences.
The final course grade will be determined as follows:
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Exam 1 |
15% |
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Exam 2 |
15% |
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Final Exam/Portfolio |
30% |
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Quizzes: |
10% |
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Problem Sets |
20% |
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Putting it Together Assignments |
10% |
Description of Course Requirements
In-Class Examinations: (30%) Two in-class examinations will be
administered. The exam format will include multiple choice, true/false, short
answer and application problems. If you have a conflict with any exam, you must
notify me at least 24 hours in advance. If an exam is missed, and I am not
notified ahead of time, you will receive a zero for that exam. Make-up exams
will only be given for the following reasons, (1) sickness—you
must bring me documentation verifying your illness, (2) a family
emergency/crisis/death—must be verified by the Dean of Students. If an
exam is missed for reasons other than those listed above and I am not notified
ahead of time, you will receive a zero for that exam. You must take the final exam during the
designated final period. If you have to miss the final, you will
receive an “Incomplete” for the class. You are then subjected to College procedures
regarding an incomplete grade (see student handbook).
Final Exam/Portfolio(30%): Throughout the course, you will be compiling a portfolio that reflects your personalized approach to understanding the major topics of this class. This portfolio will ideally be a concise reference source for your future experiences in psychology and research. The final examination will be cumulative and you will be able to use only your portfolio to complete the exam. The grade for this component of the class will be a weighted average of your score on the final exam (90%) and scores on various "checks" on your portfolio during the semester (10%). Click here for specific guidelines for the construction of the portfolio. The portfolio should be brought to every class. It is also extremely important that you back up your portfolio frequently and in multiple places. Computer glitches (and there will be some for sure) are not a valid excuse for failing to complete the portfolio.
Quizzes (10%): At the end of each class period, several short study questions pertaining to the topics just covered will be posted on the course website. At the beginning of the subsequent class, a brief quiz on those topics may be given. The content of these quizzes will correspond closely to the study questions from the previous class. Whether or not a quiz will be given on any given class will be determined randomly at the beginning of each class.
Problem Sets (20%): Near the beginning of the semester, we will collect data as a class on a common topic. We will use the data gathered from this study for 2 of the 3 problem set assignments. In these assignments, you will need to apply specific concepts from class to the analysis of meaningful research questions. Specifically, for each problem set, you will choose appropriate statistical analyses, use SPSS to conduct those analyses, and write up (in APA format) the results of those analyses. Guidelines for these assignments will be distributed in the first few weeks of the semester. It is important for you to note that these assignments are individual – not group- assignments. This means that you are to work on the problem set by yourself – not with your friends or roommate. More specifically, you SHOULD NOT use another person’s data set, printout or paper. And you SHOULD NOT work on any part of the SPSS analyses or final paper with another person. Any violation of this restriction will be considered a violation of the Academic Behavior Code and will result in an automatic failure for the assignment.
If you have problems with your computer program, you should immediately seek help from me or the learning assistant (Justin Laplante) during his weekly workshops. If you have trouble writing the paper, please see me or a tutor in the writing center. NOTE: If you have a tutor for this class, he or she is NOT supposed to help you with the problem sets.
Putting It Together Assignments (10%): One of the classic pitfalls of learning statistics is that students often think they understand a topic when presented in class and in the text, but struggle when they see the same problems in a new context (e.g., when given a specific hypothesis to test in another class). To complicate this, practice problems in textbooks tend to provide practice only for the topic in each chapter with little connection to previous chapters. To address this issue, throughout the semester, there will be a series of brief practice assignments designed to help you pull together the various topics we cover throughout the semester. Ideally, these assignments will help you transfer what you have learned to new contexts (and better prepare you for the final exam!).
Attendance: Although attendance is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged. Attendance records will be used in determining borderline courses grades (e.g., Johnny has a 92.95 average and has only missed one class--he gets an A; Jimmy also has a 92.95 average and he has missed 10 classes--he gets an A-). A word of caution: In the past, students who have missed multiple classes have not done very well. Your presence and active participation are essential to learning in this course.
Late Assignments: Late assignments
will be penalized 5% per day late (including weekend days).
Academic Integrity: You are expected to conduct yourself in accordance with the Academic Behavior Code of Muhlenberg College (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/mgt/provost/academic/abc.html). Honesty is an essential aspect of academic integrity. Individual students are responsible for doing their own work and for not taking credit for the effort and ideas of others. This includes plagiarism, cheating and not contributing to group projects. This obligation is based on mutual trust and is essential to meeting the goals of this course. Academic dishonesty of any type on exams, quizzes or other graded work will not be tolerated.
Some important points about academic integrity:
- Unless collaboration is explicitly permitted, you should assume that every course assignment or assessment (i.e., exams) is to be completed individually. This means that you are to work on course assignments by yourself – not with your friend or roommate. Any violation of this restriction will be considered a violation of the Academic Behavior Code and will result in an automatic failure for the assignment. If you are struggling with an assignment, you should consult with me during office hours
- You are responsible for keeping drafts, references/sources, disk copies, and backup copies of all of your written assignments, to turn in upon my request until final grades are completed.
- You should begin your work early. An unforeseen event arising the night before a paper is due is not a legitimate reason for a paper extension. When submitting assignments electronically, you should request confirmation that your assignment has been received or you should save some form of confirmation that your e-mail was sent (each e-mail program differs in how to do this).
- You are responsible for taking precautions that your work (especially written work that paraphrases another written source). If I determine that you have copied all or part of an exam or paper from another source (including another student, a web page, a textbook, or other published source), you will receive a failing grade in this course. If your written work includes material that is paraphrased unacceptably from the original source, I will ask you to re-submit the written work and I will lower the assignment grade by 10%.
- On all work submitted for a grade, you must write and sign the following pledge: “I pledge that I have complied with the Academic Behavior Code in this work.”
Students with Disabilities. Students with disabilities who may need
disability-related accommodations are encouraged to make an appointment to see
me as soon as possible. If you have a documented
condition, such as a physical or sensory disability, that will make it
difficult for you to complete the work as outlined or that will require
additional time on examinations, then it is your responsibility to see me during
the first two weeks of class so that we can make appropriate
arrangements. I will not indulge any
requests that come to my attention for the first time the day before an
exam.
Important Note
about Information Technology:
In this course, you will be required to make extensive use of the
information technology available at Muhlenberg. You will be using a software
program called Blackboard © to exchange documents electronically, communicate
outside of class, and stay updated on class events. Students who are less comfortable with
information technology should schedule an appointment with me so that I can
help orient you to the various tools we will be using.
Being Successful in this Course
If you are like most students, you will find this to be a very challenging
course. The material can be difficult and the workload is typically more than
in other classes you have taken. However, success in this course is very much
within your control. My advice to you is to put forth a consistent and
appropriate effort and never hesitate to ask questions. Perhaps it is better to
let you hear this from your predecessors. Read advice from previous classes.
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Date |
Topic |
Links |
Readings |
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8/28(Tu) |
Class Introduction; the research process in psychology
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8/30 (Th) |
Statistical Preliminaries |
J & B, Chpt. 1 |
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9/4 (Tu) |
Introduction to SPSS |
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9/6 (Th) |
Measurement: Reliability and Validity |
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J & B, Chpt. 1 (cont.) |
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9/11 (Tu) |
Descriptive Analyses: Frequency Distributions and Graphing |
J & B, Chpt. 2 |
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9/13 (Th) |
Descriptive Analyses (cont.); Introduction to Problem Sets |
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9/18 (Tu) |
Descriptive Analyses: Measures of Central Tendency
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(Estimating Central Tendency from Histograms) |
J & B, Chpt. 3 |
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9/20 (Th) |
Descriptive Analyses: Measures of Variability
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J & B, Chpt. 3 (cont.) |
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9/25 (Tu) |
Percentiles, Percentile Ranks, Standard Scores and the Normal Distribution
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J & B, Chpt. 4 |
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9/27 (Th) |
Standard Scores and the Normal Distribution (cont.); Correlation and Regression: Descriptive Uses
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J & B, Chpt. 5 |
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10/2 (Tu) |
Correlation and Regression: Descriptive Uses (cont.) |
(Range Restriction Applet)
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J & B, Chpt. 5 (cont.) |
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10/4 (Th) |
Exam #1 |
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10/9 (Tu) |
Introduction to Statistical Inference & Hypothesis Testing |
(Central Limit Theorem Demonstration)
(Central Limit Theorem Demo #2) (Sampling
Distribution Applet #1) |
J & B, Chpt. 7 |
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10/11 (Tu) |
Statistical Inference & Hypothesis Testing (cont.) (Problem Set # 1 due)
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J & B, Chpt. 8 |
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10/13 – 10/16 |
Fall Break |
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10/18 (Th) |
Hypothesis testing about a single mean; Issues in Hypothesis Testing: Errors, Power, Effect Size, Statistical vs. Practical Significance, Directional Tests
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J & B, Chpt. 8 (cont.) |
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10/23 (Tu) |
Analysis of Bivariate Relationships: Research Design Issues
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J & B, Chpt. 9 |
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10/25 (Th) |
Hypothesis Testing and Designs Comparing 2 Independent Means
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J & B, Chpt. 10 |
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10/30 (Tu) |
Hypothesis Testing and Designs Comparing 2 Dependent Means
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J & B, Chpt. 11 |
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11/1 (Th) |
Hypothesis Testing and Designs Comparing 2 Dependent Means (cont.) |
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J & B, Chpt. 11(cont.) |
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11/6 (Tu) |
Exam #2 |
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11/8 (Th) |
One-Way ANOVA |
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J & B, Chpt. 12 |
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11/13 (Tu) |
One-Way ANOVA |
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J & B, Chpt. 12 (cont.) |
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11/15 (Th) |
One-Way ANOVA;
Overview of Repeated Measures ANOVA |
J & B, Chpt. 12 (cont.) |
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11/20 (Tu) |
Factorial ANOVA |
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J & B, Chpt. 17
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11/27 (Tu) |
Factorial ANOVA |
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J & B, Chpt. 17 (cont.) |
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11/29 (Th) |
Factorial ANOVA; Correlation and Regression : Inferential Uses |
J & B, Chpt. 17 (cont.); J & B, Chpt. 14 |
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12/4 (Tu) |
Correlation and Regression : Inferential Uses |
J & B, Chpt. 14 (cont.) |
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12/6 (Th) |
Non-Parametric Statistics: Chi-Square (Problem Set #3 due) |
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J & B, Chpt. 15 |
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12/10 – 12/14 |
Final Exam TBD |
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