Research Methods
Fall 2005

This page is designed to provide information related to Dr. Mitchell's Research Methods course. Please check this page often, as it might be updated frequently.

You can contact Dr. Mitchell using the following e-mail address:

mitchell@clarion.edu

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• Information (instructor, books, grading, etc.)
• Class Meetings (day-by-day descriptions)
  
• Assignments
• Course Calendar
  

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Projects, Exams, Quizzes, and Exercises

General Information

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Instructor

Dr. Mitchell is the proud father of Moriah Mae Mitchell.

Phone: 393-2389

E-mail address: mitchell@clarion.edu
Office: 217 Harvey Hall

Office hours: Monday 1:00-3:00; Wednesday 1:00-3:00; Friday 1:00-2:00; and by appointment.

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In addition to these objective items, your grade will be based on my evaluation of two projects: the field experiment, and the research proposal --100 points each), and your performance on lab and class assignments (70 points).

Approximate cut-offs for each grade are

90-100% A

80-89% B

70-79% C

60-69% D

0- 59% E

The course requires at least as much work as a four-credit course (remember, this is a four-credit course, not a three-credit course). The workload is heavy, but you are often allowed to correct your mistakes.

Note that each time you miss lab or fail to complete an assignment, you will be docked one letter grade.

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The Field Experiment Project

The Research Proposal

Along the way, there will be additional, smaller projects (library search tasks, APA style assignments, etc.) that should help you in accomplishing these larger projects.

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1. To show that you know APA style.
   Knowing APA style is a goal of this course and will be important for your next two write-ups (the scale project and the research proposal). You will also be expected to write papers in APA style for other psychology courses at Clarion. Even if you do not go on to graduate school, the ability to write a report that looks professional and does not waste words (two hallmarks of APA style) should serve you well.
2. To develop a better understanding of how articles are organized.
   Once you understand what should be included in each section of the paper, you should have an easier time understanding articles that you read.
3. To show that you can apply some of the knowledge from Chapter 9 to this study.
   So please, do not confuse an independent variable for a dependent variable, random assignment with random sampling (if you're not sure about the distinction, try this tutorial), control group with experimental group, or the value of "t" with the "p" level. Finally, do not misinterpret null results (review Table 9-2).

   Length: It should be about 4 pages long, although a paper with a perfect score could be as short as 3 pages or as long as 6 pages. Most papers will be 5 to 6 pages long.
   

   Helpful Hints:

   1. You will be graded primarily on conforming to APA style. Therefore, you should consult the Chapter 14 tutorial. In addition, I would suggest looking at the sample paper (Appendix C), as well as reading Chapter 14 (at the very least, use the checklist at the end of Chapter 14).
   2. The instructions the protocol team had you copy down may be useful in writing the method section. Also, in writing the procedure section, discuss what happened to participants. Do not talk about procedures you followed ("as a group, we calculated a mean") that have nothing to do with what participants experienced. After reading the procedure section, the reader should know how the participants were treated.

   Due Date: The write-up is due November 1.
   
   
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   Research Proposal

   For this project, you will NOT conduct a study. Instead, you will write a proposal. Ideally, this proposal is for work you might carry out next semester with a faculty adviser--but that is up to you and the faculty member.
   The proposal mustbe for a study that uses a factorial design (see chapter 8) and at least one of your factors must be a "true" independent variable. More specifically, you must randomly assign individuals to different levels of that variable.
   In addition, you must hypothesize an interaction. Put another way, one of the variables in your design should be a moderator variable (see Chapter 2). Put yet another way, you will have at three hypotheses to discuss (one for each main effect and one for the interaction).
   You are strongly encouraged to meet with me individually to discuss your research idea.
   Your introduction should begin with a justificiation of why your research is important (see Chapter 14). For example, you are encouraged to explain how your research expands on previous research. Do not forget to cite relevant research and to cite studies that back up the claims you make. The introduction must end with your predictions for the main effects and the interaction, a justification for each of your predictions, and a reference to a graph that pictures your predicted effects.
   Your results section should simply describe how you plan to analyze your data. That is, how you will get a score for each participant and what statistical test you will use to analyze your data. Often, this section will only be two sentences long.
   The discussion should start "If the results are as predicted," and then go on to review your predictions for the two main effects and the interaction. The latter part of the introduction should emphasize future research that could be done and implications of the research.
   Proposals that strictly adhere to APA format (see checklist in Chapter 14), seem to be well thought out, and make a convincing case for the value of doing the research will get high grades.
   The paper must contain abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, and reference sections, as well as a title page.
   Length: The paper should be between 7-10 pages long. The introduction should be at least one and half pages long and the discussion should be at least a page long.
   Due Date: The proposal is due by the beginning of class on December 8.
   
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   Exams

   
   Exams will be primarily multiple-choice, although there may be some short answer items. They will cover both text and lecture.
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   Quizzes

   
   Quizzes will be worth 10 points each. Most items will be multiple-choice. If you do poorly on a quiz, you will usually be allowed to take a make-up quiz. You will receive the higher of your two scores.
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   Exercises

   
   Exercises are designed to encourage active participation. For some of these exercises, you will be given the full number of points provided that you are present and appear to be trying. In other cases,you will be graded on the quality of your work. Some exercises may involve group work. Exercises might include presenting a research hypothesis to the class, reporting on an article, participating in a debate, and writing a lab report.
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   Scheduled Sessions

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   Scheduled Session 1: August 30

   Plan for the Session

   • Review syllabus
   • Discuss course goals and value of the course
   • Exercise: Scope and limits of science
   • Exercise: Inferences, objectivity, and science.
   • Introduce concept of construct validity
   • Learn about scripts
   • Develop a research methods script

   Assignments Due This Session

   • None

   Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 1

   
   
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   Scheduled Session 2: September 1

   Plan for the Session

   • We will discuss the relevance of science to psychology. More specifically, we will discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges of applying the scientific method to behavior.

   Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 1

   
   
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   Scheduled Session 3: September 6

   Plan for the Session

   • We will examine the implications of research for clinical practice and the conflicts between the two approaches.

   Assignments Due This Session

   • Review Chapter 1.

   Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 1

   
   
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   Scheduled Session 4: September 8

   Plan for the Session

   • Take Quiz 1A
   • Review Quiz 1A
   • Presentation: Scientific vs. Everyday reasoning
   • Presentation: Ethics and research

   Assignments Due This Session

   • Chapter 1 Exercises: 5, 7,and 10

   Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 1

   
   
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   Scheduled Session 5: September 13

   Plan for the Session

   • Take Quiz 1B
   • Presentation: Generating and refining hypotheses

   Assignments Due This Session

   • Read Chapter 2

   Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 2

   
   

Plan for the Session

• Small group discussion of ideas
• Presentation of research hypotheses

Assignments Due This Session

• Turn in a typed, research hypothesis. Your hypothesis must include a moderator variable. If you are not pleased with your hypothesis, submit 3 hypotheses. In other words, quantity can compensate for quality.
• Turn in Handout 2.4

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 2

Plan for the Session

• Presentation: How to modify a published study.

Assignments Due This Session

• Turn in an abstract of an article that you find interesting. Explain why you find it interesting.

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 2

Plan for the Session

1. Take Quiz 2A (covers Chapter 4)
2. Presentation: Reliability

Assignments Due This Session

• Read Chapter 4
• Do Chapter 4 Exercises: 1,3,5,7, and 9

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 4

Plan for the Session

• Take Quiz 2B (Covers Chapter 4)
• Video Presentation on Construct Validity

Assignments Due This Session

• None

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 4

Plan for the Session

• Take Quiz 3A (covers Chapter 4)
• Presentation and Exercises: Validating a Measure

Assignments Due This Session

• Chapter 4 Exercises: 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 4

Plan for the Session

• Take Quiz 3B (over Chapter 4)
• Presentation: Choosing the best measure for your study.

Assignments Due This Session

• Read Chapter 5

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 5

• Table to help you distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales of measurement
  
• Review sheet for Exam 1

Plan for the Session

• Take Exam 1 over lectures, labs, and Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5.

Assignments Due This Session

• None

Plan for the Session

1. Review Exam 1
2. Presentation: "Threats to Internal Validity"

Assignments Due This Session

• Read Chapter 8

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 8

Plan for the Session

• We will design a simple experiment in class.

Assignments Due This Session

1. Turn in a question based on the White article. The key is to use a different opinion question than the original authors used. Your question must be typed.
2. Turn in a one-page, typed set of instructions that White might have given his researchers. To develop those intstructions, read the "General Method" section, as well as the other Method sections. Your instructions would include detailed advice about
   1. Who to approach
   2. What the researcher should say when approaching a participant
   3. How to deal with questions
   4. What to say to the participant at the end of the interaction
   5. Important rules that the researcher must follow
3. Read Chapter 9

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 9

Plan for the Session

• Take Quiz 4A (over chapter 9, pages 242-264)
• Review the elements of a simple experiment
• Take Quiz 4B (over chapter 9, pages 242-264)

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 9

Plan for the Session

1. Take Quiz 5A (over chapter 9, pages 264-285)
2. Analyze the data collected from the field experiment.

Assignments Due This Session

• Run participants and bring data to class.
• Do Chapter 9 Exercises: 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 9

Plan for the Session

1. In class exercise reviewing statistics of the simple experiment
2. Brief lecture on the t test
3. Take Quiz 5B (over chapter 9)

Assignments Due This Session

1. Read Chapter 10
2. Do Chapter 10 exercises 1, 4, & 7

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 10

Plan for the Session

1. Take Quiz 6A (over Chapter 10)
2. Participate in a multiple-group study.
3. I will explain ANOVA.

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 10

Plan for the Session

• Take Quiz 6B (over chapter 10)
• Interpret data from a multiple-group experiment
• You will orally present your description of a study (see "Assignments Due This Session").

Assignments Due This Session

• Turn in Field Experiment report!
• Either summarize or propose an experiment that uses at least 3 levels of an independent variable. Explain why, in the study you describe, using multiple levels is better than using 2 levels. This summary is to be typed and handed in during class. Time permitting, you will also orally present your summary.

Downloadable Materials and Valuable Links for Chapter 10

Plan for the Session