GSI: Sam Sommers
FACULTY ADVISOR: Gene Burnstein
3225 East Hall
3239 East Hall
ssommers@umich.edu
or 5252 ISR
647-3933
geneburn@umich.edu
OFFICE HOURS: By appointment--The most reliable way to reach me is via e-mail
CLASS: Tuesday and Thursday, 4-6 pm, 1060 East Hall
PURPOSES OF 381:
* To develop an understanding of research methods in social psychology
* To design and execute several research projects
* To learn how statistics are interpreted and integrated into
research papers
* To write APA-style papers based on these projects
REQUIREMENTS:
You are expected to already have a basic understanding
of statistics and social psychological theories (which can be achieved
by taking Stats 402 and Psych 380). That said, this is NOT
a statistics course. We will analyze the data we collect as a class,
and important statistical concepts will be reviewed as appropriate.
You are also expected to check e-mail on a regular basis because course
announcements, assignment clarifications, and data analysis will be done,
in large part, via e-mail.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK:
* Stangor, C. (1998). Research methods for the behavioral sciences.
The textbook readings will provide you with basic information about
research methods.
REQUIRED COURSEPACK:
* Available at Accu-Copy, 518 E. William
The coursepack readings are designed to introduce you to the topics
we will be addressing in our research projects.
OPTIONAL TEXTBOOK:
* Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (4th
ed.) (1994).
I highly recommend the APA manual because it contains the answers to
almost every question you will have regarding the format for writing up
research. A copy is available on course reserve at Shapiro Library,
and throughout the semester I will often refer you to the manual when you
have specific questions. You will want your own copy if you have
any plans of going on to graduate school or if you will be participating
in future research.
GRADING:
Your final grade will be determined as follows:
* Teaching Presentation (5%)
All students are required to prepare and lead
one class exercise/lecture/activity during the course of the semester.
Students will work in pairs, and will be assigned to one of ten topics
(the topics marked with a * on the schedule page of this syllabus).
You will need to be familiar with the readings for your assigned topic
several days before the due date listed on the syllabus because you, your
co-teacher, and I will meet to plan your lesson together. Your lesson
should take anywhere from 15-30 minutes; you will not have to teach the
entire class that day. Topic assignments will be made during the
second week of the course.
* Quiz #1 (15%), Quiz #2 (15%)
Quizzes will cover material from the readings
and from lecture. Everything from the assigned readings, even material
we don't discuss in class, is fair game for quizzes.
* Paper #2 (10%), Paper #3 (15%), Paper #4 (15%), Draft of Intro/Method
#4 (5%)
These APA-format papers will be based on the original
empirical studies we conduct. Note that Paper #1 is not graded--
it is a short paper that we will use as a practice-run for writing up research.
You will receive written comments and will need to schedule a conference
with me to discuss this paper, but you won't be graded on it.
* Study #4 Group Presentation (10%)
On the final day of class, all groups will
present their final projects (Study #4). More detail on these group
presentations will be provided later in the semester.
* Overall Participation/Attendance (10%)
This is not a lecture course, so your participation
is essential and required. There are many assigned readings and you
are expected to complete them before class meets. Regular attendance
is a requirement of this course. In particular, make sure to note
the following dates: 9/14, 10/17, 10/31. On
these days we will be going over our data as a class. If you miss
class with an unexcused absence on one of these days, you will be on your
own for data analysis. Going over data as a class is a very detail-oriented,
time-consuming group exercise. Only if you speak with me before the
class or have an excused absence (e.g., family emergency, doctor-substantiated
illness) will I be able to meet individually with you to review data analysis.
I am more than happy, however, to meet with anyone who was in class those
days and wishes to discuss the analyses further. Also, 10/19
will be our subject pool orientation day, and if you miss this class you
will not have access to the PSYC 111 subject pool for your Study #4.
LATE POLICY:
Any paper turned in after its deadline will
be penalized 1/3 grade for each day it is late (e.g., an A- becomes a B+
if it is one day late, a B if it is two days late). Extensions will
not be granted less than 48 hours before the due date. Only if you
speak to me ahead of time will I consider granting an extension.
In general, if you have questions about a grade, concerns about an
assignment, or extenuating personal circumstances that you feel I should
know about, you need to bring them to my attention AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
By the end of the term, it is too late to do anything about most of these
concerns and issues, so do not wait until the week before grades are due
to talk with me about these matters. I am generally (at least in
my own mind) a reasonable and understanding person, so please do come to
me with any concerns or questions you may haveó just donít wait until itís
too late to do anything about them!
ECB ADVANCED WRITING CERTIFICATE:
Because one main focus of this course is writing
and revising research papers, you will be able to fulfill the ECB (Jr./Sr.)
requirement without completing any extra assignments. You are
strongly encouraged to take this as an ECB course!
PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism occurs more often than people think.
It is not merely submitting someone else's work as your own or copying
off someone else. Plagiarism occurs when you do not properly cite
the ideas or words of someone else. We will talk in great detail
about proper citation procedures and I will always be available to answer
your questions along these lines (or to point you in the right direction
in the APA manual). But anyone suspected of cheating or plagiarizing
will be turned over to the Academic Judiciary Board.
APA MANUAL:
Below is an index of some of the important
topics covered in the APA manual. As mentioned above, this is an
invaluable resource for this class and for psychologists in general.
This list is not exhaustive, but these are some of the key issues you'll
deal with when you begin writing up your findings:
Parts of a paper (pp. 7-22, 248-255)
Basic grammar (pp. 31-46)
Punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation (pp. 62-89)
Numbers (pp. 99-105)
Writing up statistical results (pp. 111-119)
How to make tables (pp. 120-141) and figures (pp. 141-162)
References in the text (pp. 168-174) and in references list (pp.
174-222)
Example of a paper with one study (pp. 258-268)
APA format is a requirement for all papers in this course. All psychologists use APA format for journal, conference, and grant submissions, so it's important that you be familiar with these guidelines. Many other disciplines besides Psychology also use APA format, so in general it is a good skill to have. Alternative styles of citation and formatting (e.g., MLA) are not acceptable for this course for the reasons stated above.
Date
In Class
Readings Due
Other Assignments
TH 9/7 Introduction
TU 9/12
Study #1
Skim APA Manual
Research Paper Basics Stangor - Appendix A
TH 9/14
Data #1 Analysis
Stangor - Ch. 1
Intro to Research
Stangor - Ch. 2 (skim)
TU 9/19 Defining Variables* Stangor - Ch. 4
TH 9/21 Surveys* Stangor - Ch. 6
TU 9/26 Reliability/Validity * Stangor - Ch. 5 Paper #1 Due
TH 9/28 Intro to Study #2 Gaertner & Dovidio (CP)
TU 10/3
Finalize Study #2
Gordon (CP)
Paper #1 Review
TH 10/5 Distribute Survey Quiz #1 (9/7 - 10/3)
TU 10/10 Correlational Design* Stangor - Ch. 9 Conference Deadline
TH 10/12 Research Ethics* Stangor - Ch. 3
SU 10/15 Email Data #2 by 8 pm
TU 10/17
Data #2 Analysis
Meet in B250 EH
TH 10/19
Intro to Study #3
Wells (CP)
Subj. Pool Orientation
TU 10/24
Data #3 Collection
Stangor - Ch. 10
One-Way Designs* (only
up to p. 175)
TH 10/26
Experimental Control* Stangor - Ch. 12
TU 10/31 Data #3 Analysis Paper #2 Due
TH 11/2 Intro to Study #4 Quiz #2 (10/10 - 10/31)
TU 11/7
Factorial Designs*
Stangor - Ch. 11
Group Assignments (only up to
p. 210)
TH 11/9
Study #4 Design
Brehm et al. (CP)
TU 11/14 Intro to Lit Review Paper #3 Due
TH 11/16 External Validity* Stangor - Ch. 13
TU 11/21
Repeated Measures* Stangor - (pp. 175
- 9,
201 - 3, 260 - 5)
TH 11/23 NO CLASS
TU 11/28 Data #4 Collection Intro/Method Draft for Paper #4 Due
TH 11/30 Data #4 Collection
TU 12/5 Data #4 Analyses
TH 12/7 Data #4 Analyses
TU 12/12 Study #4 Presentations
WE 12/13 Paper #4 Due by noon
* denotes student teaching presentation topic
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