Psychology 205: Research Methods in Psychology
Fall, 2005

205, Fall, 2005 Outline
Version of November 2, 2005
(keep looking for updates!)
Date
Subject
Supplementary Studies*
For readings on the PMC server, use name=psych, pw=psych
Assignment
Week 1

September 21
Introduction and Overview (or pdf)
Statistical and Experimental Inference
Take home statistical quiz (do problems 1-2) review statistics from 201
Leary: Chapter 1, 2
Data collection (in class)
Data recording
Week 2 September 26 Reasoning in Research (pdf)
Review of statistical concepts
Roediger and McDermott Leary Chapter 3
introduction to R
Descriptive statistics using R
simulating distributions (optional)

September 28
Overview of Design (pdf) (includes preliminary results)
Statistics Review (2) the t-test
Chapter 8
Week 3
October 3
Theory Testing in Experimentation (pdf)
Variables in Experimentation
Within Subject designs
Leary Chapter 4
Stats homework, solutions using R

October 5
Writing a research paper
(pdf)
Leary (Chapter 15)
APA Manual of Style see also the APA style FAQ
Web based style guides by Dewey or by Plonsky as well as the U.W. writing center's guide
Week 4 October 10 Experimental Control
(see alsoBetween subject designs (pdf) )

Leary Chapter 9, 10

October 12
Artifacts in Experimentation R & M study results
materials used in R & M study
lecture notes of results
writing a research paper
Leary Chapter 5, 6
Week 5 October 17 Design in Experimentation
Measurement Issues
measurement and scaling (pdf)
Paper 1
Appointments for paper grading

October 19
Mid Term 1
Sample test
Week 6 October 24 Correlational designs (reliability) pdf (revised)

October 26
Interaction designs and analysis
subject variables
Anderson and Revelle, 1994
see also Revelle, 1993
arousal theories
Leary Chapter 11
Week 7
October 31

Subject variables
Simulations as theory testing

Supplementary readings:
Revelle, Humphreys, Simon and Gilliland, 1980 (this gives some of the EPI items to measure impulsivity and
Revelle, Anderson, and Humphreys, 1987 (very large file) also see Revelle, 1993 (reviews Thayer's results and discusses performance)
Experiment -2

For Mac users, you may down load this to run at home Data collection
November 2 Exploratory and Confirmatory
data analysis
Simple guide to R
even simpler guide to R
Analysis of the simulation using R (revised)
types of relationships
Using the library research tools
Week 8
November 7
Researching the literature
using Social Science Citation Index
Pitfalls in scientific research
(use an NU account/VPN or a proxy server)
Psych Lit
and the Social Science Citation Index
November 9 Ethics in Research
Alternatives to Experimentation

Ethical Standards of APA 2002
On Being a Scientist (NAS) Leary Chapter 14
Leary Chapter 12 , 13
Week 9
November 14
Advanced statistical procedures Experiment 2 results Paper 2
Research Proposals due
appointments for grading
November 16 sources of error
other kinds of designs
Summary (summary.pdf)
Week 10
November 21
Midterm 2

November 23
advanced statistical techniques Report on experimental progress
Week 11
November 28
Reading Week Analyze study 3

November 30
Analyze study 3 appointments for analysis help
Finals Week
December ? 7
course evaluation (CTEC) Paper 3 due
Optional Final Exam
*Classic studies and the other assigned readings are to be read before class so that class discussion can focus on the readings. They will either be handed out in class on the day prior to discussion or, more likely, added to the syllabus.
October 30, 2005.