General Course Information | Topic calendar | Textbooks | Extra-credit policy

Contact Information

Lecture Section
Instructor: J. Cooper Cutting
Office: De Garmo 443
Phone: 438-2999
e-mail: jccutti@ilstu.edu
office hours: Mon 11-12
Tu 9-10
By appointment
Select your section
 

Graduate Assistant: Charles Coey
e-mail: cacoey@ilstu.edu
web page: ??
office hours: W 12-1
office hours location: Desk 2
(near DeGarmo 432)

General Course Information

Where and When?
    Main lecture: MW 1-1:50 in DeGarmo rm 206

    The course web pages are also available for students in Web CT

    Lab/Discussion Sections

      Section 02: Th 3:30-5:20 in DeGarmo rm 19
      Section 03: Th 3:30-5:20 in DeGarmo rm 39
      Section 04: Friday 12 - 1:50 in DeGarmo rm 19
      Section 05: Friday 12 - 1:50 in DeGarmo rm 48

    NOTE: PSY 231 is a 3 unit course. There are two hours of lecture and two hours of lab. Each hour of lecture counts for one semester hour and each TWO hours of Lab count as one semester hour.

Textbooks

Required

Optional
(1)
(2)
Gravetter, F. & Forzano, L. (2006). Research Methods For the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition. Wadsworth. (required)

Publisher's textbook companion webpage: here

 Sternberg, R. J. (2003). The Psychologist's Companion: A guide to scientific writing for students and researchers. Cambridge Univeristy Press. (required) American Psychological Association.
(2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological
Association (5thEdition.).Washington, DC: Author. (recommended).
(3) There is also a REQUIRED Lab Manual - available at PIP Printing in the Bone Student Center. Remember to take your lab manual with you to each lab meeting during the semester.

(4) There will also be assigned readings from articles that will be accessible through the Milner library web page. More information will be given about these articles in class.

Catalog Copy. Philosophy of science and inquiry with emphasis on experimental methodology and some application of principles through laboratory experimentation and demonstration.

Prerequisites.

  • PSY 110 or 111 req
  • ECO 138 or GEO 138 or MAT 150 or MQM 100 or POL 138 or PSY 138 or equivalent req or conc reg.

    • Course Description & Objective.

      This course is designed to introduce students to philosophy of science and inquiry with an emphasis on experimental methodology. This will be accomplished by combining traditional lectures with application of principles through laboratory experimentation and demonstration. The main course objectives include:
      • Learning to review the primary literature (improving library research skills, increase familiarity with scientific writing and reading scientific journals)
      • Getting a research idea (specification of a testable research idea, develop hypotheses on several topics in psychology)
      • Development and execution of a research plan (choosing the appropriate research method to test specific hypotheses, ethical guidelines, how to collect data)
      • Basic analysis of research results.
      • Presentation of the results (including both a verbal and written presentation).

        Department objectives

      Roughly we will cover the "nuts and bolts" of putting together and completing a research project in psychology. To this end we will cover all fourteen chapters of the textbook. Classes will consist of both lectures and discussions and/or exercises related to the assigned readings. So it is critical that students read the assigned chapters prior to class. Homework and/or on-line quizzes will be assigned to facilitate learning and in-class discussions.

    Course Requirements.

      Each student will be evaluated based on several exercises, exams, and the planning, execution, and presentation of a research project. The grading is broken down below.

      • Exams (35%) - There will be three exams. Each is cumulative. The two mid-semster exams (1 & 2) will be worth 10%, the final exam will be worth 15%.

      • Homework exercises (20%)

      • Lab Assignments (30%)
      • Class Experiment project (15%)
        • APA style first draft (5%) - includes literature review, the design of the experiment(s) hypotheses/predictions, and the references.
        • Final APA style manuscript(10%) - A complete write-up of the class research project using APA format.

        Extra-credit policy

    Class Policies

      Active participation is the central requirement for the class. Students will be expected to participate in a variety of ways, including several written and oral presentations and discussions. If you are going to miss a class, then you will miss an opportunity for participation. So it is critically important that you notify me AS SOON AS YOU KNOW that you'll be absent and WHY. Call, e-mail, or talk to me in person. Opportunity to make-up the missed work requires prior notification of the absence and an excused absence (that is one that you instructor accepts as reasonable and legitimate). How and when the work will be made up will be determined by the instructor.

      To ensure a smooth flow of discussions, the following policies are established: Students are encouraged to listen with an open mind, respect the contributions of others, and avoid personal attacks. Students will often be faced with alternative viewpoints from the professor or their peers. Thus, students should be prepared to defend their own positions with empirical data, obtained from the assigned readings, and reasoned argument.

      You are expected to do your own work. Plagiarism and cheating of any sort will not be tolerated. Either behavior will result in a grade of 'F'. Note that plagiarism includes situations where you meet with other students for group discussions and are asked write a summary. Unless otherwise instructed, this means that each participant in the group must write their own summary. Making up false excuses for absences will also be considered cheating and may result in a grade of 'F' for missed work.

      And finally, if you have any questions regarding anything in the syllabus and or the course in general, please feel free to ask. Talk to me in class, via phone, or e-mail. Don't just assume that you know (or should know) the answer, I may not have been clear enough or may have forgotten to mention something.

    The Office of Disability Concerns

      Illinois State University is an institution and a faculty concerned with helping all of our students feel welcome, and with helping all students learn and develop to their full potential. Any student needing to arrange a reasonable accommodation for a documented disability should contact Disability Concerns at 350 Fell Hall, 438-5853 (voice), 438-8620 (TDD).

    Topics

    Class Dates Tentative topic calendar Readings
    		Lab Topics
    WK1 8/20 Introductions &
    Ways of knowing    		 Syllabus
    GF:Chpt 1
    S: Intro    		 Introductions
    Expectations
  • Plagarism
    • 8/22 Getting an experimental idea

    GF:Chpt 2
    S: Chpt 1

    WK2 8/27 Library searches GF:Chpt 2
    S: Chpts 2, 5, 9
    Quiz 1 due @ noon     		Library research
  • library assignment
    • 8/29 Reviewing the literature &
    Reading journal articles    		 Raz, A., et al(2006)
    S: Chpts 2, 5, 9
    Opt: APA chpt 1
    WK3 9/3
    LABOR DAY: No class.
    9/5 Psychology as a Science S: Chpts 3 & 4
    GF: Chpt 3
    Quiz 2 due @ noon
  • Reading Journal articles
  • Reading checklist
    • WK4 9/10 Basic research methodologies GF:Chpt 6
    S: Chpt 10
    Quiz 3 due @ noon
  • Ethics
    • 9/12 Ethics in experimentation GF:Chpt 4
    S: Chpt 10
    WK5 9/17 Review for the exam GF:Chpts 1, 2, 3, 4, & 6
    Review sheet
  • Observational research exercise
    group project literature review
    • 9/19
    Exam 1
    WK6 9/24 Presenting research: APA style GF:Chpt 16
    S: Chpts 6 & 7
    Quiz 4 due @ noon     		Journal Assignment 1 Due in Lab this week
  • Writing APA style reports
  • Variables exercise
  • APA style exercise
    • 9/26 Experimental variables and sampling GF:Chpts 3 & 5
    S: Chpts 6 & 7
    WK7 10/1 Class experiment S: Chpt 8
  • Class experiment exercise
    		•
    10/3 Designing experiments:
    selecting and manipulating variables     		GF:Chpts 3 & 6
    S: Chpt 8
    Quiz 5 due @ noon
    WK8 10/8 Experimental control GF:Chpt 7
    S: Chpt 16
    Quiz 6 due @ noon     		Results of the
    class experiment
    10/10 Experimental control: cont. GF:Chpt 7
    S: Chpt 16
    WK9 10/15 Designing Single factor experiments GF:Chpt 8
    Quiz 7 due @ noon
  • Bias and control exercise
    group project methods section
    • 10/17 Designing within-subject experiments GF:Chpt 9
    WK10 10/22 Designing Factorial experiments GF:Chpt 11
    Quiz 8 due @ noon
  • Factorial Design exercise
    Paper Draft due in lab
    • 10/24 Review for exam 2 GF:Chpts 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, & 16
    Review sheet
    WK11 10/29
    Exam 2
    		 Run group projects
    10/31 Non-experimental designs
    Surveys    		 GF:Chpts 12 & 13
    WK12 11/5 Non-experimental designs: cont. GF:Chpts 10 & 14
    Quiz 9 due @ noon     		Journal Assignment 2
    Due in lab
  • Statistics Exercise 1
    • 11/7 Using and interpreting statistics GF:Chpt 15
    WK13 11/12 Using and interpreting statistics: cont. GF:Chpt 15
    Quiz 10 due @ noon
    No Labs this week

    begin analysing your
    group project data
    11/14 Using and interpreting statistics: cont. GF:Chpt 15
    WK14 11/19
    THANKSGIVING - No class
    11/21
    WK15 11/26 Using and interpreting statistics: cont. GF:Chpt 15 Final paper due in lab
  • Statistical tests exercise
    		•
    11/28 Presenting research: Posters and talks
    WK16 12/3 Summing up the research process group presentations
    12/5 Review for the final exam Review sheet
    Finals Week FINAL EXAM
    Mon Dec 10 at 1:00
    Fall '07 finals schedule

    If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at jccutti@ilstu.edu.