Psychology 2810-650 (online)

Statistics for Psychology

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

1.0    CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

Introduction to data analysis with particular reference to statistical procedures commonly used in psychological research.

Antirequisites: Biology 2244A/B, Economics 2122A/B, 2222A/B, Geography 2210A/B, Health Sciences 3801A/B, MOS 2242A/B, Psychology 2820E, 2830A/B, 2850A/B, 2851A/B, Social Work 2207A/B, Sociology 2205A/B, Statistical Sciences 2035, 2141A/B, 2143A/B, 2244A/B, 2858A/B, 2037A/B if taken prior to Fall 2010, the former Psychology 2885 (Brescia), the former Social Work 2205, the former Statistical Sciences 2122A/B

Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.

Prerequisites: One full course in mathematics plus at least 60% in a 1000-level Psychology course. To fulfill the mathematics requirement you must complete a full course equivalent by taking 1.0 course from among the following courses: Applied Mathematics 1201A/B or the former Calculus 1201A/B, Mathematics 0110A/B, 1120A/B, 1225A/B, 1228A/B, 1229A/B, 1600A/B, Calculus 1000A/B, 1100A/B, 1301A/B, 1500A/B, 1501A/B, the former Linear Algebra 1600A/B, Statistical Sciences 1024A/B, the former Mathematics 030 and 031.

If Mathematics 0110A/B is selected, then either Statistical Sciences 1024A/B or Mathematics 1228A/B must be taken. The combination of Mathematics 1228A/B and Statistical Sciences 1024A/B is strongly recommended.

1.0 course

 

Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.


2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor:               Dr. Livia Veselka          

Office:                    SSC 7439/7440

Office hours:           by appointment

Email:                     lveselka@uwo.ca

Course Coordinator: Dr. Steve Lupker

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you.  Please visit:  http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

 

3.1 REQUIRED

In order to complete the course successfully, please ensure that you have access to a reliable calculator with a “STAT mode”. All brands of calculator are acceptable. However, the Sharp brand calculator will be used by your instructor in demonstrating how to carry out calculations in this course. As a result, if you are not comfortable using calculator functions, it is recommended that you purchase a Sharp calculator, ideally a D.A.L. model.

3.2 SUGGESTED

Please note that you do not have to purchase the textbook cited below. It is simply a resource that you can consider obtaining if you would like additional information about some of the topics covered in the course.   

            McClave, J. T., & Sincich, T. T. (2017). Statistics (13th ed.). Toronto, ON: Pearson.

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

At the completion of this course you will have been exposed to a wide variety of statistical methods for analyzing data obtained from different types of experiments. This should enhance your ability to critically read and evaluate research reports and to conduct your own research.

   4.1    STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

 

The goals of this course are to enable students to demonstrate:

  • that they know how to use a number of mathematical and statistical formulas to compute different statistics and related values
  • that they know how to perform a variety of statistical and data analytic procedures "by hand" (not on a computer)
  • that they can correctly calculate probabilities, evaluate probability distributions, and carry out hypothesis testing/estimation procedures
  • that they are able to recognize when it is appropriate to perform a number of statistical analyses, and then successfully perform these analyse, including Z-tests, t-tests, F-tests (all varieties), chi-square tests, and regression/correlation analyses
  • that they know how to analyze data and draw correct interpretations from the analyses in a variety of experimental and non-experimental contexts

The ways in which students will be assessed in order to evaluate the extent to which they have achieved these goals will include quizzes and exams, and these will need to be completed within the time period specified.

5.0     EVALUATION

Your final grade in this course will be calculated based on your performance on four quizzes and three exams. The weighting of these course components is outlined below:    

 

Exam 1                  25%

Exam 2                  25%

Exam 3                  40%

Quizzes                  10% (2.5% per quiz)

 

The weighting of each course component will not be adjusted. Extra assignments to improve grades will not be available. Grades will not be adjusted on the basis of need.

 

5.1 EXAMS

 

The three exams in this course will be written in person on campus or at a designated exam center. The Office of the Registrar in combination with Distance Studies will arrange the times and locations at which the exams will be written. You are responsible for making the appropriate arrangements to ensure that you can write on the date and time provided. Exams are scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM, 2:00 PM or 7:00 PM. You should be prepared to write an exam at any of these times on the exam dates specified, although you will be notified of the exam time prior to the date of each exam, as soon as the exam schedules are finalized.

The first two exams in this course will not be cumulative. The final course exam will be comprehensive, and it will cover all units introduced in the course. All exams will consist of a number of word problems, which you will be asked to solve fully, showing all work and calculations. Exams will not be returned to students but may be reviewed in the instructor’s office.

 

5.2 QUIZZES

 

Quizzes will be completed online through the OWL course site. Each quiz will be posted on OWL at 12:00 noon on the day it is scheduled to be written. You will have until 9:00 PM that same day to complete and upload your quiz for grading. Despite the allotted timeframe for each quiz, you should aim to complete each quiz in about two hours in order to be prepared sufficiently for the course exams. Although course content will be available to you when you complete your quizzes, you are asked not to refer to these resources during quiz times.

Each quiz will only cover a specified subset of units, and so quizzes are not cumulative in this course. All quizzes will consist of a number of word problems, which you will be asked to solve fully, showing all work and calculations.

When completing quizzes on OWL, you may type your work into a blank document. You may also hand-write your work, and then scan it or photograph it for the purposes of submission. If you photograph your work, please be sure to paste all photos into a single document, such as a Word document. When you uploading your quiz, be sure that you submit only one file and that all pages of this document are clear, legible, properly rotated, and in the correct order. Submissions that do not meet these requirements will receive an automatic zero. 

5.3 PRACTICE PROBLEMS

 

To assist you in preparing for the course’s quizzes and exams, you will be provided with practice problems for each unit. These practice problems, along with their solutions, will be posted on OWL, under the corresponding unit tab. Please be sure to complete these practice problems as you move through the course’s various units, given that the format of these practice problems is similar to the format of the course’s quizzes and exams. These practice problems will not be submitted for grading. They are simply intended to help you to excel in the course.

Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:


70%     1000-level and 2000-level courses
72%     2190-2990 level courses
75%     3000-level courses
80%     4000-level courses
   
The Psychology Department follows Western's grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf ):

A+  90-100      One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A    80-89        Superior work that is clearly above average
B    70-79        Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C    60-69        Competent work, meeting requirements
D    50-59        Fair work, minimally acceptable
F    below 50    Fail



6.0  TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

Assessment

Date

Exams

 

Exam 1

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Exam 2

Saturday, February 3, 2018

Exam 3

April exam period (April 14 - 30, 2018)

 

 

Quizzes

 

Quiz 1

Friday, September 29, 2017

Quiz 2

Friday, October 20, 2017

Quiz 3

Friday, December 1, 2017

Quiz 4

Friday, March 2, 2018

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

This is an online course. However, the course is arranged to ensure that the schedule and evaluation reflect the same amount of time commitment that would be required in a face-to-face course. To succeed in this course, you will need to manage your time well, and pay close attention to the deadlines indicated on the lecture schedule below.


Each week of the course represents a unique unit, and each unit will have a separate tab on the OWL course website, which will contain resources relevant to that unit. Specifically, for each unit, you will be provided with a video lecture that you can stream or download, and re-watch as needed. You will also be given the lecture slides in PDF and PowerPoint formats, as well as any applicable supplementary material. When viewing lecture videos, please be sure to take notes, as you would in a regular classroom setting. Note that the brief notes provided in the videos and lecture slides do not summarize exhaustively all information that is covered in each lecture.

Due to holidays and testing deadlines, some units may be shorter or longer than others. Each unit, once opened, will remain visible for the duration of the course.

Note: the schedule listed below is subject to change, so make sure to monitor the course site closely for announcements and updates.

Unit

Week

Topic and course content

1

Sept. 11

Statistical terminology

 

2

Sept. 18

Descriptive statistics

 

3

Sept. 25

Interpreting standard deviation

 

 

Sept. 29 (Friday)

 

Quiz 1

·       12:00 PM – 9:00 PM (online)

·       covers units 1, 2, 3

 

4

 

Oct. 2

Probability

 

Oct. 9

Fall Study Break: no lecture this week

 

5

 

Oct. 16

Counting Rules

 

Oct. 20 (Friday)

Quiz 2

·       12:00 PM – 9:00 PM (online)

·       covers units 4, 5

 

6

Oct. 23

Discrete random variables

 

7

Oct. 30

 

Binomial experiments in hypothesis testing

 

 

 

Nov. 6

Review Week: no lecture this week

 

 

Nov. 11 (Saturday)

Exam 1

·       time and location TBA

·       covers units 1 to 7 (inclusive)

 

8

Nov. 13

Continuous random variables

 

9

 

Nov. 20

Sampling distributions

 

10

Nov. 27

Single-sample hypothesis testing I:

·       single-sample z-test about the mean

·       single-sample t-test about the mean

 

 

Dec. 1 (Friday)

Quiz 3

·       12:00 PM – 9:00 PM (online)

·       covers units 8, 9, 10

 

11

Dec. 4

Single-sample hypothesis testing II:

·       single-sample chi-square test about variance

·       single-sample z-test about proportion

 

Winter, 2018

Unit

Week

Topic and course content

12

Jan. 8

Two-sample hypothesis testing I:

·       independent groups z-test

 

13

Jan. 15

 

Two-sample hypothesis testing II:

·       F-test for the equality of two variances

·       independent groups t-test

·       independent groups Wilcoxon test

 

14

Jan. 22

 

Two-sample hypothesis testing III:

·       dependent groups t-test

 

 

Jan. 29

Review week: no lecture this week

 

 

Feb. 3 (Saturday)

Exam 2

·       time and location TBA

·       covers units 8 to 14 (inclusive)

 

15

 

Feb. 5

Single-factor independent groups ANOVA

 

16

Feb. 12

Single-factor repeated measures ANOVA

 

 

Feb. 19

Reading Week: no lecture this week

 

17

Feb. 26

Post hoc and a priori analyses

 

 

Mar. 2 (Friday)

Quiz 4

·       12:00 PM – 9:00 PM (online)

·       covers units 15, 16, 17

 

18

 

Mar. 5

Correlation

19

 

Mar. 12

Regression

20

Mar. 19

Chi-square test of proportions

 

 

Mar. 26

 

Easter Holiday: no lecture this week

 

Apr. 2

Review Week: no lecture this week

 

 

April exam period

(April 14 - 30)

Exam 3

·       time and location TBA

·       covers all units in the course

 

8.0     STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link:  http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com

Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.



9.0    POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS

Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2017/pg954.html 

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html


10.0        OTHER INFORMATION

Office of the Registrar web site:  http://registrar.uwo.ca

Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca

Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:

    http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html

- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2017 Calendar References

No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.