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Psychology 3800G-001 (Online for 2020-21)

Psychological Statistics Using Computers

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

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.

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.

2 lecture hours, 2 laboratory hours; 0.5 course  

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Time and Location of Lectures: Synchronous Zoom Tuesdays 14:30 to 16:30, posted online shortly thereafter  

Instructor: R. Stevenson (rsteve28@uwo.ca) 

Office: Online only  

Office Hours: By appointment 

Lab Section 002: Thursdays, 14:30-16:30, Online 

Teaching Assistant: TBD  

Email: TBD 

Office Hours and Room: TBD 

Lab Section 003: Friday, 10:30-12:30, Online 

Teaching Assistant: TBD 

Email: TBD 

Office Hours and Room: TBD 

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western

http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.

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 Student Accessibility Services (formerly known as Services for Students with Disabilities) at 519-661-2147.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

You will need a computer account, which gives you access to the UWO network. Optional: Gardner, R. C. & Tremblay, P. F. (2006). Essentials of Data Analysis. Theory and Computer Applications. Printed by the University Book Store. *Please let the instructor know if you would like this ordered.  

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course introduces students to research methodology and statistical analysis using the SPSS software package. Other computer applications for creating data files and conducting secondary analyses are surveyed briefly. The lectures present a balance of the theory, the rationale, interpretation, and detailed examples of key univariate and multivariate statistical procedures.  

The laboratories will provide students with the opportunity to conduct statistical analyses using SPSS and other secondary software packages and to report their findings using APA style reports. The laboratories will be conducted in the Department of Psychology Computer Laboratory (Rm 3133 SSC), where students will be able to work on their assignments with consultation with the course Teaching Assistant. Students are allowed to use the Laboratory at other times, when available, and also have access to the SSNDS Computer Instructional Laboratory (Rm 1020 SSC) to do their SPSS assignments for this course. 

   4.1    STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES 

By the end of this course, successful students will be able to:  

1. Recommend and justify an appropriate research design and statistical procedure for a given research question or hypothesis. 

1. Differentiate between the statistical procedures in terms of their permissible applications and the scale properties of the data. 

1. Generate hypotheses to address specific research questions. 

1. Analyze data using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical procedures. 

1. Apply 10 different statistical procedures by analyzing data sets. 

1. Demonstrate their understanding of Type I and Type II errors by conducting simulated demonstration of such errors. 

1. Write research reports clearly and effectively in a way that a reader would have the necessary information to replicate the study. The quality of methods and result sections will match the level in good empirical journals.  

1. Describe, critique and justify their research methodology and generate ways to improve upon it. 

1. Demonstrate their capacity to work independently and in an ethical manner by producing their own written work and meeting the timelines for the 10 assignments. 

..................Column Break..................LEARNING OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES and ASSESSEMENT 

5.0     EVALUATION

Laboratory Assignments: 50% in total (5% x 10 labs). There will be 10 lab assignments, each requiring a written report. These will be graded by the Teaching Assistant. All assignments must be handed in at the beginning of the lab session following the session in which it was assigned. Late assignments will not be accepted and will be given a grade of 0. The last assignment is due one week after the last laboratory session. Students are responsible for their own assignments—copying assignments constitutes plagiarism. The Laboratory Assignment grade is the mean grade obtained in the 10 assignments. These 10 assignments together constitute the written component of 2,500 words required for a half-year essay course. **Please note: questions about assignments to the TAs or Instructor must be made 24 hours or more before the assignment is due.  

Final Examination: 50%. The final examination will be based on all material presented in lectures, laboratories, and the assigned text chapters. All assigned material, regardless of whether or not it was discussed in class, is eligible exam material. The final exam will be set by the Registrar’s office during the official examination period and will be 3 hours long. The exam format may include a mix of multiple choice items, short answer questions, and written interpretations of selected SPSS statistical results. 

PLEASE NOTE: Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay component to pass the course. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%. 

This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty. 

Grades will not be rounded.   

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  ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE

The final exam will be set by the Registrar’s office during the official examination period and will be 3 hours long. You will have a maximum of 3 hours to complete the exam unless you have an accommodation registered with the Accessible Education Office. The Final Exam will be available on Qualtrics via an individual link that has been assigned specifically to you. The exam will be open book, however, we fully expect that you will complete it independently. The exam has been designed with a number of safeguards in place to make collaborative work on the exam problems detectable.  

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

8.0  STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence 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 offences. 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).

Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.

In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.

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

9.0  POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES

Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12

The full policy for consideration for absences can be accessed at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/Academic_Consideration_for_absences.pdf

If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:

1. Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
2. For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;

• For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation. The self-reported absence form must be submitted before the exam/coursework deadline in order to be valid. It may NOT be used for absences longer than 48 hours; coursework/tests/exams/etc., worth more than 30% of the final grade; or exams scheduled in the December or April final-exam periods: http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html

Students seeking academic consideration:

• are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;  
• are encouraged to make appropriate decisions based on their specific circumstances, recognizing that minor ailments (upset stomach) or upsets (argument with a friend) are not normally an appropriate basis for a self-reported absence;
• must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hoursafter the end of the period covered by either the self-reported absence or SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence

10.0      Contingency Plan for Return to Lockdown

In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence during the course that necessitates the course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, all remaining course content will be delivered entirely online, either synchronously (i.e., at the times indicated in the timetable) or asynchronously (e.g., posted on OWL for students to view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining assessments will also be conducted online as determined by the course instructor.

11.0      STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE

In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette:

• please “arrive” to class on time
• please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet)
• please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material
• to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise
• In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak
• In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable
• Unless invited by your instructor, do not share your screen in the meeting

The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following:

• If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question.
• Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking.
• Self-identify when speaking.
• Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise).

General considerations of “netiquette”:

• Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course.
• Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing.
• Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate.
• Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately.

Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct.

12.0      OTHER INFORMATION

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

Student Development Services: 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

- 2020-2021 Calendar References

Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.