Psychology 2802G 001 FW24

Research Methods in Psychology II

Western University

London                   Canada

 

Department of Psychology

Fall/Winter 2024

 

Psychology 2802G    Section 001

 

Research Methods in Psychology II

 

In this course, students will gain advanced knowledge of the scientific method as it applies to psychological research. Topics will include experimental, non-experimental and multi-method research designs, as well as visualization and interpretation of research results. Students will gain experience in communicating results and thinking critically about psychological research.

 

Antirequisite(s): the former Psychology 2800E, the former Psychology 2820E, Psychology 2830A/B, Psychology 2840A/B, Psychology 2855F/G and Psychology 2856F/G.

 

Prerequisite(s):  Prerequisite(s): At least 70% in Psychology 2801F/G or Health Sciences 2801A/B; at least 60% in Data Science 1000A/B and at least 60% in 0.5 credit of Year 1 Math from among the following courses: Calculus 1000A/B, Calculus 1301A/B, Calculus 1500A/B, Calculus 1501A/B, Mathematics 1225A/B, Mathematics 1228A/B, Mathematics 1229A/B, Mathematics 1600A/B, or Applied Mathematics 1201A/B, or registration in Year 2 of an Honours Specialization in Neuroscience with special permission from the program administrator. Math 1228A/B is recommended. Students who have completed Statistics 1024A/B (or other Year 1 introductory statistics course in addition to 0.5 credit of Year 1 Math) instead of Data Science 1000A/B may enrol after completing an introductory programming class from the following list: Computer Science 1025A/B, Computer Science 1026A/B, Computer Science 2120A/B, Data Science 1200A/B, Digital Humanities 2220A/B, or Engineering Science 1036A/B. Data Science 2000A/B may be substituted for Data Science 1000A/B for students entering the program with 1.0 credits of Year 1 Math courses.

 

2 lecture hours and 2 laboratory hours, 0.5 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     Course Information

 

Instructor: Krista Macpherson, PhD 

 Office: see Brightspace for location

 Office Hours: Tuesdays 2-4pm

Email: kmacphe6@uwo.ca

 

 Teaching Assistants: Contact info for all TAs and lab sections will be posted to Brightspace

 

 

 

Time and Location of Classes: see Timetable on Student Centre

 

For courses that include an online component, students must have a reliable internet connection and computer that are compatible with online learning system requirements.

 

3     Course Materials

 

The class uses an open textbook that is free to download. A PDF of the book is available on Brightspace.

 

 Price, P.C., Jhangiani, R.S., & Chiang, I.A. (2015). Research Methods in Psychology (2nd Canadian Edition).  Simple Book Production.  

 

4     Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes

 

Learning Outcome

Learning Activity

Assessment

Depth and Breadth of Knowledge

·         Interpret and critically evaluate original empirical research.

·         Understand the strengths and weaknesses of theories in interpreting human behaviour.

Lectures, readings and lab activities

Lab exercises, Final paper, exams

Knowledge of Methodologies

·         Evaluate the appropriateness of different methodological approaches for specific research questions.

Lectures, readings and lab activities

Lab exercises, Final paper, exams

 

Application of Knowledge

·         Generate your own research ideas and hypotheses.

·         Apply relevant quantitative skills to the analysis and interpretation of empirical data.

Lectures, readings and lab activities

Lab exercises, Final paper, exams

 

Communication Skills

·         Communicate accurately, clearly and logically, using the discourse of the discipline of psychology.

Lectures, readings and lab activities

Lab exercises, Final paper

 

Awareness of Limits of Knowledge

·         Critically evaluate the limitations of research findings, given the research methods.

Lectures, readings and lab activities

Lab exercises, Final paper

 

Autonomy and Professional Capacity

·         Understand how open science practices contribute to research trustworthiness.

Lectures, readings and lab activities

Lab exercises, Final paper, exams

 

 

5     Evaluation

 

Midterm 25% 

 Final Exam 30% 

 Class Participation   5%

 Laboratory Component 40%

 

The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4 and are necessary for meeting these learning objectives

 

Exams: Both the midterm and final will be primarily multiple choice format (other formats such as fill in the blank may also be used--a breakdown will be confirmed with you prior to the exam).  The final exam is cumulative, with emphasis placed on content from the second half of the course

 

Class Participation: At some point during each lecture, a participation question will be asked. These are not overly difficult questions, and are meant to reward lecture attendance. Answers will be submitted via Brightspace, so students should make sure they have access to an electronic device (laptop, tablet or phone) during lecture in order to participate.

 

Lab Component: Labs are held bi-weekly, and you will have an assignment to complete at the end of each lab.  Each assignment will focus on a different aspect of research design—this will culminate with the writing of your final paper, which will incorporate the data analysis and interpretation skills you have learned in the previous assignments.

 

Policy on Missing Coursework

 

Exams: Dates for midterm make-up exams will be announced via Brightspace. It is the student’s responsibility to check this date and ensure that they are available to write on the specified day if a make-up exam is required. Grades will not be rounded.  If an exam is missed, a makeup exam will be granted if approved by academic counselling. 

 

Class Participation: Participation questions will be asked during each lecture.  Answers will be submitted online via Brightspace (students should bring a laptop or tablet to class). The bottom two participation scores will be dropped, meaning that a student can miss up to two lectures without academic penalty.  There will therefore be absolutely no makeups for missed participation marks.

 

Lab Assignments: Each lab assignment must be submitted to Gradebook by 11:59pm on your lab section’s respective due date.  Late assignments will not be accepted. The lowest assignment grade will be dropped, therefore there are no further accommodations for late assignments.

 

Final Paper: The final paper is due the last day of classes (April 4th) at 11:59.  Details of the paper and rubric will be provided on Brightspace.  There will be a penalty of 5% for each day that a paper is late.

 

The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines:  https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf

 

The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:

 

70%    1000-level to 2099-level courses

72%    2100-2999-level courses

75%    3000-level courses

80%    4000-level courses

 

In the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.

 

Policy on Grade Rounding

 

Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered.

 

6     Assessment/Evaluation Schedule

 

Midterm: (Feb 13th, in class) 25% 

 Final Exam: (as scheduled by registrar during final exam period) 30% 

 Class Participation: 5%

 Laboratory Component: (20% bi-weekly assignments; 20% final paper) 40% 

 

Lab sessions will take place every other week, beginning the week of Jan 20th.  Lab assignments will be assigned during lab sessions, and due in advance of the following lab session. This means you have ~2 weeks to complete each assignment.  Each lab assignment must be submitted to Brightspace by 11:59pm on your lab section’s respective due date.

 

At the end of the semester, students will submit a APA style paper as part of the laboratory course component, worth 20% of their final mark. More information about the papers and a grading rubric can be found on the Brightspace website.

 

7     Class Schedule

 

See Brightspace Content Pages for weekly suggested readings.

 

Week

Lecture Topic

Lab (if applicable)

1 (Jan 6-10)

Introduction

 

2 (Jan 13-17)

Experimental Research

 

3 (Jan 20-24)

Non-Experimental Research

Lab 1: Research Design

4 (Jan 27-31)

Complex Research Designs I

 

5 (Feb 3-7)

Complex Research Designs II

Lab 2: JASP I

6 (Feb 10-14)

MIDTERM (in class)

 

7 (Feb 17-21)

Reading Week—No Class

 

8 (Feb 24-28)

Data Visualization

Lab 3: JASP II

9 (March 3-7)

Data Wrangling

 

10 (March 10-14)

Interpreting Results

Lab 4:  Hypothesis Testing & Data Visualization

11 (March 17-21)

Communicating Results

 

12 (March 24-28)

Choosing a Study Design

Lab 5: Presenting Research Findings

13 (March 31-April 4)

Being a Critical Consumer of Science

Writing Workshop (ungraded)

 

 

8     Academic Integrity

 

Scholastic offences are taken seriously, and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf.

 

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.

 

Plagiarism Detection Software

 

All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism.  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.

 

Use of AI

 

The use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to produce written work is not permitted unless permission is granted by the instructor for specific circumstances. Any work submitted must be the work of the student in its entirety unless otherwise disclosed. When used, AI tools should be used ethically and responsibly, and students must cite or credit the tools used in line with the expectation to use AI as a tool to learn, not to produce content.

 

AI Policy for Psychology 2802G:

 

Responsible use of AI is allowed in 2802G.  This includes using AI for brainstorming, improving grammar, or doing preliminary/background research on a topic.

 

AI is not to be used in place of critical thinking.

 

The misuse of AI undermines the academic values of this course.  Relying on AI to create full drafts or fabricate sources is prohibited.  You are ultimately responsible for any work submitted, so it is highly advised that you critically review your Generative AI output before incorporating this information into your assignments.

 

If you use AI, you must clearly explain its role in your work.  All written assignments will require an AI Usage Statement, in which you will indicate what tools you have used, what you have used them for, and (broadly) how you have modified this information.  Assignments without an AI Usage Statement will not be accepted.

 

Violations of this policy will be handled according to Western’s scholastic offense policies.

 

Multiple Choice Exams

 

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.

 

Exam Proctoring Software

 

Tests and examinations for online courses may be conducted using a remote proctoring service. More information about this remote proctoring service, including technical requirements, is available on Western’s Remote

Proctoring website at: https://remoteproctoring.uwo.ca.

 

Personal Response Systems (“Clickers”)

 

In classes that involve the use of a personal response system, data collected 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.

 

9     Academic Accommodations and Accessible Education

 

View Western’s policy on academic accommodations for student with disabilities at this link.

 

Accessible Education provides supports and services to students with disabilities at Western.

If you think you may qualify for ongoing accommodation that will be recognized in all your courses, visit Accessible Education for more information.  Email: aew@uwo.ca  Phone: 519 661-2147

 

10  Absence & Academic Consideration

 

View Western’s policy on academic consideration for medical illnesses this link

 

Find your academic counsellor here: https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/faculty_academic_counselling.html

 

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain academic considerations. Students must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence.

 

Medical Absences

 

Submit a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner to Academic Counselling in your Faculty of registration to be eligible for Academic Consideration.

 

Nonmedical Absences

 

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

 

Religious Consideration

 

Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term.

 

11  Other Information

 

 

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness@Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ 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.

 

If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf. Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal in writing to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).

 

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.

 

12  Land Acknowledgement

 

We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton. Nations, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. This land continues to be home to diverse Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) whom we recognize as contemporary stewards of the land and vital contributors of our society.