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An application of research methodology to psychological issues. This course requires students to complete at least one independent research project through all stages: choice of research topics, review of scientific literature, hypothesis formulation, research design, data collection and analysis, and conclusions and interpretation of results. Written and oral reports are required. The methods and content emphasized in the course may vary by instructor.

Class Times: Tuesday 6:30 - 9:30

Room: HA 426 & 428

Required Texts:

	FSC Journal of Behavioral Sciences - volumes 2 - 6
	American Psychological Association (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (3rd ed.). Washington D.C.: APA.
	Pyrczak, F. & Bruce, R.R. (1998). Writing Empirical Research Reports (2nd Edition). CA: Pyrczak Publishing.

Required Supplies:

	Computer disks - please use a separate disk for this class. Do not include files from other courses!
	3-ring binder to be used a lab notebook
	Ring binder dividers.
	Students are required to provide their own copying of materials. The media center may be used for copies, but do not charge the costs to the psychology department or me!! If you bring the paper, they will make your copies for free - with 24-48 hour notice. Think of copying expenses as your text costs for this course.  Media Center hours are 9-12 & 1-4 M-F. Be sure to have all materials approved by the instructor before copying!!
	Poster board & color backing paper, glue, tacks, etc. (Some of these materials are available in the department)

Student Responsibilities:

	Reviewing relevant material gained in the prerequisite courses, 42.251 & 42.252 Psychological Research Methods I & II and 43.117 Introductory Statistics. It is expected that students will apply the information gained in these courses as they conduct their research in the Experimental Psychology course.
	Using WORD or WORDPERFECT processing programs. All final materials submitted for grading must be prepared using one of these two programs. The instructor must be able to open student files on the campus computers. Final papers will not be accepted until appropriately saved!
	Updating of a research proposal involving at least two (2) IV's, one of which must be an active IV. A minimum of 15-20 journal articles must be cited in the literature review. Points will be lost if fewer primary sources are used.
	Completing the piloting of an approved proposal.
	Conducting of a full experiment, with methods revised in light of piloting results. The following steps must be completed: Materials piloting, involving 8-10 volunteers. Writing of a codebook - with any composite or recode variables added to the end with descriptions of their make-up, value ranges, & meaning. Creation of a data file with all variables named and labeled in SPSS - and matching the codebook. Completed data sheets/file- with columns labeled (Optional - data my be directly entered into the computer). Finding and correcting of data errors. Print-outs of the descriptive statistics - with errors corrected & with problem variables highlighted (e.g., heavily skewed variables). A packet of informed consent sheets - separate from the data. Print-outs of data analyses & highlight pertinent results. Analysis & interpretation of the data.
	Writing of a final research report, from title page to appendices.
	Highlighting of all articles referenced in the paper.
	All sections must conform to APA writing style requirements. Ten (10) points will be deducted for each APA error.
	Preparing of a research poster presentation.
	Evaluating the research efforts of classmates.
	Seeking out of the instructor as needed, during class time and office hours.
	Making of a minimum of 4 office appointments with the instructor.
	Meeting all assignment deadlines or accepting a zero grade for that portion of the course.
	Attending all required class meetings.
	Attending optional class meetings according to personal strengths & weaknesses.
	Immediately notifying instructor of partner-related problems.

Joint Research: Joint research is acceptable. Students may work in pairs, however, those opting to select a partner do so at their own risk. Partners are required to share equitably the work load in completing a pilot and full study. However, the division of labor is left to the partners. Should one partner fail to complete his/her load, the instructor will not be sympathetic with respect to overall and timely meeting of all course requirements. The negligent partner will be penalized for failure to cooperate. Non-author partners will complete additional work to assure understanding of the partner's study.

To qualify as partners, both students must have:

	Prepared equally "doable" research proposals.
	Compiled all appendix materials for the individually proposed studies, excluding visual stimuli (e.g., pictures, toys, games).
	Received approval of instructor.

Academic Integrity & Honesty:  FSC's policy on academic dishonesty is stated in the FSC catalog and student handbook, The Ram. Students should be especially cautious about plagiarism. Whether plagiarism occurs intentionally or not, it is a case of academic dishonesty. Additionally, fabrication or falsification of data is grounds for immediate course failure.

Ethical Considerations: The Ethical Principles of the American Psychological Association apply to all experiments conducted in this course. All students are responsible for knowing and abiding by these ethical principles when conducting research involving human participants. Of particular importance are the issues of informed consent and confidentiality. Any student failing to obtain informed consent from all participants or who violates a participant's right to privacy will fail the course. Informed consent forms will be submitted to the instructor at the end of the semester.

Grading:  Grades will be based on attendance, scheduling of and preparation for appointments, research paper drafts, a final research report and appendices, poster and oral presentation of final research results, peer & instructor evaluations, and completeness of a lab notebook. All work for the semester will be compiled in a lab notebook and submitted to the instructor, appropriately divided and labeled. All materials, with the exception of the poster and poster evaluations, are due by 6:30 pm the last day of class, Dec 17th, in Crocker 206.

The class curve will be based on the highest grade received by someone in the course on each assignment. The sum of these high scores will be used to set the start of the curve. From that point, the following percentages will be applied in determining letter grades: 100-97% = A; 96-93 = A-; 92-89 = B+; 88-85 = B; 84-82 = B-; 81-79 = C+; 78-76 = C; 75-73 = C-; 72-70 = D+; 69-67 = D; 66-64 = D-; <63 = F.

Attendance & Work Log: Although the classes will not meet on every scheduled day, some classes will be held and are required. Each student is expected to keep personal work log - noting absence, scheduled and unscheduled appointments with the instructor, time spent in the library & collecting data, and dates when materials were turned in for grading. Partners are required to submit individual work logs at the end of semester - appropriately titled with the student's name. The instructor may ask periodically to see the log to be sure one is being kept regularly and accurately. Twenty-five (25) points per miss of a required class will be deducted from students' final point totals. No exceptions will be made with respect to absences.

This log is to be placed in Section #1 of the lab notebook.

Drafts: Throughout the semester, students will submit drafts of work completed. Late submissions will not be graded. The following four (4) drafts are required on the dates indicated. Each draft is worth 50 pts, for a total of 200 points.

	Proposal. All authors' names are to be indicated on the title page & all materials to be used must be included (pictures, scenarios, scales...). A description of piloting procedures and results, as well as copies of piloting materials, must be included. Additionally, a copy-ready (instructions, format, consent letter, etc) sample of the survey must be submitted along with the proposal. This proposal is for approval to start. No one is to copy materials or begin data collection until given instructor approval.  The sooner piloting is complete and permission to begin is given, the better! The deadline for submission of a proposal/Draft 1 is 10/1.
	Revision of proposal as a research report, including the hypotheses & method section in past tense and a description of participants (number of, % of men, mean age & standard deviation, racial percentages....). Also to be submitted are a codebook, data sheets/files on computer, list of corrected data errors, a packet of signed informed consents, & statistics print-out for reported descriptive statistics with highlighting. This means, all data has been collected, entered, cleaned, checked for distribution normalcy/group size equivalency, and some initial analyses (descriptives only) are completed. Draft 2 is due by 10/29.
	Revised research report , first draft of full results & outline of discussion. This draft must be submitted with all statistical print-outs (highlighted) and drafts of tables & figures. Each student is to submit an individually written version of the results and discussion sections. Partners may discuss ideas, but may not copy one another’s writing. Points will be deducted for excessive partner writing similarity. Be sure to submit an updated codebook and print-outs with draft. Draft 3 is due by 11/12.
	Final revision, including revised results and full discussion section. Evidence of partner editing must be provided and must demonstrate the merger of information from the individual Draft 3's. Points will be deducted for reliance on only one partner’s writing efforts. Be sure to submit codebook and print-outs with draft. Draft 4 is due by 12/3.

All submissions must be word-processed and adhere to APA writing format. All submissions will be returned ASAP with comments and specific revision suggestions. All drafts must be included in the lab notebook at the end of semester. With each submission, citations in the text are to be highlighted and check with the reference list.

These drafts should appear in Section #2 of the lab notebook in the order listed above.

Appointments: Students/partners must schedule appointments during regular class hours or office hours with the instructor for help. Two of the four appointments must occur prior to the Draft 3 due date. All appointments must be made at least 2 weeks apart to count toward the four required ones. Students must also be prepared to the appointments. These are your time to ask for help, not the instructor’s. Don't expect to cram in your appointments at the last minute or come unprepared and still receive credit. Failure to make a minimum of four (4) 15-30 minute scheduled appointments will result in the loss of a full letter grade.

It is the student's responsibility to seek out the instructor during assigned class hours and during office hours. A mismatch of schedules is not an acceptable excuse as each students has three (3) assigned class hours per week with the instructor. Do not schedule employment or family tasks during class hours!!  During class hours, the instructor will be in her office or in HA428 with the computers.

	Partners must attend appointments together for credit!
	Scheduled appointments are to be part of work logs.
	Students are required to be prepared for appointments with questions, appropriate study materials, and/or print-outs. Appointment credit will not be given to ill-prepared students.
	Always have with you a copy of your survey, data, & codebook!

Suggested appointments:

	to review piloting results or problems
	to check codebooks and/or data-related problems
	to discuss analyses for each hypothesis
	to review data analyses and interpretations of print-outs
	to review discussion issues
	to discuss poster or conference preparations

Twenty-five (25) points will be deducted for missed scheduled appointments.

Final paper:  The final paper will include 8 sections and will adhere to APA writing style requirements fitting a professional manuscript. The 8 sections will include and must be orders as follows:

	Title page, with title, authors & affiliate indicated. A running head is required.
	120 - 200 word abstract of the paper. (Placed on a page alone.)
	A literature review of all relevant research published during the last 5-8 years, as well as any papers critical to the topic published in earlier years. End with a statement of hypotheses that are very specific to the procedures used in the study. Hypotheses are to be in past tense.
	A methods section describing participants, setting and procedures used to collect data, and descriptions of measures or stimuli - written in past tense.
	A results section indicating the statistical analyses completed and any significant findings or trends. This section should be organized relative to the order of the hypotheses stated in the literature review.
	A discussion section in which findings are reported "in English" and are evaluated and related to the research discussed in the literature review. Be sure to discuss results in the same order as the data was presented in the results section. Also, be sure to tie back to any theories discussed in the literature review, as well as to past research. Did you find or not find support for theories or for others' works? Be sure to reference appropriately!
	At the end of the discussion (if not before as might be appropriate), a review of problems experienced, suggested changes in the procedures used, and future directions should be addressed. This section should flow from the discussion of the results and not just read as an after-thought.
	A reference section citing only those paper actually cited within the body of the report.
	Figures and Tables.
	Appendices, including clean copies of all forms (consent,  questionnaires, tests) and stimuli used in the study.
	Copies of all files should be placed in a disk that the instructor can keep. This includes a copy of: the final paper, the appendices, the data set, codebook, and survey packet. This must be in Word or Wordperfect.
	Before submitting, be sure to highlight citations in the full text of your paper and check off in the reference list.

The final report should be included in Section #3 of the lab notebook & is due Dec 17^th by 8:30 pm.  Worth 200 points.

Papers: A copy of all papers cited in the final report must be placed, alphabetically, in Section#4 of the lab notebook. These may be your personal copies and they will be returned to you at the end of semester. The results of the studies cited in the paper must be appropriately highlighted. Worth 25 points.

Consents: Originals of all signed participant consent forms must be placed in Section #5 of the lab notebook or may be collected earlier. Original survey forms may be recycled after all data is checked. It is suggested that surveys not be discarded until all work with the data is completed, including the class poster session, conference participation, or manuscript writing for a journal. Worth 25 points.

Poster Presentation: Each student/partners will prepare for a group poster session modeled after those of professional conferences. All sections of the above mentioned final report will be shortened, highlighting important literature, methodology, findings & problems. Appropriate use of tables, graphs, and stimuli/measure samples will be expected. On Dec 17^th at 6:30 pm, posters will be set-up in HH426. All posters must be set up by 6:45.  Students will then have until 8:30 pm to review and rate each poster. There will be no make-ups for a missed poster sessions. The poster presentation is worth 100 points and grades will be based on student (50 %) and instructor (50%) evaluation as described below.

A paper copy of the poster presentation will be placed in Section 6 of the lab notebook.

Evaluations: Students will evaluate each poster using an instructor supplied rating sheet. Ratings will be used to evaluate each section of the poster from literature review to future directions, as well as appearance. The instructors will complete a similar form as well. The mean of the student evaluations and the instructors points will be summed as the grade for the poster (up to 50 points each). Poster evaluations will be collected before the orals. Students failing to arrive by 6:30 to set up posters or who fail to evaluate all posters by 8:30 will lose 100 points from their total score. Points will also be deducted for incomplete evaluations. There will be no make-up for failure to evaluate posters and presenters.

Section 7 should be left blank for the addition of the poster evaluations.

Lab notebook: All work of the semester must be submitted a lab notebook. The seven sections will be graded based on completeness, neatness, and overall organization. It is strongly suggested that students use section dividers, prepare a table of contents, and type all entries. This notebook is equivalent to a lab notebook in the natural science courses and should contain all information relevant to this course. The lab notebook is worth 50 points and is due Dec 17^th by 8:30 pm.

Exceptions to the above grading:

	Anyone missing more than three (3) required classes/scheduled appointments or combination of will receive a D or lower in the course.
	Anyone found to be fabricating data will receive an E in the course. Grades will also be changed after the semester should evidence be found.
	Anyone failing to submit a final research report will receive a grade of E in the course.
	Anyone failing to participate in the poster session as a presenter or evaluator will receive a D or lower in the course.
	Anyone who violates the Ethical Principles of the APA or falsifies data will receive a grade of E in the course.

Required Class Attendance Days

With the exception of the first class meeting, some of the scheduled class meetings may only last a few minutes. For others, the meetings may be the full 2 hours.