Statistics in Psychology – PSYC 355

CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 09/05/2023

Course Description

This course teaches students statistical methodology in the field of psychological research. The course content relates to psychological measurement and the development of scientific research studies involving quantitative investigation.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

The purpose of this course is to acquaint the undergraduate psychology major with basic descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. The course will draw heavily upon decision-making regarding the selection of appropriate analytic techniques and interpretation of statistical results. Because today’s work environment demands computer literacy, this course requires familiarization with computerized data analysis and file transfer. This course will also provide the tools for understanding and interpreting the purpose, analytical methods, and outcomes of research studies encountered across the psychology curriculum.

Course Assignment

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. The student will create a thread in response to the provided prompt for each discussion. Each thread must be at least 350 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student will reply to at least 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 150 words. Assertions must be supported by citations as needed. (CLOs: A, C, E)

Quiz: p-Value Review

The student will complete one quiz reviewing the concept of statistical significance and how the p-value is interpreted in a hypothesis test. (CLO: C)

The student will complete 7 SPSS Homework Aassignments. These assignments rely on the SPSS Homework Tutorial presentations as well as the Results Sections presentations in the Learn section for the Module: Week. (CLOs: B, C, D)

The student will administer a survey to at least 12 people and will use the resulting data to complete a lab assignment in multiple phases throughout the course. The lab includes data collection via a survey, choosing the correct type of data analysis using SPSS, and reporting and interpreting results in a results section to be written in current APA format.(CLOs: A, B, C, D, E)

The student will complete one cumulative assignment that covers material learned during the course. There will be 5 problems based on five of the eight statistical tests covered. The student will complete the analyses in SPSS and write APA-style Results sections for each problem. (CLOs: A, B, C, D)

Quizzes (7)

The student will complete 7 quizzes. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, covering the assigned material. Each quiz will have a time limit of 1 hour and will contain 9 multiple-choice and 6 true/false questions. (CLOs: A, C)