Research Methods in Psychology
Curriculum guideline
Lecture: 3 hours per week
Lab: 1 hour per week
This course will employ a number of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following:
- lectures
- laboratory activities
- small group discussion
- problem based activities
There will be laboratory meetings throughout the semester in which students will practice developing and carrying out their own research projects. Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research.
- The scientific understanding of behaviour
- Theories and falsifiability
- Developing questions, hypotheses and predictions
- Reviewing scientific literature
- Operational definitions and variables
- Ethical Research
- Qualitative research (i.e. Narrative, Phenomenology, Grounded Theory, Case Study, Ethnographic)
- Correlation and causation
- The experimental method
- Measurement concepts and practices
- Observational methods
- Surveys and questionnaires
- Experimental design
- Conducting experiments
- Multiple causation and complex experimental designs
- Quasi experimental and developmental research
- Understanding research results – describing data
- Probabilistic reasoning and chance – inferential statistics
- Converging evidence and consensus
- Generalizing results
- Research report writing
- Public trust in science and public perception of psychology
At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:
- Critically evaluate the design, measurement, and inferential reasoning used in psychological research articles.
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the nature of knowledge in psychology and identify common misunderstandings about the field.
- Identify major ethical concerns as they apply to social research projects, particularly those involving human subjects.
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses of various research methods and designs (e.g., case studies, experiments, quasi-experiments, surveys, observational studies, and qualitative methods), and match methods and designs to appropriate research goals.
- Practice designing, conducting, and analyzing research projects.
- Write a research report using APA guidelines.
Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. Evaluation will be based on course objectives and may include some of the following: quizzes, multiple choice exams, essay type exams, term paper or research project, computer based assignments, etc. The instructor will provide the students with a course outline listing the criteria for course evaluation at the beginning of the semester. This is a letter-graded course.
An example of one evaluation scheme:
| 2 midterm exams | 40% |
| Research project report | 30% |
| Final exam | 30% |
| Total | 100% |
Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in a course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation must be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.
Textbook(s) such as the following, the list to be updated periodically:
- Cozby, Paul C. & Bates, S.C. (current edition) Methods in Behavioral Research. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Publishing
- Stanovich, K.E. (current edition) How to Think Straight about Psychology. Pearson Ed.
- Gravetter, F. J., & Forzano, L.-A. B. (current edition). Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences. Stamford, USA: Cengage Learning.
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