Intro Book Psy 2100

PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A
Faculty of Sciences
Department of Psychology
Introductory book
Semester 1 2013
Published by University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba Queensland 4350 Australia http://www.usq.edu.au University of Southern Queensland, 2013.1.
Copyrighted materials reproduced herein are used under the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 as amended, or as a result of application to the copyright owner. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission. Produced by Learning Resources Development and Support using the ICE Publishing System.
Table of contents
Page
Essential information
Introduction and welcome to the course Course personnel Study Desk for this course Using the Study Desk please read this carefully Productive use of support from the examiner
1
2 2 12 13 15
Study schedule Assessment

Assessment Toowoomba and external offerings only Assignments 1, 2, and 3 (the first three sections of an APA style research report) Moodle quizzes Examination On-line Moodle Quiz 1 and 2 Assignment 1 Introduction section of an APA report Marking criteria, PSY2100 assignment 1, 2013 Assignment 2 Method section of an APA report Marking criteria, PSY2100 assignment 2, 2013 Assignment 3 Results section of an APA report Marking criteria, PSY2100 assignment 3, 2013 The examination Some final words
17 19
19 19 19 20 21 24 29 30 34 35 38 39 39
Essential information
The topics in the following list provide important information that will assist you with your study. You can access a handout containing the information on your StudyDesk through the Essential information (study materials) link <http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/file.php/1/ sitefiles/DeC/essential_info/essentialhandout.pdf>. You will need your UConnect username and password to access the file. Please make sure you read this information carefully before commencing your study.

Getting started Course specification Support UConnect Assignment submission Grading levels Course evaluation Residential schools Library Referencing APA Referencing Harvard AGPS Optional purchase of study materials USQ policies and procedures
University of Southern Queensland
Introduction and welcome to the course

The aim of this course is to introduce you to scientific methods of conducting psychological research. The content that we will cover focuses on issues relating to the design, collection, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of data in psychological research. This course sets the foundation for skills and knowledge that you will build upon in other research methods courses in your degree. What you will learn in this course is how to: 1. describe different research designs, identify when it is appropriate to use them, and discuss their strengths and limitations; 2. identify the concepts used in a study, the variables used to operationalise those concepts, and the control techniques used; 3. develop research questions and hypotheses to test psychological concepts and theories; 4. demonstrate an understanding of measures of central tendency, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, Chi-Square tests, z scores, z test, t-tests, Correlation, and Regression including the appropriate selection of analysis techniques; 5. demonstrate an understanding of data screening, assumption testing, and power and effect size as they relate to the above statistical analyses; 6. use SPSS to analyse psychological research data; 7. critically analyse published journal articles by identifying and explaining article aims, relevant method information, results, and potential methodological limitations; 8. write an introduction, method and results section of an APA 6th edition research report.
Course personnel
Members of the course team are:
Examiner and course leader

Dr Andrea Lamont-Mills has been a staff member in the Psychology Department at USQ since February 2000. Andrea teaches Research Methods at the undergraduate level. She has worked at four universities, including USQ, and is originally from South Australia. Andrea is also the Undergraduate Coordinator in the department and is a registered psychologist.
Moderator
Professor Tony Machin commenced teaching in the Psychology Department at USQ in 1992 and was promoted to Associate Professor from the start of 2007. Tony is also the current Head of the Psychology Department. Prior to coming to USQ he worked as an Occupational Psychologist with the Department of Employment, Education and Training. Tony was awarded his PhD from the University of Southern Queensland in 1999 on the topic of Understanding the process of transfer of training in the workplace. Tony is a Member of the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS) and is also a Member of the APS College of Organizational Psychologists, the International Association for Applied Psychology, and the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology. Tony is a registered Psychologist.
Why study a course on research methods?

Whatever your impressions of this course are at the moment, you know by now that the formal study of psychology seeks to: a. help you develop an organised knowledge base concerning the discipline of psychology b. give you the skills needed to evaluate this body of knowledge c. give you the additional skills needed to extend your knowledge of psychological functioning. In fact, some argue that the principal skill that defines students pursuing psychology, as opposed to any other discipline in the social sciences, is their ability to apply effectively a wide range of research methodologies. In other words, while many other professions have accommodated and incorporated areas that were once the sole domain of psychology, we know that students with psychology backgrounds generally have a much better appreciation of the issues involved in the description, prediction, and understanding of any particular psychological phenomena. This course also comprises one of the key coursework components for any individual who is training for a research, teaching, or practising career in the profession of psychology in Australia. One of the basic requirements of any degree that seeks accreditation from the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) is that the degree must contain adequate training in this vital area. APAC believes that all psychology undergraduates at the end of their degrees should be able to understand the principles of scientific method and [be] able to apply and evaluate basic research methods in psychology. (APAC, 2013, p. 31). In particular, at the end of this course you should be about to do the following:

frame research questions undertake literature searches critically analyse empirical studies formulate testable research hypotheses
operationalise variables appropriately analyse data and interpret results communicating research in professional formats.
This course has been designed with the above skills and knowledge in mind and these are reflected in the objectives of this course.
What if Im not going to go on in psychology? Do I still have to do this?

Yes, you dont get out of this that easily! Employers seek graduates who have strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. A degree in psychology develops these skills through courses in research methods. As a social science, psychology is widely regarded as the most rigorous degree in regards to its training. As a result, psychology graduates with analytical, critical thinking, and problemsolving skills are highly sought by employers. Some of the areas in which these skills are valued include marketing, banking and finance, intelligence and policing, industry research, policy analysis, human resources, the pharmaceutical industry, community and service planning, service evaluation, and of course many other areas. Many students do not follow the career path of psychologist. Often these students add alternative postgraduate programs to their undergraduate degree which enables them to enter different occupations and industries. The skills and knowledge derived from courses in research methods underpin these alternative career pathways and set psychology students apart from other social science students.
Learning objectives of this course

The primary objective of this course is for you to develop beginning research skills and knowledge that you will build upon in other research methods courses. With this in mind at the end of this course you should be able to:

describe different research designs, identify when it is appropriate to use them, and discuss their strengths and limitations (Assessed in Assignment 1, Method Exam) identify the concepts used in a study, the variables used to operationalise these concepts, and the control techniques used (Assessed in Assignment 1 & 2, Method Exam) develop research questions and hypotheses to test psychological concepts and theories (Assessed in Assignment 1, Method Exam) demonstrate an understanding of measures of central tendency, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, Chi-Square tests, z scores, z test, t-tests, Correlation, and Regression including the appropriate selection of analysis techniques (Assessed in Online Quiz 1, Assignment 3) demonstrate an understanding of data screening, assumption testing, and power and effect size as they relate to the above statistical analyses (Assessed in On-line Quiz 1 & 2, Assignment 3) use SPSS to analyse psychological research data (Assessed in On-line Quiz 2, Assignment 3)
critically analyse published journal articles by identifying and explaining article aims, relevant method information, results, and potential methodological limitations (Assessed in Assignment 1 & 2) write an introduction, method, and results section of an APA 6th edition research report (Assessed in Assignment 1, 2 & 3)
Links to other courses

As some of you know STA2300 Data analysis is now a pre-requisite for this course and the statistical material in this course builds directly upon the work that you have done in Data analysis. You will revise this material and build upon it in this course by setting this knowledge in the psychological context. The next research methods course you do, PSY3111 Research methods in psychology B, is very much like this one, only you will be exposed to more complex designs and analyses. So this course sets a foundation of skills and knowledge that will be extended upon in PSY3111. The emphasis on research skills is continued in other courses as well. For example, you will write a research report in PSY2010 Social processes of behaviour . You will save yourself a lot of time and effort if you ensure that you develop research skills and knowledge now. The examiners in higher level psychology courses will assume that you are competent in your research understanding and will be setting assessment tasks that assume you know what a t test is and when do you use it or what are the three conditions required to make a causal inference.
GDPS pathway students and STA2300

If you are a student on the GDPS pathway we waive the STA2300 pre-requisite for this course as we assume that because you already have a university degree in another area you probably have been exposed to statistics in your first degree and that you are fairly competent and confident in your statistical knowledge. However if you do not feel competent or confident in your statistical/mathematical ability you are able to take STA2300 before enrolling in PSY2100 (although STA2300 will not count toward your final GPA). I strongly encourage any GDPS student in this situation to serious contemplate the following course of action un-enrol from PSY2100 and enrol in STA2300 and take PSY2100 in 2013. Given the competitiveness of Honours, a poor grade in PSY2100 can significantly impact upon your chances of being offered a place in a future Honours course. Thus completing STA2300 before taking PSY2100 may be an advantageous option. If you are considering this please feel free to place a request through USQAssist where I can talk to to you about this option as the Undergraduate Coordinator.
BSSC (Behavioural Science major) students and other non BSCI (Psychology) students
If you are a student in the above BSSC major or a non BSCI (Psychology) student taking this course then it is expected that you have successfully completed STA2300 (or STA3100 if a BSSC student) BEFORE you enrol in PSY2100. If you have not successfully completed either of these courses (or their equivalent) then you should not be enrolled in PSY2100 and have probably been enrolled without my approval. Which means that Arts has overridden the pre-requisite for this course without my approval or support or you have enrolled yourself in this course knowing full well you do not have STA2300 or STA3100.
If this is the case then you must un-enrol yourself from this course immediately and enrol in either STA2300 or STA3100 and successfully complete this course and take PSY2100 in 2013. If you continue on in PSY2100 you do so acknowledging and taking full responsibility for your success or failure in this course. Last year a number of BSSC students undertook PSY2100 without having passed or attempted STA2300 or STA3100 and subsequently they did not pass PSY2100.
What to expect in this course from me and you

As this is a second year or second level course, what I expect of you and what you should expect from me as the examiner may be different to your previous experiences in first year courses.
If this is your first USQ course

If you have started studying at another university or have a degree or diploma from another tertiary institution and this is your first USQ course, you may find USQ and our way of doing things a little different from your previous experiences. a. First, you will need to become familiar with the USQ way of doing things. As you will come to learn, at USQ we make extensive use of course Study Desks. Please take the time to become familiar with these as all examiners at USQ use these. This is regardless of your study mode (EXT/ONC) or campus (Springfield/Toowoomba) b. Secondly, please make sure you familiarise yourself with the USQ website. Many of your questions about grade allocations, extension requests, ICT help, and so forth can easily be located on the website. If you look there first you will probably find your answer and then you aren't wasting your time hanging around waiting for a response from myself or USQ support staff c. Finally, many of your previous expectations regarding assignment and exam feedback, examiner responses, and learning experiences may not match up with the USQ way of working. You may need to adjust your expectations to meet the reality of USQ
Using your Student Relationship Officer (SRO)

Since 2009 USQ has allocated every student an SRO (and sometimes two SROs!). You need to make friends with your SRO. You can find out who your SRO is from your study centre in UConnect their name should be listed on the right hand side of the screen in the Advisor box. SROs are there to provide you with support during your degree and they should be your first contact point for assistance in most cases. Please use the SROs again many of your more generic course questions don't need my input and you can save yourself quite a bit of time and stress if you contact your SRO in the first instance for assistance. The types of questions that SROs can help you with are:

I need an extension what sort of information or documentation will I need? I cant upload my assignment into EASE help!! Where is the best place to buy textbooks? I dont know how to see my assignment results
How do I know if my assignment has been received? How do I use EASE? EASE/UConnect/Study Desk isnt working am I doing something wrong? Where do I find my exam timetable? When is the exam for PSY2100? I am thinking of withdrawing from PSY2100 what do I need to do? Im an external student how do I submit my assignment?
Basically questions that are not course content specific should be directed to your SRO in the first instance. As an examiner I need you to use your SROs so that I can better manage all the student queries that I get for PSY2100. By using your SRO for the more generic administrative questions means that I will be able to answer your course related questions in a more timely and detailed manner.
If you are not a BSCI (Psychology) or GDPS student

If you are taking this course as a student enrolled in a different degree than those mentioned in the heading then some of the expectations and understandings that you may have gained whilst studying your particular degree may not match what is expected in a psychology course. You may need to adjust your expectations as a result. For example, common ways of working that may be accepted in the Faculty of Arts or Faculty of Education will most likely not to be accepted in this course. This is a psychology course and has been designed with psychology expectations and professional requirements in mind.
First year is now over please read this carefully. I really need you to do this
Some of you may find the transition into second year and my expectations of you different from what you encountered in first year. Here are some points that will help you understand what I expect of you as a second year student and what you can expect from me. Many students find it difficult to accept that I will treat you like a second or third year student and ask you to work hard. So if you are not a second year student and are taking this course out of sequence you may need to adjust how you approach this course. I expect you to:
Access the Study Desk regularly. This is regardless of your mode of study (i.e., on campus or external). This is regardless of where you are based (i.e., Springfield or Toowoomba). I recommend accessing the forum three times per week, especially near assessment submission Know the extension policy and know what you need to gather as evidence before you ask for an extension. If in doubt contact your SRO for assistance about what you need to have before you contact me Know what plagiarism is. I know what information you have been provided with in first year about plagiarism so I know you know about plagiarism. If you do not know what this is then you will need to find this out. Your SRO will be able to help you locate information about plagiarism on the USQ website
Inform me immediately if something happens in your life that impacts upon your study in this course. This way we can work together to help you through this difficult time. Informing me after the course has finished or after an assignment has been submitted makes it almost impossible for me to assist you Purchase all the study materials and text books as per the course specifications. I have more on this in the next section Inform the university if you change your address or phone numbers so that if I need to contact you I can. If you need help with this, contact your SRO Work progressively through this course. Unlike other courses you cant leave the study for this course for a couple of weeks at the end of the semester and still expect to either pass or do well. This course has a heavier workload than your first year courses as it should be as this is not a first year course this comes as quite a shock to many students so you will probably need to do some work on this course every week of the semester Accept and understand that the grades that you have received in your first year courses may not be valid or reliable indicators of how you will perform in this course. This is not PSY1010 Foundation psychology A. The content and skills being learnt and assessed in this course are very different from Foundation psychology A. You may need to work differently and adjust your expectations accordingly. So just because you got a HD for PSY1010 does not mean that you will get a HD for this course. Conversely just because you got a C for PSY1010 does not mean you cant get a HD for this course! Read the study materials, textbooks, and Study Desk and act in ways that indicate that you are an independent adult learner. There is no spoon feeding or hand holding in this course. There is learning assistance for students who take charge of their learning journey. I have been asked in previous years to indicate exactly which pages and which paragraphs students need to read in the study materials and textbooks. That is spoon feeding because I dont know what you need to read only you know that. I know that you are more than capable of finding information for yourself so I will not be providing such detailed instructions in this course. Organise your time appropriately. I know that you are busy. I know that many of you wear many hats. So you need to make sure you are well organised and well prepared for this course. Being busy is not grounds for an extension, not a justification for not reading the Study Desk, and is not a reason why you didnt do as well as you thought you would on the assignment/exam Take responsibility for your successes and mistakes in this course. You will have success and you will make mistakes. It is how you learn from your mistakes that will shape your overall enjoyment and grade outcome in this course Not read inferences, meaning, or intent into Study Desk posts, especially those posted by myself. So I am not being rude, sarcastic, angry, upset, or frustrated when I respond to you. I am being direct, I am asking you to think for yourself, I am asking you to find out information for yourself, and most of all I am asking you to be responsible for your own learning journey.
You can expect me to:

Answer your queries in a timely manner. Depending on when you send me a query or make a post on the Study Desk, I will normally respond to you within 2448 hours Ask you to direct your administrative questions to your SRO Apply USQ policy and procedures with fairness and equity Not hold your hand and spoon feed you in this course. Rather I will work with you and help you best understand the content of this course. So I will treat you as an independent learner Keep you up to date on any course developments, problems, or issues that may impact upon your progress through the course (e.g., USQ technical problems) Mark and return assessment pieces within reasonable time periods given the available resources. Sometimes this is not always possible and I will inform you of this Be available for consultation Monitor the Study Desk at least three times per week Not read inferences or meaning into your Study Desk posts. No I dont think your rude, lazy, sarcastic, too busy, or trying to get a free ride (just some of the thoughts from students over the years!) Take responsibility for the running of this course Challenge your thinking and ways of understanding in order for you to fully engage in this course. Now you may not like this in the first instance as I ask you to justify your response, show me the evidence, read a section again, take an alternative view of a concept, ask you a question in response to your question. Yes this will be frustrating but this is adult learning. Each year I get criticised for not just telling students where to find something or for asking a student to read something and come back with what they understand before I answer a question. I am not trying to frustrate you rather I am asking you to re-read or reconsider or take a moment to think about your problem from another perspective so that you gain a deeper understanding of the issue and this is good teaching practice based upon empirical data. By the way I tend to ask you to do this for important foundation concepts that would probably make good exam questions Ask you to work in this course. You will need to work and apply yourself in this course. It is unlikely that you will be able to read something once and get it. You will probably need to read and re read and then re read information and then do some learning activities before you get it yes you will need to get your hands dirty with some data!
The above may seem quite daunting but I have found over the years that if you are clear about what I expect from you and what you should expect from me, then there is less chance for misunderstandings and difficulties to arise.
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Study materials and textbooks

Main texts
There are four set textbooks for this course. They are required and thus you need to purchase them to best meet the objectives of this course. Before you start complaining about the cost, the following four texts and software package are required for both this course AND PSY3111 Research methods in psychology B. So the same texts and software are used across the two core research methods courses in your degree. You do NOT have to purchase any other texts for Research Methods B. The texts are required texts and the software is the required software, all of these are essential for this course. They contain the content information that you need for the assignments, on-line quizzes, and the method exam. You will seriously disadvantage yourself should you choose NOT to purchase these texts and software. The first required text is: Shaughnessy J. J., Zechmeister, E. B., & Zechmeister, J. S. (2012). Research methods in psychology (9th ed.). McGraw Hill: Boston. (Referred to as SZZ) If you are not able to purchase the 9th edition you may use the 8th edition as the changes between editions are not major. There will be some page number changes and two chapters being merged into one. There will also be example changes, learning activity, and slight content changes. However you just need to note that all of the study materials and Study Desk posts will be based upon the 9th edition. Do you need to purchase or be able to easily access this text? YES Why? This is the main research methods text for this course. SZZ contains information relating to the content of this course, assignments 1, 2, & 3, and the method exam. You will need this book as you work your way through the study book. I have been using earlier editions of this text for some years. I have found this to be an excellent text. It is quite readable and has a good range of examples and practice exercises. It is also good because it covers a diverse range of methods and therefore encourages you to think broadly and creatively about psychological research. PSY2100 covers about half the text and the remaining half is covered in PSY3111 Research methods in psychology B. This is for the Toowoomba and External offerings only. The text also includes learning activities that will assist you in learning this course content. In addition, there is a website associated with this text that has some extra study material. I will be directing you to this site frequently as part of module learning activities. The address can be found on page xiv. The second and third texts are a text and its accompanying student study guide. These are: Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Coups, E. (2013). Statistics for psychology: International edition (6th ed.). Pearson: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. (Referred to as AAC)
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I recommend that you purchase the 6th edition of the AAC text if possible. If you are not able to purchase the 6th edition you may use the 5th edition as the changes between editions are not major. There may be some page number changes but the chapter numbers are the same. There may also be example changes, learning activity, and slight content explanation changes. You also need to understand that all of the study materials, lecture notes, and Study Desk posts will be based upon the 6th edition. The 6th edition also comes with access to a teaching and learning package called MyStatLab and we will be using this throughout the course. Do you need to purchase or be able to easily access this text? YES Why? This is the main statistics text for this course. It has been selected because it covers the important statistical material in an integrated and uncomplicated way and emphasise definition formulas of the various statistical analyses to encourage deeper understanding of these procedures. PSY2100 covers 11 of the 15 chapters of AAC. The remaining chapters and some chapters that you have already covered in this course will be covered in PSY3111 Research methods in psychology B. The texts also include activities that will assist you in learning the course content. In addition, the texts incorporate SPSS activities that I will be directing you to as we cover each analysis technique. If all of this wasnt enough, the 6th edition comes with a specific teaching and learning package called MyStatLab. This package includes on-line quizzes that will help you learn the statistical concepts that we cover as well as help you prepare for the two on-line quizzes that form part of the assessment for this course. The fourth textbook refers specifically to writing APA research reports. Whilst you would already have the Burton APA writing guide from PSY1010 Foundation psychology A and PSY1020 Foundation psychology B as it is a required text in these two courses, student feedback in PSY2100 has been that this text does not adequately cover the more detailed APA nuances that a research report often requires. So on the basis of this feedback I have set the APA publication manual as the textbook that will assist you in writing APA reports. However I would not throw away the Burton text as it does contain an example of a good report that you may find helpful. American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Do you need to purchase or be able to easily access this text? YES Why? The book contains information relating to how to write a research report. You will need this book for assignments 1, 2, and 3.
Software
You are also required to purchase a statistical software package for use in this course. You may already have this software from STA2300 Data analysis. SPSS is available on the computer labs at USQ Toowoomba, Springfield, and Wide Bay. In addition, many workplaces have SPSS as standard computer software.
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PSAW Student Version 19.0 for Windows, Prentice Hall. Earlier versions of SPSS are acceptable as there are no real changes from version to version. Do you need to purchase it? YES or at least be able to access the software Why? Many of the activities in this course make use of the SPSS package. Learning to use a statistical package and to read and interpret the output is an important part of this course and contributes to your understanding of the statistical concepts that are covered in this course. Assignment 3 requires that analyses be conducted with the package and on-line quiz 2 requires you to answer questions about an SPSS output that you have to produce. There are some subtle differences between different versions of SPSS, but these should not negatively impact upon your learning in this course.
Purchasing your textbooks and software

Textbooks and software are best purchased from the USQ Bookshop. The bookshop can be found on the web at <http://bookshop.usq.edu.au/> or email: <bookshop@usq.edu.au>. Books take about a week to be delivered to students residing in Australia and about 10 days overseas, although this depends on where you are. So make sure you allow yourself enough time to order books so that they get there in a reasonable time. Ordering books late is not a sufficient reason for an extension on an assignment.
Study Desk for this course

Access to the Internet is a requirement of this course. I make regular use of the Study Desk in three ways:

to communicate matters of course administration to communicate matters of course content to communicate matters of assessment.
Thus it is YOUR responsibility to regularly access and monitor the Study Desk for information. Failure to do so can result in you misunderstanding assessment requirements or not being up to date on assessment details. I will NOT accept lack of knowledge as a reason for assessment performance, as Im making it clear YOU need to monitor the Study Desk for information. Similarly, make sure that the personal details that you have provided to USQ are up to date, as I may need to contact you about a course matter. Failure to update your student information will NOT be accepted as a reason for assessment performance.
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Using the Study Desk please read this carefully

This course can be quite daunting when you feel you are all on your own. You will soon find that many other students are struggling with some of the same things you are, and the process of asking questions, or attempting to answer someone elses question are a valuable part of the learning experience. The Study Desk is not intended as a noticeboard for me to post messages to you, nor is it simply an electronic consultation session. Though I will contribute and answer questions, I want you to use it to discuss what you are learning and answer questions posted by your fellow student learners and myself. That is, before I jump in and make a suggestion I want you to assist yourself and your fellow students by attempting to answer others questions. By doing this you actually deepen your understanding of that topic in the process. And research is clear on the benefits of peer learning! So you will learn much more if you actively engage in the Study Desk. Please note the following suggestions with regards to the Study Desk: 1. There are many issues in PSY2100 that can act as stimuli for discussion on the Study Desk. These include: a. Clarification or extension of answers to student learning activities b. Clarification of the examples in the study materials, for example in terms of variable definitions, or interpretations of results c. Sharing and discussing the various areas of interest in psychology and the kinds of research questions relevant to those areas, or sharing examples of issues from the media that are related to psychology research d. If you come to understand a concept in a somewhat different way, or using a different example from those in the study materials, share it with the forum. Your fellow students will benefit from your insight, and you will benefit from sharing it e. Discussing your learning in this course. What are you learning well? What are you finding difficult? What is the purpose of a particular task or learning activity? f. Sharing your frustrations, but also sharing your successes. When you figure something out, let others know that you did and what you found most helpful in doing so g. Sharing your attempt at the on campus tutorial activities regardless of mode 2. There are also administrative issues that are usefully discussed on the Study Desk. They include questions concerning clarification of materials, text issues, errors in the study materials, etc. 3. You may be used to a very fast response rate to questions in your first year courses. Some of these courses are very large and have very high levels of staff support. STA2300 Data analysis, for example, has several staff allocated to it plus PALS. By contrast, this course has a much lower level of support allocated to it. As a result, the Study Desk is generally monitored every few days, and at times there may be a backlog of queries being handled. Sometimes responses will come very quickly, and at other times they may take a little longer especially if I ask someone to have a go at answering a query before I do. You may need to modify your expectations accordingly to avoid frustration.
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4. Given what I have said earlier, you need to take collective responsibility for discussing and clarifying issues rather than simply waiting for a response from me. Sometimes a response from myself can stifle discussion rather than facilitate it, so I may deliberately hold back to see what others in the course think. 5. Study Desk etiquette: There is a good history of the use of the Study Desk by students in this course. In 2011 there were around 1000 messages on the Study Desk. About half the students in the course contributed to the discussion at some point during the semester, and of course many others would have monitored the Study Desk for useful discussion without necessarily contributing. A number of students found that contributing to the Study Desk helped with their own learning. 6. This course can be a difficult, stressful, and confronting for many students. In most cases students deal with this anxiety in constructive ways and make good use of the provided support materials and discussion resources. Some students use the Study Desk to vent that anxiety in less constructive ways and on occasion students have spoken disrespectfully of myself or student peers. This is not an acceptable use of the Study Desk. When considering the most productive use of my time, I will give priority to responding to messages that constructively seek to clarify or extend knowledge of course material. 7. The Study Desk is a TEACHING space not a social space. Your interactions in this space need to be grounded within this understanding. This is important for you to understand. I treat this space like an on-campus teaching space. This is not Facebook or any other social networking site so how you communicate on those sites is not appropriate here. The Study Desk areas are learning sites and thus we all need to interact in appropriate ways. 8. You need to familiarise yourself with the following ICT policies and Codes of Practices. Failure to adhere to these policies and codes will taken seriously <http://www.usq.edu.au/ict/guidelines> 9. An analysis of previous Study Desk use shows that the best posts are those that raise a question and where the student posting the discussion has had a reasonable attempt at answering the question based on the material, or setting out the potentially confusing interpretations that require clarification. Such posts allow an elaborated discussion that not only clarifies the material but deepens understanding as well. Posts that ask an unelaborated question are less useful because they do not provide any clues to the reader about where the confusion or misunderstanding lies, and a common reply to such questions is to seek clarification about the question. The more you can elaborate the question in the first instance, the quicker and more useful will be the reply and discussion. So include page numbers, what you have read, what you understand, what you dont understand, where you think your confusion lies. Doing this allows your fellow students and myself to best help you. 10. Please make sure that you have read the next section on productive use of support from the examiner carefully. Especially read the section on how to ask questions as I often get criticised for being rude and unapproachable because I wont just give students answers to their questions. Also you need to understand that I may be the only staff member working in this course. So in order to facilitate smooth running of the Study Desk I do need you to help me out by posing questions in the appropriate way.
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Productive use of support from the examiner

There are several ways of getting support from myself and they vary in appropriateness and efficiency. As a general rule you will find the following guidelines helpful: 1. General questions about the course content, assignments, or administrative issues are best addressed to the Study Desk. I give priority to issues raised on the Study Desk because such discussion is helpful to the greatest number of student. 2. When asking questions of myself or the Study Desk I need you to ask the question in a manner that informs the reader clearly: (a) what is the problem that you are having; (b) what have you done to attempt to answer your question yourself; (c) set out your interpretation of the area that you are having problems with so that the reader can judge what it is that you know and dont know or are confused about; and (d) include as much detail and information about the problem including page numbers and text information (if the question refers to text materials) as you can. By doing this the reader (i.e., me) can best help you by providing you with an answer that is constructed specifically for you and your problem. Should you not do this Ill only ask you to do it before answering you and this inevitably delays your learning. And will frustrate you. 3. Even if you do the above I sometimes do not give you a straight answer to your question. Often Ill ask you to go back and re-read a section or ask for your thoughts on something that I pose to you that I think will help you with the ah ha! moment. Then I ask you to come back after having re-considered some old or new information and then have a go at answering your own question again. Sometimes I ask your fellow students to help you out by explaining the issue that you are having difficulty with as peer learning has been proven to be more effective than teacher driven or didactic approaches. Some students find this process (i.e., not just giving you a straight answer) very frustrating because I am asking you to be responsible for their own learning. Research strongly supports this approach, for active learning environments result in increased learning compared to passive learning environments. As this is a research course it would be remiss of me not to use learning approaches that are grounded in empirical evidence. 4. If you have a question that is more personal in nature please email or call me. If Im not available at the time, a message can be left. Be aware that at certain times in the semester the number of calls exceeds the time I have available and there may be some delay in returning your call. To make this process more efficient I suggest that you do the following: a. Talk to your SRO in the first instance. They may be able to assist you with your question. b. Provide an email address if possible. Email responses are more efficient than playing phone tag. c. Provide a clear question that can be addressed without further clarification. Vague questions such as please contact me are inefficient because they require further clarification before an answer or suggestion can be given. It should be no surprise that when under time pressure, I give priority to questions or issues I can address immediately rather than vague requests to contact someone.
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d. If you have registered a query through USQAssist or the Universitys phone or fax number (refer to Support section) and do not receive a timely reply, note that it may be because I am overwhelmed and working through the queries and/or that you have not been specific enough in your request and it has been given a lower priority. Please be patient and provide more information about your request if possible or redirect the query to the Study Desk.
Note
Please avoid using direct email contact in the first instance. Such contact is best reserved for following up issues that have been raised first on the Study Desk or are of a personal nature. Please post your message on the Study Desk first so that all students can benefit from your query and thus my answer.
Residential school
There is no residential school for this course.
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Study schedule
A study schedule has been provided to help you progress through the course. It is important that you do not fall behind as steady progress through the semester will give you the best possible chance of success.
Note
Not everything in the text readings are associated with this course. In order to streamline your readings, make sure that you are reading and noting that text information that is related to the module objectives.
Week 1
25 Feb 1 Mar
Module Scientific foundations
Activity/Reading SZZ Chapters 1 & 2 SB Module 1
Assessment
2
48 March
Independent groups designs SZZ Chapter 6 APA Chapter 1 SB Module 2
3
1115 March
Research report writing: the APA Chapters 2, 3 & 4 introduction section and IB Assignment 1 critical analysis section Survey designs SZZ Chapter 5 APA Chapter 5 SB Module 3
4
1822 March
Reminder: End of week 4 is the last date to drop S1 courses without academic or financial penalty.
5
2529 March
Research report writing: the APA Chapters 2, 6 & 7 method section IB Assignment 2 section MID SEMESTER BREAK MID SEMESTER BREAK Observation designs SZZ Chapter 4 APA Chapters 3 & 4 SB Module 4 Assignment 1: Introduction Section of an APA research report Due: 15th April 2013
6
15 April
7
812 April
8
1519 April
Reminder: End of week 8 is the last date to drop S1 courses without academic penalty.
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Week 9
2226 April
Module
Activity/Reading
Assessment
Research report writing: the APA Chapter 5 results section IB - Assignment 3 section Measures of central tendency AAC pp. xv-xvi, Chapters 1 & 2 SB Module 5
10
29 Apr 3 May
Hypothesis testing
AAC Chapters 3 & 4 SB Module 6
Assignment 2: Method Section of an APA research report Due: 3rd May 2013
11
610 May
Hypothesis testing, effect size and statistical power T-tests
AAC Chapters 5 & 6 SB Module 6 AAC Chapters 6, 7 & 8 SB Module 7
12
1317 May
13
2024 May
Correlation and prediction
AAC Chapters 11 & 12 SB Module 8
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2731 May
Chi-square tests
AAC Chapter 13 SB Module 9
Assignment 3: Results Section of an APA research report Due: 31st May 2013
15
37 June
Revision week
On-line Quiz 1 and On-line Quiz 2: Due: 7th June 2013
1617
1021 June
EXAMINATION PERIOD
SZZ = 9th edition Shaughnessy, Zechmeister & Zechmeister text APA = 6th edition APA Publication Manual AAC = 6th edition Aron, Aron & Coups text
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Assessment
Assessment Toowoomba and external offerings only
The assessment for this course consists of six assessment pieces for this course. There are three research report assignments (which equate to the first three sections of an APA style research report), two on-line Moodle quizzes that assess the statistics part of this course, and one examination that assesses the method part of the course.
Assignments 1, 2, and 3 (the first three sections of an APA style research report)
Based on student feedback in 2012, the former partial research report assignment that consisted of an introduction, method, and results section of an APA research report has been separated into three separate assignments in 2013. Yes you guessed correctly Assignment 1 is the introduction section, Assignment 2 is the method section, and Assignment 3 is the results section of an APA style research report. By doing this you will receive early feedback on your APA style adherence skills, your understanding of how research hypotheses link to particular analyses, and your understanding of research methodology. In this way you can work to improve the quality of your work across the three assignment pieces. You can do this by using the feedback you receive on earlier pieces of work and apply this to the later assessment pieces. It is also anticipated that this break down of a large assessment task will help you better manage your workload and will better introduce you to the rigours of research writing and how strict adherence to APA is an expectation not an option. With that, please make sure you read each assignment section carefully and regularly monitor the Study Desk for information about these assignments. Given the timing of these assignments, extension requests will be strictly limited to 5 days that includes the assignment due date to ensure that all students receive feedback in a timely manner. Given the spread of the assignments, I do not anticipate many assignment requests as your load is now spread across three assessment pieces and each assessment piece is quite contained.
Moodle quizzes
There are two Moodle quizzes in this course. Both assess your understanding of statistics with Moodle Quiz 2 also assessing your ability to use SPSS. These are timed Moodle quizzes and given this, it is an expectation of this course that you have reliable access to the Internet. If you do not the I strongly suggest that you contact me so that we can work together to ensure you have reliable access. Unreliable access will not be grounds for an extension on these quizzes.
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Examination
There is one exam for this course. It assesses your understanding of the method section of the course. This exam will be held in the end of semester examination period.
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On-line Moodle Quiz 1 and 2

Description On-line quiz 1 On-line quiz 2 Weighting (%) 25% 10% Due date 7 June 2013 7 June 2013
The on-line Moodle quizzes in this course are summative. This means that they do contribute to your final result (this is unlike some other courses that you may have taken where on-line quizzes are formative and thus do not contribute to your final result). The quizzes will only assess the statistical part of the course. There may be occasions where a question draws upon your methodological knowledge (e.g., a research scenario may be presented where you need to know the research design in order to answer the statistical question), however the aim of these quizzes to assess your statistical knowledge. You will only be allowed one attempt at each quiz and each quiz is a strictly timed quiz. This is because I am assessing your understanding and ability to problem solve. I am not assessing your ability to look up information in your text using the index.
Accessing the on-line Moodle quizzes

You will find the on-line Moodle quizzes on the Study Desk under the topic On-Line Moodle Quizzes. In this section you will also find a discussion forum where you can place your questions and comments about this assessment piece. I will also be placing a practice quiz in this area that has nothing to do with statistics but is a bit of fun that allows you to test out your computer and internet system to ensure that any bugs are identified and problems solved before you attempt the real assignment. I strongly recommend that all students engage in this practice quiz. Please do not to discuss the actual answers or questions on the Study Desk as different students will complete the quizzes at different times. Posting of comments or discussion will be treated as possible cheating and will be dealt with under the appropriate policy.
Purpose
The on-line quizzes has been designed to assess the following learning objectives:
demonstrate an understanding of measures of central tendency, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, Chi-Square tests, z scores, z test, t-tests, Correlation, and Regression including the appropriate selection of analysis techniques demonstrate an understanding of data screening, assumption testing, and power and effect size as they relate to the above statistical analyses use SPSS to analyse psychological research data.
Further, each on-line quiz question is directly linked to a module objective (please see the study book for module objectives).
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On-line Moodle quiz 1

This quiz consists of 25 multiple choice questions. Each question contains four response categories of which one is correct. No marks are deducted for incorrect answers. Some questions will require you to do some statistical analyses in order for you to choose the correct answer. The questions are designed to be medium to hard level questions given that this is an open book assessment. There is a mixture of applied and conceptual questions with emphasis more on application of your knowledge of statistics. There are five modules in this course that focus on statistics, these being modules five through to nine. Given this, of the 25 questions, five questions assess your knowledge, understanding, and skills associated with module 5, five questions assess your knowledge, understanding, and skills associated with module 6, and so on.
Time
Both on-line quizzes are timed quizzes. That is, each quiz will need to be completed and submitted during this time. The aim of these quizzes is not to assess your ability to look up information in a textbook. They are designed to assess your knowledge, understanding, and skills in statistics. Thus you will need to study for these quizzes in a similar way in which you would study for an exam. This is an on-line open book exam if you like. Based on the data from last year where I can access how long it took students to complete and then submit on-line quiz 1. In 2013 you have 35 minutes to complete the 25 questions. Last year the average time to complete and submit quiz 1 was 29.13 minutes so 35 minutes is ample time.
Opening and closing dates and times

On-line quiz 1 will be opened on the 24th of May at 12:05am and will close on the 7th of June at 11:55pm. Extensions are typically not permitted with Moodle quizzes as the quiz is open for two weeks and this means there is ample time to complete the quizzes. I strongly suggest you do this quiz earlier rather than later to avoid any possible last minute internet or computer problems that always seem to arise.
On-line Moodle quiz 2

This quiz consists of 10 short-answer questions. You will be presented with a research scenario and you will be asked a series of questions pertaining to this scenario that require you to analysis some data in SPSS. Thus to answer each question you will need to analyse the data and use the SPSS output to answer the questions. No marks are deducted for incorrect answers. You need to be exact in your answers and read each question carefully. For example, if you round incorrectly you will be marked incorrectly. The data that you require for on-line quiz 2 will be uploaded onto the Study Desk in the topic On-Line Moodle Quizzes five days before the assignment is due. Thus on the 3rd of June. I strongly recommend that you download the file on that day and upload it into SPSS so that you know your SPSS is working. If you do not do this and something goes wrong with SPSS such as your license expires and you only find out about this on the due date, then this will not be grounds for an extension or re-submission of the quiz. It is your responsibility to ensure that your SPSS works on your computer right up to and including the due date for quiz 2.
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Time
Both Moodle quizzes are timed quizzes. That is, each quiz will need to be completed and submitted during this time. The aim of these quizzes is not to assess your ability to look up information in a textbook. They are designed to assess your knowledge, understanding, and skills in statistics. Thus you will need to study for these quizzes in a similar way in which you would study for an exam. This is an on-line open book exam if you like. Based on the data from last year where I can access how long it took students to complete and then submit on-line Moodle quiz 2. In 2013 you have 15 minutes to complete the 10 questions. Last year the average time to complete and submit quiz 2 was 11.46 minutes, so 15 minutes is ample time.
How to approach the on-line moodle quizzes

Before you attempt each on-line quiz you should have completed the student learning activities associated with the statistics side of the course as these will provide you with practice and feedback on the module objectives. I also suggest that you go to the MyStatLab website and work through the learning activities that are relevant to the topics that we cover in this course. You will be required to analyse some data using SPSS and answer questions relating to the SPSS output in the second on-line quiz. Thus I strongly encourage you to have worked through all the SPSS exercise sections in the AAC text before attempting this quiz. All of you should have access to the study guide that accompanies the AAC text. It is found on the MyStatLab website if you have purchased the 6th edition of the AAC text. This guide also contains SPSS exercises and multiple-choice practice questions that I would encourage you to complete before attempting the two Moodle quizzes.
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Assignment 1 Introduction section of an APA report

Description Assignment 1 Weighting (%) 10% Due date 15th April 2013 please note that this is a Monday
Rationale
Understanding and doing research is paramount to studying psychology. Following systematic procedures involved in conducting research helps us to be confident about what we think is happening in the research setting. Being able to assess and evaluate research assists us in determining the value of the research results and their applicability to our own research and/or consultancy work. Further, being able to communicate to others in the field precisely what was done and why, what was found, and how the results fit in with the existing academic literature is important in psychology. Typically in psychology this is done via a research report. A complete research report includes four major components: Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. The section of the research report that this assignment focuses on is the Introduction. Assignment 2 will focus on the Method section with Assignment 3 focusing on the Results section.
Purpose of Assignment 1 Introduction section

This assignment has been designed to assess your skills and knowledge of the objectives of this course. In particular, Assignment 1 assesses the following learning objectives:

describe different research designs, identify when it is appropriate to use them, and discuss their strengths and limitations identify the concepts used in a study, the variables used to operationalise these concepts, and the control techniques used develop research questions and hypotheses to test psychological concepts and theories critically analyse published journal articles by identifying and explaining article aims, relevant method information, results, and potential methodological limitations write an introduction, method, and results section of an APA 6th edition research report.
Time
You will need to set aside approximately 10 hours for Assignment 1. The actual time that it takes you will depend on your level of skill and knowledge.
What you will need

You will need the following texts: SZZ, ACC, and APA.
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What do you need to do?

1. You will need to access the three empirical research articles that I have set for you to use for this assessment piece. Information about how to access these articles will be presented on the Study Desk. You will also use these articles in the second assessment piece. 2. You may cite one (and only one) additional source in your assignment. This source is only to be cited in the introduction to the introduction section and/or the justification section of the introduction section. The introduction to the introduction is the section where you set the research scene for the reader. The justification section is where you justify why your study needs to be conducted. You are not to critique and thus cite an additional empirical research article as identifying appropriate articles has proven to be a difficult task for students in past years. I want you to concentrate and focus your energy on critiquing rather than identifying appropriate articles. 3. You will need to review and critique the three set research articles. I will be presenting information on the Study Desk to assist you in this task. 4. You need to develop and write appropriate research question/s for your research report. 5. You need to develop and write appropriate research aim/s for your research report. 6. You need to develop and write appropriate hypotheses for the design and data presented. 7. You need to present a literature review, research questions, research aims, and research hypotheses as per APA guidelines for an introduction section of an APA research report. 8. The introduction section will also need to include an introductory paragraph (this is where you may cite one additional source) and a justification for the research (you may use your additional source here as well) section. All of the introduction section information is to be presented according to APA guidelines. APA is clear about what needs to be included in an introduction section of a research report.
What will help you?
Information relating to the research study that forms the basis of this assignment will be presented on the Study Desk by the end of Week 4. This delay is to discourage contract cheating. Unfortunately some students are engaging in contract cheating whereby they pay others to produce their assessment pieces. Best practice recommends that information about assessments be delayed as long as possible. In keeping with this practice recommendation I will post information about each assignment no mater than 4 weeks before each piece is due. Reading empirical research articles will give you an idea of how an introduction section should be written. But be careful in selecting articles as not all psychology articles are written strictly to APA guidelines. Editorial rules override APA style guidelines in many journals (yes I know that is frustrating and I share your frustration but that is how it is). In terms of what goes in the introduction section of an APA research report, you will need to follow Chapter 2 of the APA manual closely for assistance with this assignment and also follow the lecture recordings and notes that I provide. The SZZ text will help you in writing your aims and hypotheses.
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Focusing on APA content is important in Assignments 1 to 3 you need to read this carefully
For this assignment you are to concentrate on what APA recommends to include in the introduction section of an APA research report as well as remembering to adhere to overall APA format guidelines. I am including marks for general adherence to APA format in each assignment. There are specific format guidelines that APA requires for the sections that we cover and you need to adhere to these as well as adhere to the overall format guidelines that you have covered in PSY1010 Foundation psychology A.
General overview of the study

First of all, you are to take up the role of researcher in each assessment piece and pretend that you came up with the research idea, collected the presented data, and so on. You will be using the three set research articles as the basis for your study. Typically in an APA introduction you would need to identify a model/theory that explains the variables you are interested in. However as this assignment is designed to assess your understanding of the research process and not models/theories you are not required to identify and describe any model/theory in your introduction section. You may do so if you wish but this will not be marked and will not contribute to your overall mark for this assignment.
Introduction information

You will need to read Chapter 2 of the APA (2010) manual as this contains information regarding the structure of an APA introduction section. I will covered what goes in the introduction section in week 3. This lecture will be recorded. I recommend that you access this recording as soon as it is available. You will need to read the three articles that I have set.
Accessing the three set articles

You need to obtain the three articles yourself. You do this by using EBSCOhost MegaFile Premier. You need to do this now so you get used to using this psychology database! By the way do not contact the library and ask them to locate these articles for you. I have already warned the library that part of the general academic skills that this course is attempting to impart is searching databases. If you take the time to learn how to use this database now it will save you headaches in future courses. I will post more information on using this database on the Study Desk in the early weeks of the course. Please make sure you locate and download the articles as soon as Assignment 1 information is posted. Last year a number of students left the assignment until the week before it was due and had trouble accessing and downloading the articles due to technical problems at their end. Poor planning is not grounds for an extension.
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Due date and extensions

You are more than welcome to submit the assignment in before the due date. Unfortunately I cannot return these early as I need to wait until all assignments are in before I send them back. Should you need an extension for this assignment then you will need to apply for an extension as per USQ extension policy which is before the due date. This is found in the USQ Handbook under Academic Regulations 5.6 Assessment <http://policy.usq.edu.au/portal/custom/detail/assessment>. It is your responsibility to be familiar and understand this policy. Applications that do not adhere to USQ policy will not be accepted and thus not granted. If you are unclear about what you need to do regarding asking for an extension, please contact your SRO in the first instance as they will help you with this. Please note, given that you need the feedback from this assignment to complete the following assignment, the maximum extension I would give you would be until the 19th of April. Otherwise I cannot get your marked work back to you in time for you to use the feedback productively.
Note
There are NO automatic extensions granted in this course. The due date is the due date.
Assignment submission
All students are to submit their assignment via EASE.
Plagiarism
I am assuming that you are well aware of what is and is not plagiarism. If you need to brush up on your understandings please go to this website for more information <http://www.usq.edu.au/plagiarism/infostud/default.htm>. You can also talk with your SRO and they will be able to help you access USQ information regarding plagiarism.
One last point about plagiarism
Over the years I have found that the main problem students have is not understanding how to paraphrase or misunderstanding what is OWN words. To assist I have included the following as a guide: Directly using the information presented in a source as if you wrote it yourself is plagiarism (e.g., directly using information presented in an article as if you wrote it yourself is plagiarism) Changing just the tense of a phrase or sentence from a source is plagiarism. (e.g., Changing just the tense of a phrase or sentence from a source was plagiarism) Changing the order of words in a phrase or sentence is plagiarism. (e.g., Plagiarism is changing the order of words in a sentence or phrase)
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Changing a few words in sentence or phrase. (e.g., Changing some parts of a sentence or phrase).
None of the above bold information is paraphrasing information in your own words. Paraphrasing is presenting information using your OWN words. To not do this is to engage in plagiarism.
Turnitin software
All students are encouraged to run their assignments through Turnitin prior to submission in order to detect early instances of possible poor paraphrasing and amend appropriately.
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Marking criteria, PSY2100 assignment 1, 2013

Use this as a guide when completing your assignment. Do NOT submit this with your assignment. Introduction Introductory paragraph Review of relevant literature Justification for your research Aims and research hypotheses Total /30
Adherence to APA Format Not covered in other sections please make an effort in this section as it could be the difference between a B and an A. If you include a title page or reference list I will mark this and deduct marks for non-adherence to APA. You are not to include a title page or reference list as part of this assignment Total /5
Final mark
/35
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Assignment 2 Method section of an APA report

Description Assignment 2 Weighting (%) 10% Due date 3rd May 2013
Rationale
Understanding and doing research is paramount to studying psychology. Following systematic procedures involved in conducting research helps us to be confident about what we think is happening in the research setting. Being able to assess and evaluate research assists us in determining the value of the research results and their applicability to our own research and/or consultancy work. Further, being able to communicate to others in the field precisely what was done and why, what was found, and how the results fit in with the existing academic literature is important in psychology. Typically in psychology this is done via a research report. A complete research report includes four major components: Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. The section of the research report that this assignment focuses on is the Method section with Assignment 3 focusing on the Results section.
Purpose of Assignment 2 Method section

This assignment has been designed to assess your skills and knowledge of the objectives of this course. In particular, this assignment assesses the following learning objectives:

describe different research designs, identify when it is appropriate to use them, and discuss their strengths and limitations identify the concepts used in a study, the variables used to operationalise these concepts, and the control techniques used demonstrate an understanding of measures of central tendency, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, Chi-Square tests, z scores, z test, t-tests, Correlation, and Regression including the appropriate selection of analysis techniques use SPSS to analyse psychological research data write an introduction, method, and results section of an APA 6th edition research report.
Time
You will need to set aside approximately 10 hours for this assignment. The actual time that it takes you will depend on your level of skill and knowledge.
What you will need

You will need the following texts: SZZ, ACC, APA, and the SPSS software.
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1. Please use the feedback you have received from Assignment 1 when writing up this assignment. Particularly any feedback relating to your adherence to APA formatting. Not using this feedback may significantly disadvantage you in this second assignment. 2. You will need to access the assignment data that I will place on the Study Desk for this course. You only need to access the participant information at this stage. 3. You need to re-write the data collection information that will be posted on the Study Desk by the end of week 5 of the semester and present this according to APA method section guidelines. APA is clear about what information needs to be included in each sub-section of a method section. You will need to source some of the participants data from the raw data that I provide you with. See point 2 above. 4. Students in previous years have struggled with understanding the method section of and APA report because they do not activity engage in any data collection associated with their assessment. Thus based on student feedback you have the opportunity to engage in a mock data collection activity that is designed to help you write this assessment piece. You do not have to engage in this activity if you do not wish to do so. You will be encouraged to recruit one person to participate in this learning activity whereby you will recruit this person as if they were really going to participate in your study. They will fill in the questionnaires that we use in this assignment however you will not be using their data in your assignment. You will destroy their data as soon as you have entered their data onto a practice SPSS spreadsheet. More information about this task will be presented on the Study Desk as the semester progresses as at the time of writing ethical approval for this learning activity was being sought.
What will help you?

You will find information relating the second assignment posted on the Study Desk for this course by the end of week 5. Reading empirical research articles will give you an idea of how a method section should be written. But be careful in selecting articles, not all psychology articles are written strictly to APA guidelines. Editorial rules override APA style guidelines in many journals (yes I know that is frustrating and I share your frustration but that is how it is), In terms of what goes in the method section of an APA research report, you will need to follow Chapter 2 of the APA manual closely for assistance with this assignment and also follow the lecture recordings and notes.
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Focusing on APA content is important in Assignments 1 to 3 you need to read this carefully
For this assignment you are to concentrate on what APA recommends to include in the method section of an APA research report as well as remembering to adhere to overall APA format guidelines. I am including marks for general adherence to APA format in each assignment. There are specific format guidelines that APA requires for the sections that we cover and you need to adhere to these as well as adhere to the overall format guidelines that you have covered in PSY1010 Foundation psychology A.
As a reminder you are to take up the role of researcher in this assignment and pretend that you came up with the idea, collected the presented data, and so on. As I have mentioned above you will have the opportunity to recruit a participant and collect data so that you actually experience the researcher role. Remember you will not be using this data in your assignment A copy of the surveys and demographic sheet that were used to collect the data for the assignment will be uploaded onto the Study Desk for this course under the Assignment 2 section by the end of week 5 of the course. These are the surveys and demographic sheet that you are to use when you engage in the recruitment and mock data collection learning activity.
Method information
There are three sub-sections in a method section. For the participants sub-section you will need to access the raw data that I have provided to obtain much of the information that you need for this section. Other pieces of information that you need for this sub-section will be found on the Study Desk in the recruitment and data collection learning activity information section, the participant information sheet, and the consent form. Information that you need to complete the materials and procedures sub-sections will also be found on the Study Desk and on the participant information sheet and consent form. You will need to know what information you are looking for so what information is needed in each section before you start searching through these documents. Some information that you need about the scales and questionnaires that we used to collect the data will be contained in the three articles that you used in Assignment 1. You will need to read the method sections of these articles to obtain that information. Again you will need to know what information you are looking for so what information is needed in the material section before you start searching through these articles. Now please read these next points very carefully:

You must re-write the method information in your own words, putting the information in each appropriate sub-section of the method Failure to do this will be treated as plagiarism I take plagiarism very seriously and so should you.
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Where is the data for the assignment?

The data for analysis will be placed on the Study Desk for this course. It will be in the Assignment 3 section. It is raw data so you will need to enter the data into SPSS yourself. I strongly suggest that you check and re-check your data when you enter it. Incorrect data entry will result in incorrect statistical outcomes and they will be marked as incorrect. Entering raw data into SPSS is what researchers do. Hence this is why I am requiring you to do this for Assignment 2 and 3. My tip when I do it I get a colleague to read out the raw data to me so that I can concentrate on entry rather than reading. So this is your time to rope in friends or family to help you with this!

You are more than welcome to submit the assignment in before the due date. Unfortunately I cannot return these early as I need to wait until all assignments are in before I send them back. Should you need an extension for this assignment then you will need to apply for an extension as per USQ extension policy which is before the due date. This is found in the USQ Handbook under Academic Regulations 5.6 Assessment <http://policy.usq.edu.au/portal/custom/detail/assessment>. It is your responsibility to be familiar and understand this policy. Applications that do not adhere to USQ policy will not be accepted and thus not granted. If you are unclear about what you need to do regarding asking for an extension, please contact your SRO in the first instance as they will help you with this. Please note, given that you need the feedback from this assignment to complete the following Assignment 3, the maximum extension would be until the 8th of May which is a Wednesday. Otherwise I cannot get your marked work back to you in time.
Note
Plagiarism
Please see Assignment 1 information relating to plagiarism. I recognise the difficulty that students face when paraphrasing method information. It is a challenge but it can be done. You do need to work at it. Also if in doubt make sure you run Assignment 2 through Turnitin prior to submission as a check.
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Use this as a guide when completing your assignment. Do NOT submit this with your assignment. Method Participants Materials Procedures Total /33
Adherence to APA Format Not covered in other sections please make an effort in this section as it could be the difference between a B and an A. Total /2
Final mark
/35
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Assignment 3 Results section of an APA report

Description Assignment 3 Weighting (%) 10% Due date 31st May 2013
Rationale
Understanding and doing research is paramount to studying psychology. Following systematic procedures involved in conducting research helps us to be confident about what we think is happening in the research setting. Being able to assess and evaluate research assists us in determining the value of the research results and their applicability to our own research and/or consultancy work. Further, being able to communicate to others in the field precisely what was done and why, what was found, and how the results fit in with the existing academic literature is important in psychology. Typically in psychology this is done via a research report. A complete research report includes four major components: Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. The section of the research report that this assignment focuses on is the Results section.
Purpose of Assignment 3 Results section

This assignment has been designed to assess your skills and knowledge of the objectives of this course. In particular, this assignment assesses the following learning objectives:
demonstrate an understanding of measures of central tendency, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, Chi-Square tests, z scores, z test, t-tests, Correlation, and Regression including the appropriate selection of analysis techniques demonstrate an understanding of data screening, assumption testing, and power and effect size as they relate to the above statistical analyses use SPSS to analyse psychological research data write an introduction, method, and results section of an APA 6th edition research report.
Time
You will need to set aside approximately 10 hours for this assignment. The actual time that it takes you will depend on your level of skill and knowledge.
What you will need

You will need the following texts: ACC, APA, and the SPSS software.
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1. You already have accessed the data that you need for this assignment. This is because it is the same data you used in the second assignment, the method section assignment. 2. You need to choose an appropriate statistical analysis for each of your research hypotheses and then conduct these analyses on the data that you will be given. Remember you are NOT to use the data that you collected as part of the mock data collection activity. If you do use this data in your assignment you may be bought up on student misconduct charges as you would have committed a very serious breach of ethics. 3. You need to write up the results of your analysis in a research section format following APA result section guidelines.
What will help you?

By this point you should be familiar with the underlying design of your study. This assignment is focused purely on analysing and writing up the results of your analyses. Reading empirical research articles will give you an idea of how result sections should be written. But be careful in selecting articles, not all psychology articles are written strictly to APA guidelines. Editorial rules override APA style guidelines in many journals (yes I know that is frustrating and I share your frustration but that is how it is). In terms of what goes in the results section of an APA research report, you will need to follow Chapter 2 of the APA manual closely for assistance with this assignment and also follow the lecture recordings and notes. In terms of selecting the appropriate analyses and then conducting these, the AAC text will assist you in this task.
Focusing on APA content is important in Assignment 3 you need to read this carefully
For Assignment 3, you are to concentrate on what APA recommends to include in the result section as well as remembering to adhere to overall APA format guidelines. I am including marks for general adherence to APA format in each assignment. There are specific format guidelines that APA requires for the sections that we cover and you need to adhere to these as well as adhere to the overall format guidelines that you have covered in PSY1010 Foundation psychology A.
First of all you are to take up the role of researcher in this assignment and pretend that you came up with the idea, collected the presented data, and so on. You are now entering your third phase of your research study the analysis stage.
Where is the data for the assignment?

The data for analysis will be placed on the Study Desk for this course. It will be in the section Assignment 3. It is raw data so you will need to enter the data into SPSS yourself. I strongly suggest that you check and re-check your data when you enter it. Incorrect data entry will result in incorrect statistical outcomes and they will be marked as incorrect. Remember you have already entered this data as this is the data you used for Assignment 2.
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You are more than welcome to submit the assignment in before the due date. Unfortunately I cannot return these early as I need to wait until all assignments are in before I send them back. Should you need an extension for this assignment then you will need to apply for an extension as per USQ extension policy which is before the due date. This is found in the USQ Handbook under Academic Regulations 5.6 Assessment <http://policy.usq.edu.au/portal/custom/detail/assessment>. It is your responsibility to be familiar and understand this policy. Applications that do not adhere to USQ policy will not be accepted and thus not granted. If you are unclear about what you need to do regarding asking for an extension, please contact your SRO in the first instance as they will help you with this.
Note
Plagiarism
As per previous assignment sections. I wouldnt run this assignment through Turnitin. There is only one way of presenting the actual statistical result according to APA format. If you run your assignment through Turnitin it will pick up the actual numerical values as being a match.
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Use this as a guide when completing your assignment. Do NOT submit this with your assignment. Results Introductory statement Appropriate choice of statistical analyses APA Results Presentation Total /33
Adherence to APA Format Not covered in other sections please make an effort in this section as it could be the difference between a B and an A. Total /2
Final mark
/35
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The examination
Description Examination Weighting (%) 35% Due date Semester 1 exam period
The exam will only assess the method section of the course. The exam will contain four challenge questions that are similar to those in the SZZ text. Further information about the exam will be provided via the discussion forum during the semester. The following objectives are assessed in the exam: 1. describe different research designs, identify when it is appropriate to use them, and discuss their strengths and limitations 2. identify the concepts used in a study, the variables used to operationalise those concepts, and the control techniques used 3. develop research questions and hypotheses to test psychological concepts and theories. I have not provided you with access to past examination papers and I have not provided you with a practice exam due to the limited test bank that I draw upon to develop the exam. BUT The directed text and web learning activities, directed self-tests, and tutorial activities have been specifically designed to allow you to monitor your learning and understanding of the course content. These activities allow you the opportunity of on-going assessment and ongoing feedback about your progress. Further, the summary and key concepts/terms associated with each chapter in SZZ are useful guides in your learning and understanding. Dont forget to use the websites associated with the SZZ text. All of this is sufficient in assisting you to prepare for the exam.
Note for the exam

For those of you who have English as your second language you are able to bring into the exam a non-electronic translation dictionary. Please be aware of the USQ policy concerning the use of non-electronic translation dictionaries as this will be enforced by the exam supervisors.
Some final words

I hope you enjoy this course as much as you can even though it is a research methods course. You may even surprise yourself and like research methods OK you can stop laughing now . Good luck with the course. Dr Andrea Lamont-Mills Examiner Course PSY2100
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PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

Study schedule Assessment

PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

University of Southern Queensland

PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

Introduction and welcome to the course

Examiner and course leader

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PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

Why study a course on research methods?

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PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

What if Im not going to go on in psychology? Do I still have to do this?

Learning objectives of this course

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PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

Links to other courses

GDPS pathway students and STA2300

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PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

What to expect in this course from me and you

If this is your first USQ course

Using your Student Relationship Officer (SRO)

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PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

If you are not a BSCI (Psychology) or GDPS student

University of Southern Queensland

PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

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PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

You can expect me to:

University of Southern Queensland

PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

Study materials and textbooks

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PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

University of Southern Queensland

PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

Purchasing your textbooks and software

Study Desk for this course

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PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

Using the Study Desk please read this carefully

University of Southern Queensland

PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

University of Southern Queensland

PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

Productive use of support from the examiner

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PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

University of Southern Queensland

PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

Module Scientific foundations

Activity/Reading SZZ Chapters 1 & 2 SB Module 1

Independent groups designs SZZ Chapter 6 APA Chapter 1 SB Module 2

University of Southern Queensland

PSY2100 Research methods in psychology A

AAC Chapters 3 & 4 SB Module 6

Hypothesis testing, effect size and statistical power T-tests

AAC Chapters 5 & 6 SB Module 6 AAC Chapters 6, 7 & 8 SB Module 7

Correlation and prediction

AAC Chapters 11 & 12 SB Module 8

AAC Chapter 13 SB Module 9

On-line Quiz 1 and On-line Quiz 2: Due: 7th June 2013