Department of Psychology
Contract for Psychological Research (4501), Senior Thesis (4401/4402), Senior Honors
Thesis (4601/4602), or Field Experience (4990)
Name of Student:
Supervising Faculty:
Course Number: PSYC 4501
Student Email: xxx@students.ecu.edu
Banner ID: B00
Date:
Number of Credits: 2
Semester & Year: Fall 2015
Will this be used as a replacement for another course? __________NO
If yes, enter the course number (see instructions below; must provide sufficient reason)? _______________
A separate contract must be completed for each research/thesis/field experience course taken. This contract
serves as the faculty permission form and must be presented at the time of registration. Students without
contracts will be dropped from the class roll.
The student named above agrees to complete the requirements for the research/thesis/field experience by the
end of the semester indicated above. The supervising faculty member agrees to supervise and grade the
work of the student. If this course will be used to replace another one at the same level (i.e., 4000
series), then indicate the course to be replaced and state the reason(s) why. The specific requirements
and expectations for course completion are (attach additional pages if necessary):
Title of proposed course or project:
Learning Outcomes (upon completion of this course students will be able to)
Perform basic tasks related to conducting psychological research such as:
 Locate appropriate research articles that relate to a specific research question
 Read, summarize, and critique research articles
 Efficiently locate information in an APA style formatted article
 Identify critical elements of basic research design (e.g., independent and dependent variables,
experimental and control conditions)
 Interact with research participants in a professional manner as designated by an experimental
protocol
 Recognize potential ethical concerns relevant to research (e.g., researcher responsibilities,
participant rights, security of data)
 Code behavioral and/or verbal information from qualitative research into a numerical form that can
be used for quantitative analyses
 Enter data into MS Excel or a statistical software package (e.g., SPSS)
 Conduct and/or interpret basic statistical analyses (e.g., t-test, bivariate correlation, analysis of
variance)
 Effectively communicate about research with which they have been involved
 Prepare a reference list using correct APA style
 Describe insights into personal strengths, weaknesses, and interests regarding research skills
Course Requirements (including number of hours of expected work):
 For 2 credits, expected to work 6 hours per week
 Attend weekly lab meetings with instructor (1-2 hours per week)
 Maintain daily log of hours and activities (turned in weekly)
 Maintain research journal that includes annotated bibliography (summaries of research articles),
research ideas, reflections on data collection/coding/analysis activities, and responses to prompts
 Complete the IRB ethics training modules
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Locate primary source research articles relevant to the project topic
Read articles and be prepared to discuss (asking and answering questions)
Assist with data collection (follow protocol)
Assist with data coding, data entry, and data analyses as needed
Assist with other research projects as needed
Grading scale and weighting of assignments:
 25% Attending lab meetings and active participation in discussion of articles and research projects
 25% Completing 6 hours per week of research activities and maintaining log of hours and activities
 25% Research journal (article summaries, research ideas, reflections, responses to prompts)
 25% Fulfilling data collection, coding, entry, and analysis duties in a professional and accurate
manner
Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
Quality Points
4.0
3.7
3.3
3.0
2.7
2.3
2.0
1.7
1.3
1.0
0.7
0
10-Point Scale
94-100
90-93
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
60-62
Below 60
If the above requirements have not been completed by the last day of classes during the semester for which
the student is enrolled in the course, the student will receive a failing grade (F) for the course. The
supervising faculty member may grant an incomplete (I) if the work is substantially completed but
extenuating circumstances prevent full completion by the end of the semester.
____________________________________
Signature of Student
___________________________________
Signature of Faculty Member