Quantitative Methods 1
Psychology 21621 Section 005 Call # 15568
Fall 2007
Tuesday & Thursday 2:15pm - 3:30 pm
Kent Hall Addition, Rm. 101
Instructor:
Michael Moore
Office:
Kent Hall (not the Addition, the main Kent Hall Building),
Rm. 267
E-mail:
mtmoore1@kent.edu
E-mail is probably the single best way to reach me, as I tend to
check it obsessively. However, for other than the simplest
questions about course mechanics, etc. it is better to catch me
during Office Hours than my having to compose a dissertationlength e-mail reply.
Office Hours:
Tuesday & Thursday 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Also by appointment. These office hours are preliminary and may
need to be changed. Any changes will be announced in class.
Voicemail:
(330) 672-8888, then press (*), then dial extension 80178
Web Page:
http://www.geocities.com/shinmoore/teaching.html
You can download all lectures from here and are encouraged to do
so before each class.
Required Text:
Howell, D. C. (2004). Fundamental Statistics for the Behavioral
Sciences (5th Edition). Pacific Grove, CA: Duxbury (ISBN:
0534399517).
The book comes with a CD that includes the answers to selected
problems in the test, so a separate Student Solutions Manual is not
necessary.
Optional Text:
Bobrow, J. (2001). CliffsQuickReview: Algebra I. New York:
Wiley (ISBN: 076456370X).
Required Materials: Calculator with standard arithmetic functions (add, subtract,
multiply, and divide), exponential functions, and a square root
function.
A graphing calculator is neither required nor is it recommended.
Description: This course serves as an introduction to the study of quantitative
(statistical) methods in psychology. Through lecture, class discussion, homework, and
the text, students will be introduced to fundamental concepts and theories related to the
use of quantitative methods in psychological research. Students will be encouraged to
explore how quantitative methods and statistics impact both the study of psychology in
particular and their own lives in general. Consequently, this course is designed to help
you: 1) understand and perform basic statistical tests common to psychological research;
2) determine which statistical tests are appropriate for a variety of situations; 3) prepare
you for more advanced courses in quantitative methods and statistics. Furthermore,
through the development of these analytical skills, it is expected that you will become a
more effective consumer of information in this course, future courses, and your everyday
life.
The course is designed not to be as mathematically-intensive as introductory
Statistics courses are traditionally. Modern psychological researchers have a thorough
understanding of the benefits and weaknesses of the statistical tests they use. However, as
statistics have become more and more complex, it is no longer practical or even feasible
for modern psychologists to understand most statistics on the level of basic mathematics.
Do not take this to mean that you will not need to do math for this course! Most of the
math at the level of this course is simple enough that it is feasible and helpful for you to
understand it. I simply mean to point out to you how this course may be different from
courses older classmates of yours have taken, or from your peers in other sections of this
course.
Class Attendance and Participation: Class attendance is not mandatory as I will not be
taking attendance but it is strongly recommended. Class attendance is one of the best
predictors of performance in any course, but particularly in a course such as this, where
concepts build upon one another sequentially. Otherwise said, if you miss a week of
lecture, you may find yourself getting behind very quickly and not being able to
understand the material that comes afterward. This can easily snowball into an inhuman
amount of catch-up work.
One of my primary goals in this class (aside from teaching Statistics) is to provide
an atmosphere of open communication between student and teacher. I want you to feel
comfortable coming to Office Hours to ask questions, and both inform me of things that
work particularly well, or don’t work at all, in regards to the course. I am by no means
under the delusion that I am infallible in my role as your instructor, and want to tailor
how I teach to the dynamics of a particular group of people. In service of this goal,
students are strongly encouraged to ask questions and to make appropriate comments in
order to improve their understanding of the material. I cannot address concerns you may
have if I am unaware of them.
While the class is in excess of 50 people, I’ve (unfortunately) found that fewer
than this number attend class on a daily basis. Therefore, it is both possible and
preferable that I learn the names of those who regularly attend class. To accomplish this,
I ask that you remind me of your first name when asking a question, at least during the
first few weeks until I’ve learned your name.
Although much of the course material may be extracted from the text, lectures
will incorporate material not found in the text book. I will try to make notes available on
my website prior to lecture, so that inordinate amounts of class time are not spent writing
down verbatim transcripts of what I said. However, the notes will be in outline format, to
both encourage students to come to class and to independent thinking on the subject-
matter. Students are responsible for all material covered in both the lecture and the
assigned portions of the text. I will also assume that each student has read the material in
the textbook that we will cover in class before that class period so that time in class is not
spent going over concepts that the student can get from doing their reading.
Homework: Throughout the semester, homework will be assigned for each chapter and
will be worth 25% of your final grade. You will have several days to complete each
homework assignment. Homework is due at the beginning of class on the assigned due
date—no late homework will be accepted. Homework assignments will be graded as 1 or
0. A 1 is earned when homework is legible, complete, shows all work, and shows that an
effort was made to solve the problems, even if the correct answers were not found. You
are free to collaborate on homework assignments with your classmates, but each student
must turn in his/her own, handwritten, assignment. However, you are strongly
discouraged from simply copying another student’s homework. Copying homework is
not an effective means of mastering the material and will likely be reflected in poor
performance on exams.
Examinations: There will be three exams, each worth 25% of your final grade. Exams
will consist of a mixture of short-answer questions and statistical problems. You must
show your work where appropriate on exams; answers are NOT enough! Unless
otherwise announced in class, exams will cover the topics as indicated in the tentative
course outline. Although exams will not be cumulative per se, material covered on one
exam may build upon the material covered on previous exams. You will be responsible
for the information presented during lectures as well as the information contained within
the text. Students are responsible for bringing pencils and calculators to exams.
You should bring your KSU ID to exams as you may be asked to present it.
Students may not retain copies of exam questions. Do not arrive at an exam late—once
the first student has completed the exam, no one else may start the exam.
Make-Up Exams: Make-up exams will be given only in emergency situations and with
adequate documentation (e.g., a written note from a physician). If a student is unable to
take an exam on the scheduled date because of an emergency, the student must notify the
instructor in advance, or as soon as circumstances would possibly allow. The instructor
reserves the right to determine the adequacy of the emergency and associated
documentation prior to granting students permission to take make-up exams. You are
responsible for contacting me in order to make arrangements for a make-up exam. If an
exam is missed and no make-up exam is taken, a zero will be given for that exam.
Final Grade: Your grade for the course will be computed as follows:
Exam 1
Exam 2
Final Exam
Homework
25%
25%
25%
25%
Extra Help: Students enrolled in this course are eligible for tutoring assistance through
the Academic Success Center. If you have any concerns about your math preparation for
this course, you are strongly urged to sign up for these services. You can sign up to
receive tutoring twice a week for all or part of the semester. Please visit the Academic
Success Center to sign up (Michael Schwartz Center, Rm. 207). There are a limited
number of tutoring spots that are available on a first come/first served basis. There will
also be tutoring available on a drop-in basis Monday evenings from 7pm – 10pm in
Stopher Hall.
Academic Dishonesty: I’ve tried to structure the course so that any appropriately
motivated student can succeed by doing a reasonable amount of work. Students caught
cheating on exams will be dealt with severely, according to with university regulations.
Students with Disabilities: University policy 3342-3-18 requires that students with
disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course
content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact
me at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom
adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through Student
Accessibility Services. You can contact them by calling 330-672-3391, visit their offices
in the DeWeese Student Health Center, or visit www.registrars.kent.edu/disability/ for
more information on registration procedures.
Lecture and Reading Outline: This following outline serves as a tentative guide since
dates for particular lecture topics can only be approximate and because material may be
added or deleted as necessary. Again, listed exam dates are only approximate and may
be subject to change. If changes to exam dates are made, they will be announced in class
as soon as possible, but in any case at least a week prior to the exam date. As per
university regulations, please be vigilant about checking your Kent e-mail (check at
least once every three days or so) as announcements about alterations to the syllabus
may be made via this medium
Course Outline
Date
Topic
Text Chapter
T 8/28
Course Overview
None
Th 8/30
Introduction to Statistics
Ch. 1
Recommended Additional Reading: Cook and Reichardt
T 9/4
Basic Concepts
Ch. 2
Th 9/6
Graphing Data
Ch. 3
T 9/11
Measures of Central Tendency/Variability
Ch. 4/5
Th 9/13
Measures of Variability
Ch. 5
T 9/18
The Normal Distribution
Th 9/20
Review for Exam #1
T 9/25
Exam #1
Th 9/27
Sampling Distributions
Ch .8
T 10/2
Hypothesis Testing
Ch. 8
Th 10/4
One-Sample T-Tests
Ch. 12
T 10/9
One-Sample T-Tests
Ch. 12
Th 10/11
Matched-Sample T-Tests
Ch. 13
T 10/16
Independent-Samples T-Tests
Ch. 14
Th 10/18
Power and Effect Size
Ch. 15
Required Additional Reading: Cohen’s Power Primer
T 10/23
Review for Exam #2
Th 10/25
Ch. 6
Exam #2
T 10/30
One-Way ANOVA
Ch. 16
Th 11/1
One-Way ANOVA
Ch. 16
T 11/6
One-Way ANOVA
Ch. 16
Th 11/8
Two-Way Factorial ANOVA
Ch. 17
T 11/13
Two-Way Factorial ANOVA
Ch. 17
Th 11/15
ABCT – CLASS CANCELLED
T 11/20
Two-Way Factorial ANOVA
Th 11/22
NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING RECESS
Th 11/27
Two-Way Factorial ANOVA
Ch. 17
T 11/29
Correlation
Ch. 9
Ch. 17
Th 12/4
Correlation
T 12/6
Review for Final Exam
Ch. 9
Final Examination: Wednesday, 12/12/07 from 12:45 pm – 3:00 pm,
Kent Hall Addition, Rm. 101
Please note: Any changes to this syllabus will be announced in class. Please refer to
the course website for an updated syllabus should changes be made.