Psychology 201: Statistics
Professor Becky Wai-Ling Packard
Spring 2004
Times and Location:
Labs:
Office Hours:
Contact Information:
Reese 302: Tues/Thurs, 1:15-2:30pm (lecture); Friday 1-2pm (4th hour)
Reese 317, Thurs 3-4:50pm or Friday 9-10:50am; SPSS for Windows
207B Reese; Tuesdays 3:00-4:30pm
bpackard@mtholyoke.edu (email) and 413-538-2841 (office phone)
Graduate T.A.:
Lab Assistants:
Cheryl Lee (cherylee@mtholyoke.edu) -- 121 Reese
Carolina Acosta-Fox (cnacosta), Alex Adame (aladame), Maureen
Babineau (mebabine), Katherine Burke (kyburke), Kate Ellison (klelliso),
Christy O’Brien (ceobrien)
Texts:
Aron, A. & Aron, E. (2002). Statistics for the Behavioral and Social
Sciences: A Brief Course. Second Edition. Prentice Hall.
Course Web Site:
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/bpackard/stats/
Welcome!
You are enrolled in a statistics class for psychologists. Teachers, researchers, and psychologists
collect data and use statistics on a regular basis. Actually, people in their everyday lives do as
well. Using evidence, statistical evidence, is one way of supporting our stories and persuading
others about how we see the world. In this course, we will learn to think critically about
statistical evidence presented in newspapers, magazines, books in popular press, and research
reports, and about how we construct our own arguments using statistical evidence.
I am an educational psychologist by training. I think of people as active learners with varied
educational and life experiences. I think any type of learning is more enjoyable and effective
when students actively engage in the material, try it on, struggle with it, and become creative
with it. In this class, I will be using a combination of lecture, discussion, computer laboratory,
and problem-solving exercises to support your learning.
For this course, I have developed a series of “cases” that represent complex, current issues in
which multiple persons from different perspectives tell their stories and present their evidence on
the issue. We will critically evaluate this evidence and use the cases as a context for
understanding statistics. My hope is that the cases will provide you with a framework for
thinking about the importance and relevance of statistics in the world.
I do know that you are not all coming into this class with the same prior knowledge or comfort
level. I will do my best to recognize this and provide on-going support in your learning. The best
plan is to have a positive attitude, set goals for your learning, and be prepared to work hard!
Attitude is key—you must be willing to meet me at least halfway!
Note: During the semester, if you have a question, please refer back to this syllabus and relevant
project guidelines. If something is unclear, just ask.
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Goals for our class:
a) To read reports that incorporate statistical data and make sense of what they mean (to
become critical consumers of knowledge),
b) To learn about the variety of statistical tools and be able to call upon those tools when placed
in various situations (to become informed producers of knowledge),
c) To gain more experience with using the computer to aid in statistical analyses (to improve
our computer literacy),
d) To be able to talk and write about research that use statistics to multiple audiences (to
become familiar with APA style and to interpret results to practitioner audiences), and
e) To learn to think more critically about the meaningfulness of the arguments from various
perspectives (whether as a researcher, teacher, policymaker, psychologist, parent, etc.).
Expectations toward achieving these goals…
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Keep an open mind!
Come to class! (ready to learn…)
Read! (before class)
Do your homework!
Spend time wisely in the computer labs!
Ask questions! (go to the 4th hour, come to office hours, seek peers…)
Take advantage of all of your resources! (visit the course web site)
Check your email on a regular basis for updates!
AND most importantly—staying on top of the workload. (Falling behind = disaster!)
EVALUATION
There are many opportunities to show off your knowledge and gain points in this class.
1. Class-related participation (2 Research Credits, quizzes)= 10 points
2. Homework (5 in all) = 80 points
3. Labs (4 Lab Reports; Lab 1: 20, Lab 2: 25, Lab 3: 30, Lab 4: 25) = 100 points
4. Exams (2 exams, 100 points each)= 200 points
5. Research Proposal = 10 points
Total: 400 points
Class-related participation
From time to time, there will be in-class assignments, quizzes, or brainstorming, and for this you
will receive credit. In addition, you are required to complete 2 research credits. Please keep
track of what you complete (by gaining the signature of the researcher and name of study). When
you have completed your 2 research credits, it is your responsibility to turn in a sheet of paper
with your name and these signatures to me.
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Homework
There are 5 homework assignments due (see schedule), totaling 80 points. Homework is due on
Tuesdays at the beginning of lecture. All efforts will be made to return homework to you graded
on Friday in 4th hour. You should complete and turn in homework individually. Feel free to
consult your peers for help—during 4th hour, for example—but your end product should reflect
your own work. If you turn in your homework late, you forfeit your right to grading and
feedback. The idea is to provide you with credit for working toward your own learning. Given
the large size of the course, the grading timetable is very tight, and so I must be strict about this.
Please do not forfeit these important points in your grade and turn in your homework on-time!
Labs
We have very limited time allotted to our class for the computer lab and so it is important that
the labs take place during lab time. Clearly if you are not here, you will be unable to complete
the labs and so in that way, labs are required. Please be on-time. You can select a lab partner on a
given day to complete your labs. You are responsible for the final lab assignments being turned
in on the due date. Thus, it is important that you learn how to save in your course webspace or
bring a disk to save your work (and print out copies of output for each of you). You can write up
Labs 1-3 with a partner—turn in one lab report with both names on it. Lab 4 should be
completed individually. (Given the size of the labs you may have to share a computer to run your
analyses, but you should still complete this lab write-up individually.) (4 Lab Reports; Lab 1: 20,
Lab 2: 25, Lab 3: 30, Lab 4: 25) = 100 points. The due dates for the labs are clearly scheduled
and you are responsible for making sure they are turned in on the due date. Please do not lose
credit on these lab assignments by turning them in late.
Exams
You can earn up to 100 points on each of the two in-class exams. Some people find at a later
time (often after the exam) that something “clicks” in terms of their understanding. To this end,
there will be one retake day for each of the exams later in the semester. You will need to decide
ahead of time whether you want to sign up for the retake of the exam. Furthermore, if you decide
to take the retake of the exam, be informed that the retake score will count as the final score.
Thus, if you do poorly on the first exam, it may be in your best interest to take the retake of that
exam. However, if you want to modestly raise your grade, your best bet would be to invest extra
time in your homework and labs. Please note the days of the retake exams. These will not be
rescheduled, so please do not ask. I am providing this retake as a service to the class, and so
please make note of the scheduling. If you miss the original exam, you are not eligible for the
retake exam. Thus, please come to class when the original exam is scheduled!
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Research Proposal
Over the semester you are encouraged to think about your own research interests in the field of
psychology, neuroscience & behavior, or education. Near the end of the semester, you will be
expected to write a short research proposal about your own topic of interest. The proposal should
contain the following elements:
1. two articles on your topic drawn from these sources: newspaper, magazine clipping, web
site, or research journal—stapled to the back of your proposal
2. a summary of what you have learned about your topic (about 1 page long)
3. a set of questions that you have about your topic (about 1 page long). You may include
questions you have about the quality of the information gathered from different sources
and different stake-holders—what kinds of information would you like to learn?
4. examples of three possible studies you could conduct. Make sure that your examples
show your knowledge of at least 2 different statistical tests learned in this class. These
descriptions can be rather brief but long enough to explain what you might do, who might
be involved, what the outcome variables and grouping variables (or predictor variables)
will be, and how you will measure them. This section should total 1-2 pages.
The research proposal is due on Tuesday April 20th, in class, at the beginning of lecture.
Course Procedures
Fourth Hour
You are expected to have the fourth hour fit into your schedule so that you are able to attend.
Fourth hour will primarily be comprised of hands-on help—you are expected to bring in
questions and your homework, and the TAs will work with you (as a group or individually,
depending on who comes in) on any areas. Since the fourth hour is part of your schedule, I
strongly suggest taking advantage of it as it will help you to stay on top of the material and
clarify anything that has been unclear during the week. Students who are struggling with material
after attending labs, lectures, and fourth hour should approach me to discuss tutoring options,
and I would be happy to make suggestions to that end. The 4th hour is also a great time to work
on your homework assignment! Do not wait until the weekend (when you are alone) to start!
Finding Extra Handouts, Graded Assignments, etc.
If you miss class one day, look in the box outside of Cheryl Lee’s Office (121 Reese) and you
will find a box containing manila folders labeled appropriately to reflect the materials inside.
Procedure when you have questions about the class
If you have questions about the class (the format, concerns/suggestions about projects, want
specific suggestions for preparing), the best way to do this is to address me individually. One
way to do this is through e-mail. Another way is to talk with me after or before class. That way, I
can assess whether to raise this in the larger lecture or if this is something that you and I need to
discuss individually. If you would like to have a question on your exam or a lab re-evaluated,
you will need to construct a short note of explanation and turn it in along with your exam to me.
In doing so, I reserve the right to re-evaluate and re-grade the entire exam or lab.
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Course Web Site
The web site contains some important resources for you, including case materials. A suggestion:
Read the chapter(s) prior to class, then visit the course web site to view any Chapter Overviews
that I have saved in Powerpoint or any additional web links that may help you learn the material.
Attendance, Late Policy, etc.
If you are going to miss class, whether lecture or a computer lab, you should send me an email or
leave me a voicemail to let me know you will not be in class. I do not need to know why you are
not in class. I will expect you to check in with a peer in the class to get the notes that you missed.
Please do not email me and ask me to summarize what I taught over email. You may also come
to office hours or 4th hour to gain additional information.
Since the course revolves around the lecture and cases presented in the lectures (which are also
the center of the labs), missing class too often will eventually negatively influence your grade in
the course, and this is especially the case for computer labs. For most people, the combination of
reading the textbook, coming to lecture, labs, and 4th hour- will be effective for your learning.
Cramming everything in at the last minute will not be effective. I expect that you have read the
chapter PRIOR to coming into class and I do not plan to review the whole chapter with you.
Instead, I use the chapter as a starting point to build upon in my lectures.
Late work is strongly discouraged. Work that is not turned in on-time as scheduled is grounds for
no credit. Since you have the semester’s schedule available, it is up to you to make sure that you
follow it and communicate with me in advance if unusual circumstances arise.
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Week 1:
Jan 27, 29
Week 2:
Feb 3, 5
Week 3:
Feb 10, 12
Week 4:
Feb 17, 19
Week 5:
Feb 24, 26
Week 6:
Mar 2, 4
Week 7:
Mar 9, 11
Week 8:
Mar 16, 18
Week 9:
Mar 23, 25
Week 10:
Mar 30, Apr 1
Week 11:
Apr 6, 8
Week 12:
Apr 13, 15
Week 13:
Apr 20, 22
Week 14:
Apr 27, 29
Week 15:
May 4
Tuesday
No class
Case 1B
Chapter 1: Organizing
Data
Case 1D
Chapter 3: Correlation
HW 1 due
Case 1 E
Chapter 4: Normal
Curve; Probability
HW 2 due
Schedule
Thursday
Welcome!
Case 1A
Inventories
Case 1C
Chapter 2:
Descriptives
Chapter 3 Continued:
Regression
Review
Lab
Open lab
Lab 1: Part 1
Lab 1: Part 2
Lab 1 due
Open Session
Case 2
Chapter 5, 6, 7:
Hypothesis Testing
Case 3B
Chapter 9: T-tests for
independent
Lab 2 Due
No Class
Retake Exam 1
Spring Break!
No Lab
Case 3C
Chapter 10: ANOVA
HW 4 due
ANOVA APA
HW 5 due
Review
Case 3D
2 way ANOVA
Lab 3, Part 2
Lab 3 Due
ANOVA Review
Open Session
Exam 2
No Lab
Open Work Session
Open Work Session
Lab 4
Exam 1
Case 3A
Chapter 8:
T-tests for dependent
HW 3 due
Revisit Chapters 5-9
APA Style
Chapter 11/12:
Research Proposal Due Other Tests
More Tests Continued!
No Class
Retake Exam 2
Last day!
-Open Q & A
6
Lab 3, Part 1
Lab 4
Lab 4 Due
No Lab