PSY 232 : Research Methods in Psychology
The main purpose of this course is to help students develop the skills and knowledge necessary to become informed critics of psychological research reported in scholarly journals and in the media. Emphasis will be placed on using scientific reasoning to interpret, design, and critique research from diverse areas of psychology. Topics covered include: identifying and creating appropriate research hypotheses; examining ethical issues in psychological research; acquiring skills in the design of descriptive, correlational, and experimental research; developing familiarity with the psychological literature; and creating an original research proposal in American Psychological Association publication style. Pre-requisite: PSY 230 with a minimum grade of "C". Three lecture hours per week.
Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Critical Thinking, Information Literacy and Scientific Reasoning and Discovery.
Course Outcomes
By the end of the course students will be able to:
1. Articulate the value of the scientific method and evidence-based inquiry, as compared other forms of inquiry.
2. Use scientific reasoning to interpret, design, and critique basic psychological research, using concepts such as: research, design, reliability, validity and sampling.
3. Evaluate the appropriateness of statistical analyses used for various psychological research.
4. Demonstrate comprehension of the APA ethical guidelines and principles that guide psychological research.
5. Exhibit information literacy, including locating scholarly psychology sources, critiquing the quality of the sources, and summarizing the information that is accessed.
6. Demonstrate competence in writing using APA style, including ability to write a logical scientific argument and present information using a scientific approach.