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This is a two-quarter sequence intended to provide upper-division Psychology majors (and possibly upper division students in other Social Science Disciplines) with a background in and experience with behavioral research.
The second quarter is intended to satisfy the upper-division writing requirement. Thus, this sequence will provide Psychology majors with another option to fulfill the laboratory requirement within Psychology as well as the upper-division writing requirement.
A primary goal for the first quarter will be the production, by each student, of a written research proposal; each student will conduct his/her proposed research, write it up, and present it during the second quarter.
Substantive areas to be covered include electronic and paper tools for searching the literature, research methods - observational, survey, and, to a lesser extent, experimental - reading and understanding primary research publications, general writing techniques, specifics of the American Psychological Association (APA) writing style, data analysis, and data presentation. Students will be introduced to computer-based tools used to conduct, analyze, and present behavioral research.
Students enrolling in this course should understand basic theories and approaches in Psychology (i.e., Psychology 9A-B-C). They must have a background in statistics (i.e., Psychology 10A-B-C, Social Science 10A-B- C, Social Science 100A-B-C, or Math 2A-B and Math 7).
This course will be run as a lecture with a corequisite lab/discussion. In addition, there will be scheduled (as well as less formal) one-on-one meetings between each student and the instructor to develop the student's research ideas, to work out the data analysis approach, and to plan how the results will be presented. Students will be expected to keep up with the readings.
During the first quarter there will be several short written assignments (graded P/NP) along with two longer written assignments (a 4-5 page summary of literature located by the student on an assigned topic; a 5-10 page research proposal).
During the second quarter students will produce a 15-20 page research report describing their research project. The two longer assignments and sections of the research paper will be submitted first as P/NP drafts and then later as final documents.
There will also be mid-term examinations and, in 115A only, a final examination. Finally, students can earn extra credit by turning in short written summaries based on reading assigned research articles from a "reading pack."
115A |
115B |
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| Research proposal | 30% | Research paper | 40% |
| Literature summary | 20% | Research presentation | 15% |
| Other Assignments | 10% | Other Assignments | 15% |
| Examinations | 40% | Mid-term examination | 30% |