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Academic Goals
Departmental Learning Goals for Psych 209
By the end of this course, students will be able to:- Understand and appreciate the hallmarks of the scientific method, particularly that (a) scientific research yields evidence, not facts, and (b) skeptical inquiry is essential to evaluating scientific research. Students should extend this method by being a skeptical consumer of information.
- Understand that the field of psychology measures theoretical constructs (e.g. intelligence, empathy, conformity, self-confidence) by using operational definitions and that constructs can be operationalized and measured in multiple ways.
- Understand basic research methods including the following: (a) fundamentals of hypothesis testing; (b) fundamentals of experimental and correlational research; (c) the main types of study designs (e.g. between-groups and within-groups); (d) the advantages and disadvantages of different methods; (d) that the choice of method depends on the question posed.
- Read and analyze scientific literature in psychology with attention to the following: (a) understanding the differences between scientific writing and other forms of written communication; (b) identifying the parts of an article (e.g. introduction, methods, results, discussion), how the structure of a research article reflects the scientific method, and why this structure is useful for the dissemination of scientific knowledge; (c) extracting the following from a research article: research question, hypotheses and predictions, research design, variables studied, measurements used, validity, potential sources of bias, results, and limitations of the study.
- Apply knowledge of research methods by being able to: generate an empirical question, operationalize variables, design a study, describe results, and discuss the implications of findings.
- Use scientific writing to write about research.
- Search the research literature in psychology by using research databases, such as PsycINFO, to locate relevant sources.
- Use descriptive statistical methods in psychological research: (a) collect, manage, and summarize data, both by hand and using spreadsheet software; (b) present data both visually, with graphs, and numerically, by calculating descriptive statistics.
- Understand the key professional and legal guidelines for conducting ethical research and appreciate the importance of honesty, due care, and integrity.
