Research Methods in Clinical & Positive Psychology

Research Methods in Clinical & Positive Psychology

Psychology 314

Fall 2016

Instructor: Laura Sockol, Ph.D. Class Time: Tuesday/Thursday 1:40-2:55 PM

Email: ab Time: Wednesday 9:30 AM - 12:20 PM

Phone: (704) 894-2288 Location: Library Studio D

Office: Watson 212

Office Hours: Wednesdays 2:00-4:00 PM & By Appointment

Course Overview

This course will address methodological and statistical approaches to research in clinical and positive psychology. We will begin the class with an overview of the major methodological approaches to research in these subfields and discuss ethical considerations in conducting research on psychopathology and well-being. The rest of the course will review specific research designs and corresponding statistical tests. The course will integrate both theoretical and practical approaches to research methodology and statistical analysis. All students will design and conduct an independent empirical research project based on the readings and concepts discussed in class.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe and evaluate common methodological approaches to the study of clinical and positive psychology.
• Describe, select, conduct and report statistics commonly used in clinical and positive psychology.
• Describe ethical considerations in conducting research in clinical and positive psychology, evaluate studies for potential risk, and propose solutions to address or minimize ethical risk and concerns.
• Design, conduct, and present (in oral, visual, and written form) an independent research study.

Course Prerequisites

PSYC 231/234 & PSYC 310, or permission of the instructor.

Textbook

There is no required textbook for this course. Readings are available on Moodle (

Course Requirements

1. Readings: All assigned readings should be completed before the class period for which they are assigned. Readings should be brought with you to class on the day they are assigned.

1. Class & Lab Participation: Much of the learning you do in this course will occur through discussions of relevant research articles with other students in the class. All students are expected to be active, respectful contributors to class discussions and laboratory activities. Class and lab participation, including attendance, will comprise 20% of your final grade.

1. Leading Journal Club: Each student will be responsible for leading/co-leading one class discussion (60-75 minutes) on a set of readings. Your responsibilities as journal club leader include:
2. Ensuring that all students understand the content of the day’s assigned readings, with particular attention to the study design and statistical approach.
3. Providing discussion questions and/or activities to engage the class in a discussion of the readings, with particular emphasis on evaluating methodological and statistical strengths and weaknesses and considering future research directions.
4. Facilitating class discussion.

You are strongly encouraged to meet with Professor Sockol before your journal club meeting to discuss the readings and your plans for the class. In planning to lead journal club, you should make use of the response papers that will be posted to Moodle the day before. You are not required to use PowerPoint slides or outside material for your presentation/discussion. However, if you choose to use PowerPoint slides or other resources (e.g. videos, articles, or websites), please provide Professor Sockol with a copy of your slides and links to all materials that you use during class so that I can share them with the class on Moodle.

1. Lab Assignments: Information about specific lab assignments will be provided during lab meetings. Lab assignments are due by 12:00 PM Friday the week they are assigned (unless otherwise noted). Students who are absent the day of a lab will receive an automatic extension of the due date for the lab assignment to the following Monday at 12:00 PM. Students who require a longer extension to complete a lab assignment due to absence must contact Professor Sockol to request an extension before this time.

1. Response Papers: You will write weekly 1-2 page (double-spaced) response papers addressing the empirical readings. The primary goal of these response papers is for you to discuss the methodological and statistical approach of the empirical studies you read for journal club. Further information about this assignment is available on Moodle. These papers should be posted to the appropriate Moodle forum 24 hours before journal club. You are assigned 11 response papers over the course of the semester; you will only be graded on 10 of these papers. However, there will be no extensions or make-up assignments for missing or late response papers.

1. Empirical Study – Paper, Poster & Oral Presentation: All students will design and conduct an empirical research project related to material and concepts discussed in class. Research projects will be discussed in lab meetings and conducted in research teams. Each student is responsible for writing an individual research report (12-15 pages) on your team’s study. Each team will present their research study (15-20 minutes) at the end of the semester and create a poster to share their research findings. Further information about these assignmentsis provided on Moodle and will be discussed during lab meetings.

Over the course of the semester, you will complete several assignments related to the completion of your empirical project. These include aproject proposal and IRB submission, an initial draft of your manuscript, a peer review of another student’s manuscript, and a response to your peer review. Some of these assignments will be completed and graded as group assignments (project proposal/IRB submission, final poster & presentation), while others will be individual assignments (manuscript draft, peer review, response to reviews). Further information regarding these assignments is available on Moodle and will be discussed during lab meetings.

Grading

Your grade for the course will be calculated as follows:

Participation & Discussion

Participation 20%

Leading Journal Club10%

Assignments

Lab Assignments 10%

Response Papers (10/11)10%

Empirical Project50% (Total)

Project Proposal/IRB Submission (Group)5%

Manuscript Draft 5%

Peer Review & Response to Reviews 5%

Poster (Group) 5%

Presentation (Group) 5%

Final Manuscript 25%

Grades will be assigned as follows:

A > 3.9B+3.2-3.4C+2.2-2.4D+1.2-1.4

A-3.5-3.8B2.9-3.1C1.9-2.1D0.9-1.1

B-2.5-2.8C-1.5-1.8F< 0.9

Course Policies

Academic Integrity

The Davidson College Honor Code states:

Each Davidson student is honor bound to refrain from stealing, lying about College business, and cheating on academic work. Stealing is the intentional taking of any property without right or permission. Lying is intentional misrepresentation of any form. Cheating is any practice, method, or assistance, whether explicitly forbidden or unmentioned, that involves any degree of dishonesty, fraud, or deceit. Cheating includes plagiarism, which is representing another's ideas or words as one's own. Additional guidelines for each class may be determined by its professor; each Davidson student is responsible for knowing and adhering to them. Each student is responsible for learning and observing appropriate documentation of another's work.

Plagiarism, use or performance of another person's work, collaboration on assignments that are meant to be conducted independently, and submission of work previously used for another course are violations of the Honor Code. Any suspected violation of the Honor Code will be presented to the Dean of Students, who will determine whether the incident will be forwarded to the Honor Council.

Clear guidance will be provided regarding which components of your empirical project can be completed in collaboration with your other team members and which components must be completed independently. If you have questions about whether collaboration is permitted or whether an interaction would be considered collaboration, please speak with Professor Sockol.

Attendance

Class discussions and lab meetings will be one of the main forums in which your learning in this class will take place. Because of this, attendance is required and absences will affect your final grade. You may miss up to three class/lab meetings without penalty. However, further absences will result in a loss of points from the Participation component of your grade. If possible, please notify Professor Sockol of absences in advance. This is especially important if you will be absent when you are scheduled to lead journal club.

Laptops & Technology

Because this is a discussion-based class, I prefer that you not use your laptop to take notes or review readings during lectures and journal club discussions.You may use a tablet or e-reader in lieu of printing hard copies of the readings. If you choose to do so, please limit your use of the tablet/e-reader during class time to viewing the readings.

Cellular phones should be silenced during class meetings. If you need to leave your phone on for any reason, please notify Professor Sockol at the beginning of class.

Late/Missing Work

Response papers and lab assignments will not be accepted for credit after posted deadlines. All other assignments will receive a one-step deduction (e.g., A to A-) for each 8 hour period after the deadline they are submitted.

Students who are absent the day of a lab meeting will receive an automatic extension of the due date for the lab assignment to the following Monday at 12:00 PM. Students who require a longer extension to complete a lab assignment due to absence must contact Professor Sockol to request an extension before this time.

Students with Disabilities & Other Needs

Students who require accommodations are encouraged to meet with Nance Longworth, Coordinator for Academic Access and Disability Resources, as soon as possible. If you will require accommodations for this course, please contact Professor Sockol to set up an appointment so that we can discuss your needs.

If you will miss class due to religious observance, please notify Professor Sockol at the beginning of the semester and plan accordingly (e.g., do not sign up to lead discussion on a holiday you plan to observe).

Submitting Assignments

All response papers should be submitted to the appropriate forum on Moodle ( before the posted deadline. I prefer that other assignments be submitted via email to . If you need to submit a hard copy, please leave your assignment in my mailbox in the Psychology Department main office (Watson 108). Please do not slide papers under my office door!

Course Schedule

Note. Modifications to the syllabus, reading list or assignments may be made during the course of the semester. Students will be notified in advance of any changes to the syllabus.

Week 1: Course Introduction / 8/23: Course Introduction
8/24: Lab – Positive Interventions
8/25: A Crash Course in Positive Psychology
Week 2: Research Methods Overview / 8/30: Research Designs
8/31: Lab – Data Entry & Data Management
9/1: Threats to Validity
Week 3: Developing Research Questions / 9/6: Statistics Overview
9/7: Lab – Lab Tour & Brainstorming Lunch
9/8: Library Workshop
Week 4: Research Ethics / 9/13: Ethics in Clinical Research
9/14: Lab – HSIRB Training
9/15: Project Proposal Workshop
Week 5: Descriptive Epidemiology / 9/20: Psychiatric Epidemiology
9/21: Lab – Project Proposal Revisions
9/22: Journal Club
Week 6: Assessment & Measurement / 9/27: Methods of Assessment
9/28: Lab – Assessment & Measurement
9/29: Journal Club
Week 7: Observational Research I / 10/4: Observational Research Designs
10/5: Lab –FREE LAB PERIOD
10/6: Journal Club
Week 8: Observational Research II / 10/11: NO CLASS
10/12: Lab – Cross-Sectional Data Analysis
10/13: Journal Club
Week 9: Longitudinal Research / 10/18: Longitudinal Research Designs
10/19: Lab – Longitudinal Data Analysis
10/20: Journal Club
Week 10: Quasi-Experimental Research / 10/25: Quasi-Experimental Research Designs
10/26: Journal Club
10/27: NO CLASS
Week 11: Experimental Research / 11/1: Experimental Research Designs
11/2: Lab – Multiple Regression
11/3: Journal Club
Week 12: Treatment Research I / 11/8: Treatment Research
11/9: Lab – Presenting Research Findings
11/10: Journal Club
Week 13: Mediation & Moderation / 11/15: Mediation & Moderation
11/16: Lab – Peer Review
11/17: Journal Club
Week 14: Treatment Research II / 11/22: Journal Club
11/23: NO LAB
11/24: NO CLASS
Week 15: Meta-Analysis / 11/29: Meta-Analysis
11/30: Lab – Skype Discussion, Dr. Schueller
12/1: Journal Club
Week 16: Course Wrap-Up / 12/6: Final Class Meeting
12/7: Research Symposium & Poster Session

Assignment List

Note. All response papers are due Wednesday at 1:40 PM, unless otherwise noted. All lab assignments are due Friday at 12:00 PM, unless otherwise noted.

Varies / Leading Journal Club
8/24 (In-Class) / Lab Assignment 1: Positive Interventions Data
8/31 (Wednesday, 9:30 AM) / Lab Assignment 2: Data Collection
9/2 / Lab Assignment 3: Data Entry & Data Management
9/16 / Lab Assignment 4: HSIRB Training Certificate
9/19, 5:00 PM / Empirical Project Proposal Due
9/21 / Response Paper 1: Psychiatric Epidemiology
9/23, 5:00 PM / IRB Submission Deadline
9/28 / Response Paper 2: Assessment & Measurement
9/30 / Lab Assignment 5: Assessment & Measurement
10/5 / Response Paper 3: Observational Research I
10/12 / Response Paper 4: Observational Research II
10/14 / Lab Assignment 6: Cross-Sectional Data Analysis
10/19 / Response Paper 5: Longitudinal Research
10/21 / Lab Assignment 7: Longitudinal Data Analysis
10/25 (Tuesday, 9:30 AM) / Response Paper 6: Quasi-Experimental Research
11/2 / Response Paper 7: Experimental Research
11/4 / Lab Assignment 8: Multiple Regression
11/9 / Response Paper 8: Treatment Research I
11/11 / Lab Assignment 9: Poster Draft
11/16 / Response Paper 9: Mediation & Moderation
11/16, 5:00 PM / Manuscript Draft Due
11/18 / Lab Assignment 10: Peer Review
Week of 11/21 / Writing Conference with Professor Sockol
11/21 (Monday, 1:40 PM) / Response Paper 10: Treatment Research II
11/22, 5:00 PM / Peer Review Due
11/30 / Response Paper 11: Meta-Analysis
11/30, 5:00 PM / Deadline to Submit Poster to ITS
12/7 / Research Symposium & Poster Session
12/7, 5:00 PM / Final Manuscript & Response to Reviews Due

Weekly Topics, Readings & Assignments

Note: Modifications to the syllabus, reading list or assignments may be made during the course of the semester. Students will be notified in advance of any changes to the syllabus.

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Week 1: Course Introduction

Tuesday August 23Course Introduction

Wednesday August 24Lab: Positive Interventions

Thursday August 25A Crash Course in Positive Psychology

Seligman, M.E.P. & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14.

Note: You will be assigned one of the following readings:

Cohen, S., Doyle, W. J., Turner, R. B., Alper, C. M., & Skoner, D. P. (2003). Emotional style and susceptibility to the common cold.Psychosomatic Medicine,65(4), 652-657.

Rader, N., & Hughes, E. (2005). The influence of affective state on the performance of a block design task in 6-and 7-year-old children.Cognition & Emotion,19(1), 143-150.

Staw, B. M., Sutton, R. I., & Pelled, L. H. (1994). Employee positive emotion and favorable outcomes at the workplace.Organization Science,5(1), 51-71.

Week 2: Research Methods – An Overview

Tuesday August 30Research Designs

Kazdin, A. E. (2016). Methodology: What it is and why it is so important. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Methodological Issues & Strategies in Clinical Research (pp. 3-21). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Wednesday August 31Lab: Data Entry & Data Management

Thursday September 1Threats to Validity

Finger, M. S. & Rand, K. L. (2003). Addressing validity concerns in clinical psychology research. In M. C. Roberts & S. S. Ilardi (Eds.), Handbook of Research Methods in Clinical Psychology (pp. 13-30). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

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Week 3: Developing Research Questions

Tuesday September 6Statistics Overview

Kazdin, A. E. (2003). Drawing valid inferences II: Construct and statistical conclusion validity. In Research Design in Clinical Psychology (pp. 55-81). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

 Read pp. 66-77

Wednesday September 7Lab: Lab Tour & Brainstorming Lunch

Kazdin, A. E. (2016). Beginning the research process: Key concepts that can guide a study. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Methodological Issues & Strategies in Clinical Research (pp. 29-53). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Thursday September 8Library Workshop

Week 4: Research Ethics

Tuesday September 13Ethics in Clinical Research

American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct.

Emanuel, E., Abdoler, E. & Stunkel, L. (2016). Research ethics: How to treat people who participate in research. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Methodological Issues & Strategies in Clinical Research (pp. 513-523). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Wednesday September 14Lab: Protecting Human Subjects Training

Thursday September 15Project Proposal Workshop

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Week 5: DescriptiveEpidemiology

Monday September 19 Project Proposal Due 5:00 PM 

Tuesday September 20Psychiatric Epidemiology

Friis, R. H. (2010). Descriptive epidemiology: Patterns of disease – person, place, time. In Epidemiology 101 (pp. 65-88). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Kessler, R. C. (2000). Psychiatric epidemiology: Selected recent advances and future directions. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 78, 464-474.

Wednesday September 21Lab: Project Proposal Revisions

Thursday September 22Journal Club: Psychiatric Epidemiology

Diener, E., & Diener, C. (1996). Most people are happy.Psychological Science, 7(3), 181-185.

Diener, E. & Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13(1), 81-84.

Myers, D. G., & Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy?Psychological Science,6(1), 10-19.

Friday September 23 IRB Submission Deadline 5:00 PM 

Week 6: Assessment & Measurement

Tuesday September 27Methods of Assessment

Kazdin, A. E. (2016). Selecting measures for research investigations. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Methodological Issues & Strategies in Clinical Research (pp. 205-226). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Wednesday September 28Lab: Assessment & Measurement

Thursday September 29Journal Club: Assessment & Measurement

Jackowska, M., Dockray, S., Hendrickx, H., & Steptoe, A. (2011). Psychosocial factors and sleep efficiency: Discrepancies between subjective and objective evaluations of sleep.Psychosomatic Medicine,73(9), 810-816.

Pilcher, J. J., Ginter, D. R., & Sadowsky, B. (1997). Sleep quality versus sleep quantity: Relationships between sleep and measures of health, well-being and sleepiness in college students.Journal of Psychosomatic Research,42(6), 583-596.

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Week 7: Observational Research I

Tuesday October 4Observational Research Designs

Kazdin, A. E. (2016). Experimental & observational designs: An overview. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Methodological Issues & Strategies in Clinical Research (pp. 155-180). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Read pp. 167-178

Wednesday October 5FREE LAB PERIOD

Thursday October 6Journal Club: Observational Research I

Gordon, R. A. (2008). Attributional style and athletic performance: Strategic optimism and defensive pessimism.Psychology of Sport and Exercise,9(3), 336-350.

Seligman, M. E., & Schulman, P. (1986). Explanatory style as a predictor of productivity and quitting among life insurance sales agents. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 50(4), 832-838.

Week 8: Observational Research II

Tuesday October 11NO CLASS

Wednesday October 12Lab: Cross-Sectional Data Analysis

Thursday October 13Journal Club: Observational Research II

Iyengar, S. S., Wells, R. E., & Schwartz, B. (2006). Doing better but feeling worse:Looking for the “best” job undermines satisfaction.Psychological Science,17(2), 143-150.

Polman, E. (2010). Why are maximizers less happy than satisficers? Because they maximize positive and negative outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 23, 179-190.

Schwartz, B. & Ward, A. (2004). Doing better but feeling worse: The paradox of choice. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive Psychology in Practice (pp. 86-104). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Read pp. 91-93

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Week 9: Longitudinal Research

Tuesday October 18Longitudinal Research Designs

Schmidt, K. R. T. & Teti, D. M. (2005). Issues in the use of longitudinal and cross-sectional designs. In D. M. Teti (Ed.), Handbook of Research Methods in Developmental Science (pp. 3-20). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Wednesday October 19 Lab: Longitudinal Data Analysis

Thursday October 20Journal Club: Longitudinal Research

Danner, D. D., Snowdon, D. A., & Friesen, W. V. (2001). Positive emotions in early life and longevity: Findings from the nun study. Journal of Personality Social Psychology, 80(5), 804-813.

Harker, L., & Keltner, D. (2001). Expressions of positive emotion in women's college yearbook pictures and their relationship to personality and life outcomes across adulthood. Journal of Personality Social Psychology, 80(1), 112-124.