Psyc 481:

Research Thesis

Class Syllabus

Instructor:Dr. Wind Goodfriend

Office: SSA 204

Phone: 749-2108

Email:

Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:30-4:30 PM

You will be required to meet with the instructor once a week (see below).

Class Info:

Where: SSA 201

When: Monday evenings 6:00-9:00

This course counts toward the Psych major as an elective.

This is a Gender Studies Track course. If you want to have the course count toward

Gender Studies, you must do your project on gender issues, homosexuality, or prejudice. You must also let the instructor know your intentions in the first two weeks of class.

Text: The APA Publication Manual (or other APA writing guide).

Other readings will be passed out in class and/or made available on Angel.

Class Website:

Log in, choose Psyc 481. This site will grant you access to announcements and course documents.

Many of the materials posted to this course site are protected by copyright law. These materials are only for the use of students enrolled in this course and only for the purposes of this course. They may not be further retained or disseminated.

Objectives and Goals:

This class is designed to take a full academic year (students are expected to have completed Psyc 480: Advanced Research in the previous Fall semester). The goal of this course is that by the end, you (the students) will have completed a full-length research paper, written in APA style, based on a project you designed and for which you collected empirical data.

The goal is to emphasize the importance of research in the field, and to provide an opportunity for a real research experience, similar to what will be expected of you in graduate school. In this way, you will learn more about the graduate school experience (and therefore learn if you truly enjoy research). Hopefully, you will also be more attractive when applying to graduate schools as a result of this course.

Accommodations:Buena VistaUniversity providesreasonable accommodations through an organized process.Students desiring accommodations must follow the University's process. Forms are available at:

Please contact Donna Musel, Director of the Center for Academic Excellence (CAE) to begin this process.

Individual Weekly Meetings:

In addition to the regular evening class, each student is required to meet with Dr. Goodfriend every week to have personal mentoring time. The following times are available – in the first week of class, times will be chosen/assigned. If you need to switch times in a certain week, use this schedule to find someone to switch with you (and be sure to tell Dr. Goodfriend in advance):

TIME / STUDENT NAME
Wednesdays 1:00-1:30 / Melanie
Wednesdays 1:30-2:00 / Erika
Wednesdays 2:00-2:30 / Gwen (Honors)
Wednesdays 2:30-3:00 / Gwen (Thesis)
Thursdays 2:00-2:30 / Alex
Thursdays 2:30-3:00 / Casey
Thursdays 3:00-3:30 / Stephanie

Grading:

Your grade in this class will be discussed with you periodically throughout the semester. In addition, feedback will be provided to you on each draft of your thesis and during individual meetings. Grades will be assessed based on the following criteria:

  • Meeting deadlines
  • Quality work
  • Quality and respectful peer reviewing for classmates
  • Following directions
  • Respectful and ethical treatment of human participants in your study
  • Cooperative attitude

Schedule for Research Thesis

Week 1: Continue Data Collection

In class activity: How to “clean” data in Excel

Homework: Revise thesis Introduction & Method (from last semester), data entry

Week 2: Continue Data Collection

In class activity: Quick review of essential statistics

Homework: Continue data entry, Identify how you will test each hypothesis

Week 3: Complete Data Collection (if possible)

In class activity: Discussion of hypothesis testing, Orientation to SAS program

Homework: Clean data

Week 4: Begin Statistical Analysis

In class activity: Catch-up; special issues so far

Homework: Prepare 5 minute class presentation about results so far; continue data analysis

Week 5: Writing Results Sections

In class activity: How to write a results section

Homework: Write first draft of Results

Week 6: Revising Results

In class activity: Peer review of Results section

Homework: Revise Results, send to Dr. Goodfriend

Week 7: Writing the Discussion

In class activity: Writing a Discussion section

Homework: Write first draft of Discussion (continue to revise Results)

Week 8: Revising Discussion

In class activity: Peer review of Discussion section

Homework: Revise Discussion, send to Dr. Goodfriend

Week 9: Writing an abstract

In class activity: Overview of the projects so far, how to write an abstract

Homework: Revise entire paper, send to Dr. Goodfriend

Week 10: Preparing a Presentation

In class activity: How to present your research in 15 minutes or less

Homework: Prepare a draft of your conference poster

Weeks 11-15: Presentations

In class activities: Practice presentations for each other, revise

Homework: Practice presentations, prep any materials for possible submission to journals for

publication

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