Introduction to Research Methods II
Introduction to research methods II
Undervisere:
Jørn Ry Hansen ()
Varighed og undervisningsform:
Theoretical and practical lectures. In total 20 hours.
Fagbeskrivelse:
The main goal of the course is to introduce the students to some basic quantitative
research methods in psychology (i.e. to improve their conceptual knowledge) and to
show them how to use such methods (i.e. to improve their practical skills) in the
context of a psychological investigation (e.g. basic research, applied research,
research action, psychological evaluation and intervention). At the end of the course,
students should be able to realize and evaluate in a critical and reflective way a
quantitative psychological investigation (i.e. An empirical project in Experimental
psychology).
Teachings will be both theoretical (but illustrated with examples) andpractical (through problem solving situations and EDB lab). Students are asked toactively participate to all the sessions. They willrun basic descriptive andinferential statistics with the help of a statisticalprogram (i.e. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences – SPSS). Students are verymuch encouraged to come to the course with psychological questions or hypothesesthat could be answered or tested in a quantitative way. No maths will be taught duringthe course!
Undervisningstemaer:
The course is divided into 5 sessions of 18 hours in all plus 2 hours of consultation.
Sessions 1 & 2: Introduction to research methods and statistics in psychology &
Introduction to descriptive and inferential statistics (Jørn Ry Hansen)
During sessions 1 and 2, students will be introduced to some basic psychological
quantitative methods (e.g. History and Epistemology of such methods;
Theoretical and operational hypotheses and questions; Variables: Independent,
dependent, neutralized, controlled, confounding; Designs: Between, within and
mixed; Methods of assessment: Observation, interview, questionnaire, test; Levels of
measurement: Nominal, ordinal and interval; Descriptive statistics: Frequency, central
tendency and dispersion; Internal and external validity and reliability).
* Brace, N., Kemp, R., & Snelgar, R. (2003). SPSS for psychologists. A guide to data
analysis using SPSS for Windows (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Palgrave.
* Coolican, H.(2004). Research methods and statistics in psychology (4th ed.).
London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Chapter 1. Psychology and research, pp. 1-24
Chapter 2. Measuring people: Variables, samples, and the qualitative critique,
pp. 26-49.
Chapter 3. Use of experimental designs in psychology, pp. 54-73.
Chapter 4. Validity in experiments, quasi-experiments and non-experimental
methods, pp. 78-111.
Chapter 9. Qualitative approaches – problem with positivism, pp. 219-239.
MacMillan.
Chapter 1. Introduction, pp. 1-18.
Chapter 2. Data entry in SPSS, pp. 19-59.
Chapter 6. Data handling, pp. 117-142.
* Coolican, H.(2004). Research methods and statistics in psychology (3rd ed.).
London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Chapter 18. So what test should I use? Choosing the appropriate inferential test
for your data, pp. 541-551.
Sessions 3 & 4: Introduction to parametric statistics & Introduction to nonparametric
statistics (Jørn Ry Hansen)
During sessions 3 and 4, students will be introduced to basic univariate and bivariate
parametric and non-parametric inferential statistics (e.g. One-sample, independent and
paired t-tests, Pearson tests, chi square test).
* Brace, N., Kemp, R., & Snelgar, R. (2003). SPSS for psychologists. A guide to data
analysis using SPSS for Windows (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Palgrave
MacMillan.
Chapter 3. Tests of difference for two sample designs , pp.61-
77.
Chapter 4. Tests of correlation (Sections 1 to 3), pp. 79-92.
Chapter 5. Tests of nominal data, pp. 93-115.
Session 5: How to read and write a scientific report (Jørn Ry Hansen)
During session 5, students will be introduced to the writing and the reading of a
scientific report.
* Coolican, H.(2004). Research methods and statistics in psychology (3rd ed.).
London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Chapter 23. Planning your practical and writing up your report, pp. 616-657.
Compulsory literature (* = not in the compendium):
* Brace, N., Kemp, R., & Snelgar, R. (2003). SPSS for psychologists. A guide to data
analysis using SPSS for Windows (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Palgrave
MacMillan.
Chapter 1. Introduction, pp. 1-18.
Chapter 2. Data entry in SPSS, pp. 19-59.
Chapter 3. Tests of difference for two sample designs (Sections 1 to 6), pp.61-
77.
Chapter 4. Tests of correlation (Sections 1 to 4), pp. 79-92.
Chapter 5. Tests of nominal data, pp. 93-115.
Chapter 6. Data handling, pp. 117-142.
* Coolican, H.(2004). Research methods and statistics in psychology (3rd ed.).
London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Chapter 1. Psychology and research, pp. 1-24
Chapter 2. Measuring people: Variables, samples, and the qualitative critique,
pp. 26-49.
Chapter 3. Use of experimental designs in psychology, pp. 54-73.
Chapter 4. Validity in experiments, quasi-experiments and non-experimental
methods, pp. 78-111.
Chapter 9. Qualitative approaches – problem with positivism, pp. 219-239.
Chapter 18. So what test should I use? Choosing the appropriate inferential test
for your data, pp. 541-551.
Chapter 23. Planning your practical and writing up your report, pp. 616-657.