Research Design & Stats (PSYC 5320 – 261) Spring 2023

REQUIRED TEXTS

Christensen, L. B., Johnson, R. B., Turner, L. A. (2020). Research methods: Design and analysis (13th ed.). Hoboken, NJ. Pearson (TOC; ISBN-13: 9780135719305).
Navarro, D.J., & Foxcroft, D.R. (2022). Learning statistics with jamovi: A tutorial for psychology students and other beginners (Version 0.705). DOI: 10.24384/hgc3-7p15. (Download it here & visit jamovi community resources).
Scientific Journal Articles: TBA (See Evaluation below)

STATISTICAL SOFTWARE

Free Computer Programs (Class and Laboratory will emphasize Jamovi): JASP, Jamovi, and PSPP which can be downloaded for Windows, Mac, and Linux users, and DATABASES.

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this course you will

• Critically interpret and understand the principles and logic in conducting psychological research.
• Formulate a theoretically and empirically sound research idea.Compose a literature review or a research proposal in APA style
• Critically read and interpret the methods and results section of scientific research articles.

As rightly pointed out by Linden (2007), I will Imagine that [my] audience has [some] knowledge [Research Design and Statistics] but infinite intelligence (Prologue, The accidental mind: How brain evolution has given us love, memory, dreams, and god).

GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

• Student will understand concepts in design and statistical research.
• Student will conduct statistical analysis of selected data and correctly report what the analysis indicates.
• Student will formulate a coherent thesis proposal which is amenable to scientific and statistical scrutiny.
• Student will write an appropriate results section of a report summarizing statistical results.
• Student's email response policy = 24/48 hour time interval.

• There will be one midterm and a final exam each worth 100 points consisting of essay questions and multiple choice questions. Final Examination will be comprehensive.
• Class will consist of a mixture of lectures, discussions, and class activities (using Jamovi/JASP). Active class discussion/participation is required.
• Students will be much more prepared for lively discussion during the classroom time if they have read the assigned material prior to the time in which it will be addressed in class.
• Students are EXPECTED to be familiar with the basic procedures of data entry, sorting, and basic statistical analysis in jamovi (see Navarro & Foxcroft,  2022, introductory chapters).
• Attendance is not only mandatory, but crucial for this course to function well. You will be allowed only one (1) absence. More than one (1) absence, will result in heavy penalties (e.g., dropping a whole letter grade).
• Class starts on time. All electronic devices should be turned off and put away, unless the activity (e.g., taking notes) warrants it.
• Please silence your cell phone and do not make calls, or text during class. If you have a personal, urgent matter for which you need to be on call, please let your professor know in advance.
• It is expected that you will neither give nor receive any unauthorized aid (defined as, but not limited to, the use of your notes, textbooks, the Internet, or people) for all tests and assignments in this class, when applicable.

ASSIGNMENTS

• Students will select two recently published empirical research articles from the field of psychology (or related field) to critically evaluate and review during class discussions.
• By 10:00 AM of every Tuesday, submit a pdf, .docx, or .odt document to BlackBoard, as attachment, with at least five discussion points (~700 – 800 words) related to the broad themes of the readings from your textbook and readings. Discussion points should be empirical/ theoretical implications raised by the material that suggest creative connections to other issues, or follow-up experiments. Comments must reveal thoughtful reflection on the material (Discussions points are part of your Participation evaluation). 
• A 5,000–6,250 word (~20-25 pages) research proposal of a psychological issue is required. This assignment is worth 100 points, and it should have at least 20 references. Proposal (APA Style, 7th ed.) is due April 30 at 11:59 PM. Psychology Today and Internet articles are not valid references. This paper will be an independent project (e.g., experiment, replication of existing study, new study) related to your field of interest. Reference section should only include articles that you have read and that are properly cited in the body of the paper.
• An academic presentation (15–20 minutes) will accompany this proposal.

SUMMARY

• Examination & Final                                                    @ 100 & 100 points= 200 points
• Participation & Attendance                                         @ 200 & 50 points = 250 points
• Research Report & Presentation                                @ 100 & 100 points = 200 points

Total possible points:   650 pts.
   A = 90-100%, B = 80-89%, Unsatisfactory = 79% and below

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES:

NOTE: The above schedule and procedures in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances.

Texas A&M International University

Course Policies (Last Revised:  December 20, 2021)

Students are strongly encouraged to get fully vaccinated and to get booster shots after an appropriate number of months.  Students are also strongly encouraged to wear masks when entering buildings or when congregating with other students in close proximity outdoors.  Maintaining at least 3 feet of social distance with others is also highly recommended.  TAMIU offers free COVID testing.

Class Attendance Required

With the exception of online courses, students are expected to attend every class in person and to complete all assignments. If you cannot attend class, it is your responsibility to communicate absences with your professors.  The faculty member will decide if your excuse is valid.  According to University policy, acceptable reasons for an absence (physical or virtual), which cannot affect a student’s grade, include:

• Participation in an authorized University activity.
• Death or major illness in a student’s immediate family.
• Illness of a dependent family member.
• Participation in legal proceedings or administrative procedures that require a student’s presence.
• Religious holy day.
• Illness that is too severe or contagious for the student to attend class.
• Required participation in military duties.
• Mandatory admission interviews for professional or graduate school which cannot be rescheduled.

Students are responsible for providing satisfactory evidence to faculty members within seven calendar days of their absence and return to class. They must substantiate the reason for absence. If the absence is excused, faculty members must either provide students with the opportunity to make up the exam or other work missed or provide a satisfactory alternative to complete the exam or other work missed within 30 calendar days from the date of absence. Students who miss class due to a University-sponsored activity are responsible for identifying their absences to their instructors with as much advance notice as possible.  The right to view recorded class meetings depends upon receiving an excused absence from the faculty member teaching the class.

TAMIU Honor Code:  Plagiarism and Cheating

As a TAMIU student, you are bound by the TAMIU Honor Code to conduct yourself ethically in all your activities as a TAMIU student and to report violations of the Honor Code. Please read carefully the Student Handbook Article 7 and Article 10 available at https://www.tamiu.edu/scce/studenthandbook.shtml.

We are committed to strict enforcement of the Honor Code.

Violations of the Honor Code tend to involve claiming work that is not one’s own, most commonly plagiarism in written assignments and any form of cheating on exams and other types of assignments.

Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s work as your own. It occurs when you:

Borrow someone else’s facts, ideas, or opinions and put them entirely in your own words, you must acknowledge that these thoughts are not your own by immediately citing the source in your paper. Failure to do this is plagiarism.

• Borrow someone else’s words (short phrases, clauses, or sentences), you must enclose the copied words in quotation marks as well as citing the source. Failure to do this is plagiarism. 3) Present someone else’s paper or exam (stolen, borrowed, or bought) as your own, you have committed a clearly intentional form of intellectual theft and have put your academic future in jeopardy. This is the worst form of plagiarism.

Here is another explanation from the 2010, sixth edition of the Manual of The American Psychological Association(APA):

• Penalties for Plagiarism: Should a faculty member discover that a student has committed plagiarism, the student should receive a grade of 'F' in that course and the matter will be referred to the Honor Council for possible disciplinary action. The faculty member, however, may elect to give freshmen and sophomore students a “zero” for the assignment and to allow them to revise the assignment up to a grade of “F” (50%) if they believe that the student plagiarized out of ignorance or carelessness and not out of an attempt to deceive in order to earn an unmerited grade; the instructor must still report the offense to the Honor Council. This option should not be available to juniors, seniors, or graduate students, who cannot reasonably claim ignorance of documentation rules as an excuse. For repeat offenders in undergraduate courses or for an offender in any graduate course, the penalty for plagiarism is likely to include suspension or expulsion from the university.
• Caution: Be very careful what you upload to Turnitin or send to your professor for evaluation. Whatever you upload for evaluation will be considered your final, approved draft. If it is plagiarized, you will be held responsible. The excuse that “it was only a draft” will not be accepted.
  

• Caution: Also, do not share your electronic files with others. If you do, you are responsible for the possible consequences. If another student takes your file of a paper and changes the name to his or her name and submits it and you also submit the paper, we will hold both of you responsible for plagiarism. It is impossible for us to know with certainty who wrote the paper and who stole it. And, of course, we cannot know if there was collusion between you and the other student in the matter.

• Penalties for Cheating: Should a faculty member discover a student cheating on an exam or quiz or other class project, the student should receive a “zero” for the assignment and not be allowed to make the assignment up. The incident should be reported to the chair of the department and to the Honor Council. If the cheating is extensive, however, or if the assignment constitutes a major grade for the course (e.g., a final exam), or if the student has cheated in the past, the student should receive an “F” in the course, and the matter should be referred to the Honor Council. Additional penalties, including suspension or expulsion from the university may be imposed. Under no circumstances should a student who deserves an “F” in the course be allowed to withdraw from the course with a “W.”

• Caution: Chat groups that start off as “study groups” can easily devolve into “cheating groups.” Be very careful not to join or remain any chat group if begins to discuss specific information about exams or assignments that are meant to require individual work. If you are a member of such a group and it begins to cheat, you will be held responsible along with all the other members of the group. The TAMIU Honor Code requires that you report any such instances of cheating.
  

• Student Right of Appeal: Faculty will notify students immediately via the student’s TAMIU e- mail account that they have submitted plagiarized work. Students have the right to appeal a faculty member’s charge of academic dishonesty by notifying the TAMIU Honor Council of their intent to appeal as long as the notification of appeal comes within 10 business days of the faculty member’s e-mail message to the student and/or the Office of Student Conduct and Community Engagement. The Student Handbook provides more details.

Use of Work in Two or More Courses

You may not submit work completed in one course for a grade in a second course unless you receive explicit permission to do so by the instructor of the second course.  In general, you should get credit for a work product only once.

Extra-Credit Work

Faculty may not give extra-credit opportunities to individual students.  They must be made available to all students in a class.  Assignments for extra-credit must be directly related to the learning outcomes of the specific course.  No extra-credit opportunities at all may be given after final grades for the semester are submitted. 

UConnect, TAMIU E-Mail, and Dusty Alert

Personal Announcements sent to students through TAMIU’s Uconnect Portal and TAMIU E-mail are the official means of communicating course and university business with students and faculty –not the U.S. Mail and no other e-mail addresses. Students and faculty must check UConnect and their TAMIU e-mail accounts regularly, if not daily. Not having seen an important TAMIU e-mail or UConnect message from a faculty member, chair, or dean is not accepted as an excuse for failure to take important action. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to sign-up for Dusty Alert(see www.tamiu.edu). Dusty Alert is an instant cell phone text-messaging system allowing the university to communicate immediately with you if there is an on-campus emergency, something of immediate danger to you, or a campus closing.

Copyright Restrictions

The Copyright Act of 1976 grants to copyright owners the exclusive right to reproduce their works and distribute copies of their work. Works that receive copyright protection include published works such as a textbook. Copying a textbook without permission from the owner of the copyright may constitute copyright infringement. Civil and criminal penalties may be assessed for copyright infringement. Civil penalties include damages up to $100,000; criminal penalties include a fine up to $250,000 and imprisonment. Copyright laws do not allow students and professors to make photocopies of copyrighted materials, but you may copy a limited portion of a work, such as article from a journal or a chapter from a book for your own personal academic use or, in the case of a professor, for personal, limited classroom use. In general, the extent of your copying should not suggest that the purpose or the effect of your copying is to avoid paying for the materials. And, of course, you may not sell these copies for a profit. Thus, students who copy textbooks to avoid buying them or professors who provide photocopies of textbooks to enable students to save money are violating the law.

Students with Disabilities

Texas A&M International University seeks to provide reasonable accommodations for all qualified persons with disabilities. This University will adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal education opportunity. It is the student's responsibility to register with the Office of Student Counseling and Disability Services located in Student Center 126.  This office will contact the faculty member to recommend specific, reasonable accommodations. Faculty are prohibited from making accommodations based solely on communications from students.  They may make accommodations only when provided documentation by the Student Counseling and Disability Services office.

Student Attendance and Leave of Absence (LOA) Policy 

As part of our efforts to assist and encourage all students towards graduation, TAMIU provides LOA’s for students, including pregnant/parenting students, in accordance with the Attendance Rule (Section 3.07) and the Student LOA Rule (Section 3.08), which includes the “Leave of Absence Request” form. Both rules can be found in the TAMIU Student Handbook (http://www.tamiu.edu/studentaffairs/StudentHandbook1.shtml).

Pregnant and Parenting Students

Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, harassment based on sex, including harassment because of pregnancy or related conditions, is prohibited. A pregnant/parenting student must be granted an absence for as long as the student’s physician deems the absence medically necessary. It is a violation of Title IX to ask for documentation relative to the pregnant/parenting student’s status beyond what would be required for other medical conditions. If a student would like to file a complaint for discrimination due to his or her pregnant/parenting status, please contact the TAMIU Title IX Coordinator (Lorissa M. Cortez, 5201 University Boulevard, KLM 159B, Laredo, TX 78041,TitleIX@tamiu.edu, 956.326.2857) and/or the Office of Civil Rights (Dallas Office, U.S. Department of Education, 1999 Bryan Street, Suite 1620, Dallas, TX 75201-6810, 214.661.9600). You can also report it on TAMIU’s anonymous electronic reporting site: www.tamiu.edu/reportit. 

TAMIU advises a pregnant/parenting student to notify their professor once the student is aware that accommodations for such will be necessary. It is recommended that the student and professor develop a reasonable plan for the student’s completion of missed coursework or assignments. The Title IX Office (Lorissa M. Cortez, lorissam.cortez@tamiu.edu) can assist the student and professor in working out the reasonable accommodations. For other questions or concerns regarding Title IX compliance related to pregnant/parenting students at the University, contact the Title IX Coordinator. In the event that a student will need a leave of absence for a substantial period of time, TAMIU urges the student to consider a Leave of Absence (LOA) as outlined in the TAMIU Student Handbook. As part of our efforts to assist and encourage all students towards graduation, TAMIU provides LOA’s for students, including pregnant/parenting students, in accordance with the Attendance Rule and the Student LOA Rule. Both rules can be found in the TAMIU Student Handbook (https://www.tamiu.edu/scce/studenthandbook.shtml).

Anti-Discrimination/Title IX

TAMIU does not discriminate or permit harassment against any individual on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity in admissions, educational programs, or employment. If you would like to file a complaint relative to Title IX or any civil rights violation, please contact the TAMIU

Director of Title IX and Civil Rights/Title IX Coordinator, Lorissa M. Cortez, 5201

University Boulevard, Killam Library 159B, Laredo, TX 78041,TitleIX@tamiu.edu, 956.326.2857, via the anonymous electronic reporting website, ReportIt, at www.tamiu.edu/reportit , and/or the Office of Civil Rights (Dallas Office), U.S. Department of Education, 1999 Bryan Street, Suite 1620, Dallas, TX 75201-6810, 214.661.9600.

Incompletes

Students who are unable to complete a course should withdraw from the course before the final date for withdrawal and receive a “W.” To qualify for an “incomplete” and thus have the opportunity to complete the course at a later date, a student must meet the following criteria: 

• The student must have completed 90% of the course work assigned before the final date for withdrawing from a course with a “W”, and the student must be passing the course;
• The student cannot complete the course because an accident, an illness, or a traumatic personal or family event occurred after the final date for withdrawal from a course;
• The student must sign an “Incomplete Grade Contract” and secure signatures of approval from the professor and the college dean.
• The student must agree to complete the missing course work before the end of the next long semester; failure to meet this deadline will cause the “I” to automatically be converted to an “F”; extensions to this deadline may be granted by the dean of the college. This is the general policy regarding the circumstances under which an “incomplete” may be granted, but under exceptional circumstances, a student may receive an incomplete who does not meet all of the criteria above if the faculty member, department chair, and dean recommend it.

WIN Contracts

WIN Contracts are offered only under exceptional circumstances and are limited to seniors. Only courses offered by full-time TAMIU faculty or TAMIU instructors are eligible to be contracted for the WIN requirement. However, a WIN contract for a course taught by an adjunct may be approved, with special permission from the department chair and dean. Students must seek approval before beginning any work for the WIN Contract. No student will contract more than one course per semester. Summer WIN Contracts must continue through both summer sessions.

Student Responsibility for Withdrawing from a Course

 It is the responsibility of the student to drop the course before the final date for withdrawal from a course. Faculty members, in fact, may not drop a student from a course without getting the approval of their department chair and dean.

Independent Study Course

Independent Study (IS) courses are offered only under exceptional circumstances. Required courses intended to build academic skills may not be taken as IS (e.g., clinical supervision and internships). No student will take more than one IS course per semester. Moreover, IS courses are limited to seniors and graduate students. Summer IS course must continue through both summer sessions.

Grade Changes & Appeals

Faculty are authorized to change final grades only when they have committed a computational error or an error in recording a grade, and they must receive the approval of their department chairs and the dean to change the grade. As part of that approval, they must attach a detailed explanation of the reason for the mistake. Only in rare cases would another reason be entertained as legitimate for a grade change. A student who is unhappy with his or her grade on an assignment must discuss the situation with the faculty member teaching the course. If students believe that they have been graded unfairly, they have the right to appeal the grade using a grade appeal process as described in the Student Handbook and in the Faculty Handbook.

Final Examination

All courses in all colleges must include a comprehensive exam or performance and be given on the date and time specified by the Academic Calendar and the Final Exam schedule published by the Registrar’s Office. In the College of Arts & Sciences all final exams must contain a written component. The written component should comprise at least 20% of the final exam grade. Exceptions to this policy must receive the approval of the department chair and the dean at the beginning of the semester.

To receive free tutoring in most subjects, including help with writing skills:

To receive academic advising for freshmen, transfer students, and select others:

To receive academic advising for all other students, by college:

To receive personal counseling:

To receive health services:

  Student Health Services:                                             Student Center 125 (326-2235)

To receive health services:

  Student Health Services:                                             Student Center 125 (326-2235)