COGS 14A: Intro to Research Methods
http://quote.ucsd.edu/creel/cogs14a
(Syllabus forthcoming)
Basic information
Time: Tue & Thu 2:00pm-3:20pm
Place: Warren Lecture Hall 2005
Professor: Sarah C. Creel (email: sçreél at ucsd.edu)
Office: Cog Sci 167
Office hours: Tue 12-1, Wed 11-12, or by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Reina Mizrahi <rmïzrahí åt ücsd.edu>
Office hours: TBA or by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Parla Buyruk <pbüyrük åt ücsd.edu>
Office hours: TBA or by appointment
Instructional Assistant: TBA <TBA åt ücsd.edu>
Office hours: TBA or by appointment
Instructional Assistant: TBA <TBA åt ücsd.edu>
Office hours: TBA or by appointment
Sections:
913245 LA Mon 11:00a-11:50a CSB 005
913246 LA Wed 1:00p-1:50p WLH 2207
913247 LA Wed 2:00p-2:50p WLH 2207
913248 LA Fri 12:00p-12:50p CSB 004
Final exam:
Thursday 12/!4/2017 3:00pm-5:59pm
Textbook:
Schweigert, W. A. (2012). Research methods in psychology: A handbook (3rd ed.). Waveland: Long Grove, IL.
Selected articles to be posted on this web site under Schedule.
Course goals:
- Understand how research is conducted and evaluated in cognitive science
- Distinguish experiments vs. observations
- Understand when you can and can’t infer causality
- Gain fluency with sources for finding research articles and data resources
- Grasp basic types of data and how they can be analyzed
- Be able to identify basic types of research designs
- Know situations when certain research designs are more/less appropriate
- Become sensitive to potential pitfalls (confounds, nuisance variables, participant attrition, carryover effects) of different types of research
Course policies:
- Some assignments will take place during class. Your grade is related to these assignments and you will do much better in the class if you complete them, which means being present and attentive in class.
- Any assignments are due at the beginning of class. Late work will be penalized.
- Readings are required. If expense is an issue, please try to find someone to share the book with or take a look for books on reserve in the library.
- If you have an emergency that prevents you from turning in an assignment, contact Professor Creel as soon as possible to make alternative arrangements.
- Podcasts (if provided) and posted lecture slides are not intended as a substitute for attending lectures and engaging in the class.
- If you miss a lecture, it is your responsibility to consult one of your fellow students to get notes.
- Academic honesty is of the greatest importance. See guidelines below.
- Please refrain from using electronic devices for any non-class purpose. It is disrespectful and distracting to other students to tweet, check Facebook, etc. in the middle of a course (Sana, Weston, & Cepeda, 2013, Computers and Education). If this becomes a persistent problem, expect to be called on to share the contents of your electronic device!
Grading:
- Midterm 1: 20%
- Midterm 2: 20%
- Final (semi-cumulative): 30%
- Ten weekly on-line quizzes: 20% (2% each)
- Participation (class and section): 10%
- Extra credit (up to 4 points on final grade): SONA–up to 4 exp. hours at 1 point each*
*If you don’t fit criteria for any experiments, see me for an alternate assignment.
Grades will be assigned as follows:
A 93-100
A- 90-92
B+ 86-89
B 83-85
B- 80-82
C+ 76-79
C 73-75
C- 70-72
D 60-70
F 0-59
Academic honesty
The crux of academic integrity: Your work should be your own. If you turn in something that is not indicative of your performance, you are doing a disservice to yourself in failing to actually learn the material. Relatedly, if you do someone else’s work for them, you are allowing them not to learn material. At a more practical level, you are doing something that, if caught, instructors are obligated to report to your college. This is not fun for anyone, including the professor and TAs!!
Overall, you should never copy someone else’s ideas or work.
If you’re not sure, it’s better to ask now than to risk trouble later. Just asking won’t get you in trouble.
Examples of things that are permissible:
- Studying in groups. (In fact, this is often a good strategy!)
- Talking about articles or class material in groups.
- Referencing material in the book (or an article) and noting that you have done so.
Examples of things that are NOT permissible:
- Looking at someone else’s exam.
- Using materials on an exam that are not permitted.
- Writing papers in groups. This includes taking someone else’s paper (or parts of it) and quoting verbatim, or changing a small number of words. The work you turn in should be your own interpretation and your own thoughts.
- Writing a paper for someone else.
- Copying someone else’s paper.
- Referencing material in article/book without noting that you have done so.
- Quoting a large proportion of your paper from the article (more than 5-10% of your paper directly quotes the original author). While you are giving credit to the author, this kind of “quote abuse” (Carver, 2010, personal communication) is counter to the purpose of written assignments, which is to demonstrate that you understand the material by evaluating it in your own words.
Schedule
Week Topic Readings Assignments
Sept 28 Introduction and welcome
Oct 3 Intro; Research Ethics Ch. 1-2 Pretest
______________Ethics extras 1 2 3 4
Oct 10 Hypothesis testing; Ch. 3-4 Quiz2
______________Research resources
Oct 17 Research resources (cont’d); Ch. 5 Quiz3, Midterm 1 (Thu)
______________Statistics in research
______________What’s a theory?
Oct 24 Between-groups designs Ch. 6 Quiz4
Oct 31 Within-subjects designs Ch. 7 Quiz 5
Nov 7 Factorial designs Ch. 9 Quiz 6
Nov 14 Quasi-experiments Ch. 8 Midterm 2 (Tue), Quiz7
Nov 21 Observation, ethnography Ch. 10 Quiz8
Nov 28 Single-subject designs Ch. 12 Quiz9
Dec 5 Big data Ch. 13 Posttest
Dec 14 Final exam, 3-6p Review TBA Final Exam