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ADVANCED RESEARCH DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
PSYC 3530 (CRN# 15083), Spring 2019, 4 credit hours
Lecture: MW 12:30-1:45pm, Classroom South 609
Lab: W 2:00-4:00 pm, Urban Life 1205
Instructor Dr. Ashlyn Swartout
Office 1132 Urban Life Office Hours Mon & Tue 2:30-3:30
Office phone 404-413-6266 Email
GLA Jackson Gray GLA
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be
necessary.
Course Description
PSYC 3530 provides psychology majors with experience in research design, data analysis, and scientific
communication needed for higher-level understanding in 4000-level courses, the development and writing of
senior-year theses, and graduate study. Topics include experimental and quasi-experimental design,
statistical techniques for comparing multiple groups, and the structure and style of scientific writing in
psychology. PSYC 3530 is Critical Thinking through Writing (CTW) course. As such, course assignments
focus on developing students’ abilities to effectively analyze and evaluate concepts, formulate and present
persuasive arguments, and describe ideas clearly and thoughtfully in writing.
Course Objectives
Students who successfully complete this course should have sufficient understanding and mastery of the
principles of research design, analysis, and interpretation to address novel research questions on
psychological topics. As part of this process, students will develop their abilities to:
1. Articulate the strengths and limitations of various research designs and their appropriate statistical
analyses
2. Assess the appropriateness of conclusions derived from psychological research, including the
interpretation and description of statistical results
3. Demonstrate effective spoken and written communication skills, including use of APA style and
professional writing conventions appropriate to purpose and context
4. Locate and use relevant databases, research, and theory to plan, conduct, and interpret the results of
research studies
5. Read and accurately summarize scientific literature in psychology
6. Recognize how theoretical and sociocultural contexts, as well as personal biases, may shape
research questions, design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation
7. Use reasoning to recognize, develop, defend, and criticize scientific claims
How to succeed in this course:
Read and take notes before coming to class
Come to class/be on time/actively participate
Come to office hours regularly
Check course schedule regularly so you don’t fall behind
Don’t procrastinate
Use Stats/Writing tutoring centers
, 2
Required materials
Required Text
The readings for this course will be comprised of textbook chapters, online readings, and journal articles.
The required text for this course is listed below.
Morling, B. (2018). Research Methods in Psychology: Evaluating a World of Information, 3rd edition.
W.W. Norton & Company.
The author of your text regularly updates a blog with interesting examples that are relevant to the course
topics. You can find the blog here: http://www.everydayresearchmethods.com/.
You will also be assigned readings at this online textbook site compiled by PSYC 3530 instructors at GSU:
http://sites.gsu.edu/psyc3530/
Non-textbook Readings: Links to articles to be read for class but not found in the required textbook for
the course will be posted on iCollege.
Suggested text
Although I am not requiring a statistics text for this course, I have found it to be extremely helpful for students who are
nervous about the calculations portion of the class. I will teach the stats in this class based within the framework
described in the text below. Please consider buying/renting a copy of this text (or an older edition) for the duration of
this class. (For reference, I use the 7th edition [Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences] which you can buy
used on Amazon for $9.)
Gravetter, F., & Wallnau, L. (2018). Statistics for the behavioral sciences, 10th edition. Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.
Required Technology
Email. Please use proper email etiquette when emailing me, and I promise to do the same for you. By
this, I mean you should begin every email with a proper greeting, write in complete words/sentences, and
end each email with a closing and your name. In addition, it is critical that you include information about
which course you are in on the subject line of any emails you send to me. Please write PSYC3530 in
the subject of any email you send to my GSU email account. I reserve the right to delete or not
respond to any email that does not follow these basic guidelines.
iCollege. Outside of lecture and lab, iCollege is the primary means by which I will share information with
you. It is also the medium through which many written assignments are submitted. Links to a variety of
online resources that you will need over the semester will be provided on iCollege. Please review these
carefully throughout the semester. All members of the class are expected to check the iCollege site
associated with this class on a regular basis.
Software. Written assignments must be submitted in MS Word (*.doc or *docx) format, unless otherwise
specified. Submitting a document in a format that I cannot read will result in an automatic 20% deduction
and you will have to use one of your late assignment passes to submit a readable file (see below).
Calculator. Each student must have a calculator to use during class and on quizzes/exams. If your calculator
is programmable, you must know how to clear the memory cache and show the instructor that the cache is
clear before taking any quiz. Please make it a priority to learn how to clear the memory on your calculator
BEFORE next class or borrow a non-programmable calculator to use during quizzes/exams; otherwise, you
will have to perform all mathematical calculations on quizzes by hand (which is particularly difficult in the
case of square roots). You may not use any communication device (e.g., cell phone, PDA, computer) as your
calculator during quizzes, and you may not share a calculator with another student.
ADVANCED RESEARCH DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
PSYC 3530 (CRN# 15083), Spring 2019, 4 credit hours
Lecture: MW 12:30-1:45pm, Classroom South 609
Lab: W 2:00-4:00 pm, Urban Life 1205
Instructor Dr. Ashlyn Swartout
Office 1132 Urban Life Office Hours Mon & Tue 2:30-3:30
Office phone 404-413-6266 Email
GLA Jackson Gray GLA
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be
necessary.
Course Description
PSYC 3530 provides psychology majors with experience in research design, data analysis, and scientific
communication needed for higher-level understanding in 4000-level courses, the development and writing of
senior-year theses, and graduate study. Topics include experimental and quasi-experimental design,
statistical techniques for comparing multiple groups, and the structure and style of scientific writing in
psychology. PSYC 3530 is Critical Thinking through Writing (CTW) course. As such, course assignments
focus on developing students’ abilities to effectively analyze and evaluate concepts, formulate and present
persuasive arguments, and describe ideas clearly and thoughtfully in writing.
Course Objectives
Students who successfully complete this course should have sufficient understanding and mastery of the
principles of research design, analysis, and interpretation to address novel research questions on
psychological topics. As part of this process, students will develop their abilities to:
1. Articulate the strengths and limitations of various research designs and their appropriate statistical
analyses
2. Assess the appropriateness of conclusions derived from psychological research, including the
interpretation and description of statistical results
3. Demonstrate effective spoken and written communication skills, including use of APA style and
professional writing conventions appropriate to purpose and context
4. Locate and use relevant databases, research, and theory to plan, conduct, and interpret the results of
research studies
5. Read and accurately summarize scientific literature in psychology
6. Recognize how theoretical and sociocultural contexts, as well as personal biases, may shape
research questions, design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation
7. Use reasoning to recognize, develop, defend, and criticize scientific claims
How to succeed in this course:
Read and take notes before coming to class
Come to class/be on time/actively participate
Come to office hours regularly
Check course schedule regularly so you don’t fall behind
Don’t procrastinate
Use Stats/Writing tutoring centers
, 2
Required materials
Required Text
The readings for this course will be comprised of textbook chapters, online readings, and journal articles.
The required text for this course is listed below.
Morling, B. (2018). Research Methods in Psychology: Evaluating a World of Information, 3rd edition.
W.W. Norton & Company.
The author of your text regularly updates a blog with interesting examples that are relevant to the course
topics. You can find the blog here: http://www.everydayresearchmethods.com/.
You will also be assigned readings at this online textbook site compiled by PSYC 3530 instructors at GSU:
http://sites.gsu.edu/psyc3530/
Non-textbook Readings: Links to articles to be read for class but not found in the required textbook for
the course will be posted on iCollege.
Suggested text
Although I am not requiring a statistics text for this course, I have found it to be extremely helpful for students who are
nervous about the calculations portion of the class. I will teach the stats in this class based within the framework
described in the text below. Please consider buying/renting a copy of this text (or an older edition) for the duration of
this class. (For reference, I use the 7th edition [Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences] which you can buy
used on Amazon for $9.)
Gravetter, F., & Wallnau, L. (2018). Statistics for the behavioral sciences, 10th edition. Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.
Required Technology
Email. Please use proper email etiquette when emailing me, and I promise to do the same for you. By
this, I mean you should begin every email with a proper greeting, write in complete words/sentences, and
end each email with a closing and your name. In addition, it is critical that you include information about
which course you are in on the subject line of any emails you send to me. Please write PSYC3530 in
the subject of any email you send to my GSU email account. I reserve the right to delete or not
respond to any email that does not follow these basic guidelines.
iCollege. Outside of lecture and lab, iCollege is the primary means by which I will share information with
you. It is also the medium through which many written assignments are submitted. Links to a variety of
online resources that you will need over the semester will be provided on iCollege. Please review these
carefully throughout the semester. All members of the class are expected to check the iCollege site
associated with this class on a regular basis.
Software. Written assignments must be submitted in MS Word (*.doc or *docx) format, unless otherwise
specified. Submitting a document in a format that I cannot read will result in an automatic 20% deduction
and you will have to use one of your late assignment passes to submit a readable file (see below).
Calculator. Each student must have a calculator to use during class and on quizzes/exams. If your calculator
is programmable, you must know how to clear the memory cache and show the instructor that the cache is
clear before taking any quiz. Please make it a priority to learn how to clear the memory on your calculator
BEFORE next class or borrow a non-programmable calculator to use during quizzes/exams; otherwise, you
will have to perform all mathematical calculations on quizzes by hand (which is particularly difficult in the
case of square roots). You may not use any communication device (e.g., cell phone, PDA, computer) as your
calculator during quizzes, and you may not share a calculator with another student.
