This document outlines the syllabus for a Research Methods in Psychology course taught at Simon Fraser University. It provides information on the instructor, textbook, assignments including clicker quizzes, a final exam, a research participation component, and a research project. It details policies on attendance, deadlines, academic honesty, and lists important due dates for project proposals and the final project paper. Labs will involve discussions and consultations to aid students in completing their required research projects.

1. Simon Fraser University
Department of Psychology
Psyc 201W (Fall 2016)
Research Methods in Psychology
Instructor: Dr. V. Gordon Rose
E-mail: vgrose@sfu.ca
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2:30-3:30, RCB 6151
Lectures: Fridays, 12:30 - 2:20, C9001
TAs: David Carroll, Sylvie Couture-Nowak, Lisa Giamo, Eugine Ji, Maitland
Waddell, Maxine Wagner, Alannah Wallace, Dylan Wiwad
Textbook: Research Methods: Design and Analysis (12th ed.), by Christensen et al.
(Looseleaf)
Assignment of Grades:
Weekly Clicker Quizzes 20% (equivalent to an exam)
Final Exam (cumulative, multiple choice) 20%
Research Participation Credit 6%
Research Project 36% (10% for Proposal, 26% for final
Project)
Writing Assignments 18%
Exams:
Clicker Quizzes: There is no mid-term exam in this course. Instead, we will hold weekly
clicker quizzes at the start of lecture each week. The first time will be a practice quiz, and
the best 10 of the remaining 11 will count 2% each (= 20%, just like the final exam!).
Final exam:, Friday, December 16, 2016, 12:00- 2:00. If you have other plans for this
date, you should note that you will not be allowed to reschedule the exam, and
accordingly, you cannot take the course at this time. The final exam is cumulative. It will
consist of questions from the textbook and all lectures.
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2. Clickers:
Students will be required to have an iClicker to complete weekly in-class quizzes. The easiest way
to register your clicker is to select the iClicker button on the left of the Canvas screen and follow
the directions. The in-class clicker quiz during the second lecture will not count, and we will use
it as a practice session to be sure everyone’s clickers are working and properly registered. Please
note that quizzes may not be completed on paper, as I cannot undertake to keep track of and
score physical quizzes. If your clicker fails, that will presumably be the one quiz out of 11 that
will not count.
Writing Assignments:
Throughout the semester, there be a series of three minor written assignments, along with a
Practice Assignment that will not be marked. These will be posted and submitted via Canvas, and
are designed to help you develop skills in reading, understanding, summarizing, analyzing,
discussing and citing published research in psychology. These assignments are tentatively
scheduled for Weeks 3, 6, 10, and 11. They will require you to find the assigned research article,
read and summarize it, and complete a report on the paper. These will be posted, and your
assignments submitted via Canvas. These assignments will be due at midnight on Saturday nights,
and worth 6% each. More information about these assignments will be provided in class as they
approach. Late assignments will be penalized one mark (1% of your final grade) per day or
portion thereof.
Research Participation
In addition to the other course requirements listed on the syllabus, each student in Psychology
100, 102, and 201 is required to complete three hours of research participation. The research
participation component of the course will count for 6% of your course grade. By being a
participant in research studies, you will gain first hand experience about the process of running
experiments in psychology. As you will learn from your psychology courses, the research process
is a very important part of the field. Thus, it is important for you to obtain practical experience as
a research participant. You may satisfy the research requirement in one of two ways. First, you
can participate as a subject in three hours of research. Alternatively, you may choose to read
research articles and write summaries of them. The time involved with either option will be the
same. After participating in each research project, you are to sign onto the RPS system and
answer some questions about the study. These questions provide us with useful feedback about
what you have learned during your research participation experience.
For complete information regarding the research participation credit and instructions on signing
up for appointments, please go to the following internet location:
http://www.sfu.ca/psychology/ugrad/research-participation.html
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3. Research Project
The purpose of the research project is to provide you with "hands on" experience in doing
research. You will conduct a study and submit a report of the study (see Appendix A of the text
for information about how to write a research report). In your labs, you will be able to consult
with your teaching assistant regarding your project. The requirements for the research project
will be discussed further in labs.
Proposals will be due in tutorial, at the beginning of class. Late Proposals will be penalized one
mark per day. The project is due at lecture, Dec. 2 , at the beginning of class. Late penaltiesnd
will one mark out of 26 (i.e., 1% of your final grade) per calendar day or portion of a calendar
day. This means that if your assignment is not in when the class starts, you will loose one mark
immediately. For example, if your Project is received by your TA on Dec. 3 , you will loose 2rd
marks, and so on. This policy will be strictly enforced. The penalty of one mark per day will
included weekends and holidays, until your TA has physically received your paper. It is not
your TA's responsibility to make special arrangements to be available to receive late papers.
Papers will not be accepted by e-mail except under special circumstances, and by prior
arrangement with your TA. Papers and assignments will not be accepted more than one week
after their due date. You should note that the project outline, proposal, and paper are all essential
components of the course, and satisfactory completion of all essential components is required to
pass this course.
Extensions will be granted only under rare circumstances, and satisfactory official documentation
(e.g., signed doctors' notes) must be provided. Further, there must be a clear association between
the excuse provided and the inability complete the assignment in a timely manner. The official
documentation must explicitly state that the excuse extended for the entire period for which the
student is requesting that the penalty be waived.
Important Dates Regarding the Project:
– Brief project outline due in lab the week of Sept 26 .th
– Project Proposal and Ethics Form due in lab the week of Oct. 17 .th
– Final Research Project is due in lecture on Dec. 2 . We will try to have them availablend
for pickup at the final exam. (Dec. 16 ).th
Attendance, Deadlines, Excuses and Absences:
Extensions on assignment deadlines will be granted only for legitimate excuses, where satisfactory
documentation is provided. There must be a clear association between the excuse provided and
the inability to complete the assignment in a timely manner. The official documentation must
clearly show that the excuse extended for the entire period for which the student is requesting the
deadline or late-penalty be waived.
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4. Students who are seeking to excuse missed deadlines on medical reasons must submit an SFU
“Health Care Provider Statement,” signed by a doctor, and available at:
https://www.sfu.ca/content/dam/sfu/students/pdf/healthcare-statement-general.pdf
No other form is acceptable. Notwithstanding anything else in this syllabus, no paper or
assignment will be accepted more than one week late (in the absence of a properly documented
valid excuse), and no assignments will be accepted after the last official day of classes.
Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty:
Academic dishonesty in all forms violates the basic principles of integrity, thus impeding learning.
Academic dishonesty includes cheating, fabrication, fraud, facilitating academic dishonesty, and
plagiarism. For example, submitting the same (or very similar) assignments for credit in two
different courses is a form of academic dishonesty, even if you wrote both papers. Failure to
indicate a quotation, or to acknowledge the source of your ideas is plagiarism. ALL materials
submitted in this course, even if ungraded, are subject to the requirements of academic honesty.
Academic dishonesty is dealt with under the University’s Policies and Procedures Relating to
Student Discipline (S10-01 through S10-03). Penalties may include a warning, a requirement to
redo the work or complete supplementary work, a reduced grade, an “F”, an “FD”, denial of
admission to the University, de-registration, forfeiture of awards or assistance, or suspension or
permanent suspension from the University. Students should review the relevant University
policies, available on the SFU website at: http://www.sfu.ca/policies
The SFU Library’s Plagiarism Tutorial and Quiz is not a required part of this course, but the
tutorial is available via our WebCT container, and students are encouraged to take the few
minutes required to go through the tutorial. We will assume that students understand the
information presented in that tutorial.
Canvas:
This course will use Canvas for access to materials, to post marks, and as a discussion forum.
You will also be submitting many assignments electronically via Canvas.
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5. Suggestions:
The purpose of lectures is to supplement the readings. While lectures will overlap with the
readings, lectures may not cover all material in the text, and may cover material additional to that
in the text. You are responsible for all lecture material and all assigned readings. Generally, it is
most beneficial to do the assigned readings before lecture, and it is helpful to also review the
readings after lecture. Regular attendance is generally one key to learning, and to earning
acceptable grades.
E-Mail
E-mail communications with me or your TA is business correspondence, and as such should
display respect and a reasonable degree of formality. I will only respond to e-mail messages that
include all pertinent details, including your name, student number, and the course you are taking. I
no longer respond to e-mail messages which are not signed. I will not respond to messages that
begin "Hey Prof," or "Hey." As I am involved in multiple courses this term, please include
enough information in your e-mail message to provide a context for your question, including
which course you are inquiring about.
Labs
Labs will consist of demonstrations, discussion of issues relevant to the projects, consultation
regarding individual projects, and data collection. Psyc 201W, as I teach it, has a very strong
tutorial component. It is important that you plan your workload and schedule to allow you to
complete your lab assignments and paper in a timely manner.
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6. Lab Schedule:
Week of: Lab Activities:
Sept. 5 No labs
Sept. 12 Discussion of projects, hypothesis generation
Sept. 19 Discussion of ethics, demonstration
Sept. 26 Demonstration, PROJECT OUTLINE DUE
Oct. 3 Outlines returned, discussion of questionnaire construction, consultation
Oct. 10 Discussion of correlational vs. experimental designs, consultation
Oct. 17 PROPOSALS/LITERATURE REVIEWS DUE
Oct. 24 Proposals returned, consultation
Oct. 31 Data collection
Nov. 7 Data collection
Nov. 14 No labs due to Remembrance Day
Nov. 21 Data collection, Data Analysis presentation
Nov. 28 Exam preparation
Reading List and Schedule:
Lecture: Readings:
Sept. 9 Ch. 1
Sept. 16 Ch. 2 & 3
Sept. 23 Ch. 3 & 4
Sept. 30 Ch. 5
Oct. 7 Ch. 6
Oct. 14 Ch. 7
Oct. 21 Ch. 8
Oct. 28 Ch. 9
Nov. 4 Ch. 10 & 11 (and part of Ch.12)
Nov. 11 No Lecture (Remembrance Day)
Nov. 18 (Balance of Ch. 12) Ch. 13
Nov. 25 Ch. 14
Dec. 2 FINAL PROJECTS DUE
Dec. 16 Final Exam
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