Fall 1997
Experimental Social Psychology
SOP3210C
Syllabus
This 4 credit hour lab course deals with empirical research in social psychology. The course will provide hands-on experience in all stages of the research process. The main focus will be on experimental research, however, survey research will also be covered. A strong emphasis will be placed on statical data analysis.
The course has two prerequisites: elementary statistics and research methods. Previous experience with computers is helpful but not required.
Instructor: Dr. Jurek Karylowski; bldg. 39, room 4018; phone: 620-2807; e- mail: JUREK@UNF.EDU;
Internet homepage: http://WWW.UNF.EDU/~JUREK/
Office hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 1:40-2:40; other times by appointment
Books and supplementary materials:
SPSS for Windows: Base System User's Guide. Release 7.5. Chicago: SPSS (required).
Psychology on a Disk (required).
Rosnow, R. & Rosnow, M. (1995). Writing Papers in Psychology (Third edition). Brooks/Cole (required).
FIRM handouts (required, available from the instructor).
Publication Guide for the American Psychological Association (Fourth edition). Washington, DC: APA (required for students who elect to write the term paper; recommended for other students).
Class attendance and class participation:
Class attendance and full participation are crucial. Missing classes or coming to class unprepared will make it impossible for you to complete your class assignments and will affect your final grade.
Course requirements and grading
Requirements for a final grade "C":
-regular class attendance and class participation (including completion of all in-class assignments);
-satisfactory completion of at least 9 (out of 13) take-home assignments with no more than 5 assignments turned in late or re-submitted.
Requirements for a final grade "B":
-regular class attendance and class participation (including completion of all in-class assignments);
-satisfactory completion of all take-home assignments with no more than 3 assignments turned in late or re-submitted.
Requirements for a final grade "A":
-regular class attendance and class participation (including completion of all- in class assignments);
-satisfactory completion of all take-home assignments with no more than 3 assignments turned in late or re-submitted;
-a term paper graded as an "A" or "B+" (20 page minimum, excluding appendix).
Tentative Course Schedule(1)
August 25
Course objectives and course requirements
Experimental and non-experimental research in social psychology
August 27
Experimental and non-experimental research in social psychology - continued
The logic of statistical significance testing
September 3
Ethical dilemmas in social psychology research
September 8
Ethical dilemmas in social psychology research - continued
September 10
Overview of computer resources for psychological research
Psychological resources on the Internet
September 15
Introduction to Psychlit & Psychinfo
The Framing Effect experiment
Ethical dilemmas assignment due
September 17
Introduction to SPSS for Windows
The Framing Effect experiment data collection due
Internet search assignment due
September 22
Data analysis for the Framing Effect experiment: Chi square
Literature search assignment due
September 24
Data analysis for the Framing Effect experiment - continued
Guilt Detection experiment (Psychology on a Disk)
September 29
Data analysis for the Guilt Detection experiment: Paired-samples t-test
Framing Effect assignment due
October 1
Data analysis for the Guilt Detection experiment- continued
October 6
Data analysis for the Guilt Detection experiment- continued
October 8
Topics in Research: Sampling
Scatterplots and Correlations (Psychology on a Disk)
Guilt Detection assignment due
October 13
Life Satisfaction data analysis: Correlation and independent samples t-test
October 15
Life Satisfaction data analysis- continued
October 20
Life Satisfaction data analysis- continued
October 27
Counterattitudinal Behavior simulated experiment (FIRM)
Life Satisfaction assignment due
October 29
Data analysis for the Counterattitudinal Behavior experiment : Two-way analysis of variance
November 3
Data analysis for the Counterattitudinal Behavior experiment - continued
November 5
Simulated experiment on Agression (FIRM)
Counterattitudinal Behavior assignment due
November 10
Aggression experiment- continued
Data analysis for the aggression experiment: Two-way analysis of variance
November 12
Data analysis for the Aggression experiment- continued
Berkowitz & LePage summary due
November 17
Simulated experiment on Conformity (FIRM)
Aggression assignment due
November 19
Data analysis for the Conformity experiment: Two-way analysis of variance
November 24
Simulated experiment on Persuasion (FIRM)
Conformity assignment due
November 26
Data analysis for the Persuasion experiment (three-way analysis of variance)
Data for the modified Guilt Detection Experiment due (Psychology on a Disk)
December 1
Data analysis for the modified Guilt Detection Experiment: Repeated measures analysis of variance
Persuasion assignment due
December 3
Unfinished business
Modified Guilt Detection experiment assignment due
All late and re-submitted papers due
Term paper due
1. Major take-home assignments are listed in bold. Note that a number of additional home assignments (mainly reading) will also be required. Those additional assignments will be announced in class.