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Faculty of Sciences
Department of Psychology
Introductory book
Semester 1 2013
Published by University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba Queensland 4350 Australia http://www.usq.edu.au University of Southern Queensland, 2013.1.
Copyrighted materials reproduced herein are used under the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 as amended, or as a result of application to the copyright owner. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission. Produced by Learning Resources Development and Support using the ICE Publishing System.
Table of contents
Page
Essential information
Introduction and welcome to the course Course personnel Study Desk for this course Using the Study Desk please read this carefully Productive use of support from the examiner
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2 2 12 13 15
17 19
19 19 19 20 21 24 29 30 34 35 38 39 39
Essential information
The topics in the following list provide important information that will assist you with your study. You can access a handout containing the information on your StudyDesk through the Essential information (study materials) link <http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/file.php/1/ sitefiles/DeC/essential_info/essentialhandout.pdf>. You will need your UConnect username and password to access the file. Please make sure you read this information carefully before commencing your study.
Getting started Course specification Support UConnect Assignment submission Grading levels Course evaluation Residential schools Library Referencing APA Referencing Harvard AGPS Optional purchase of study materials USQ policies and procedures
Course personnel
Members of the course team are:
Moderator
Professor Tony Machin commenced teaching in the Psychology Department at USQ in 1992 and was promoted to Associate Professor from the start of 2007. Tony is also the current Head of the Psychology Department. Prior to coming to USQ he worked as an Occupational Psychologist with the Department of Employment, Education and Training. Tony was awarded his PhD from the University of Southern Queensland in 1999 on the topic of Understanding the process of transfer of training in the workplace. Tony is a Member of the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS) and is also a Member of the APS College of Organizational Psychologists, the International Association for Applied Psychology, and the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology. Tony is a registered Psychologist.
frame research questions undertake literature searches critically analyse empirical studies formulate testable research hypotheses
operationalise variables appropriately analyse data and interpret results communicating research in professional formats.
This course has been designed with the above skills and knowledge in mind and these are reflected in the objectives of this course.
describe different research designs, identify when it is appropriate to use them, and discuss their strengths and limitations (Assessed in Assignment 1, Method Exam) identify the concepts used in a study, the variables used to operationalise these concepts, and the control techniques used (Assessed in Assignment 1 & 2, Method Exam) develop research questions and hypotheses to test psychological concepts and theories (Assessed in Assignment 1, Method Exam) demonstrate an understanding of measures of central tendency, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, Chi-Square tests, z scores, z test, t-tests, Correlation, and Regression including the appropriate selection of analysis techniques (Assessed in Online Quiz 1, Assignment 3) demonstrate an understanding of data screening, assumption testing, and power and effect size as they relate to the above statistical analyses (Assessed in On-line Quiz 1 & 2, Assignment 3) use SPSS to analyse psychological research data (Assessed in On-line Quiz 2, Assignment 3)
critically analyse published journal articles by identifying and explaining article aims, relevant method information, results, and potential methodological limitations (Assessed in Assignment 1 & 2) write an introduction, method, and results section of an APA 6th edition research report (Assessed in Assignment 1, 2 & 3)
BSSC (Behavioural Science major) students and other non BSCI (Psychology) students
If you are a student in the above BSSC major or a non BSCI (Psychology) student taking this course then it is expected that you have successfully completed STA2300 (or STA3100 if a BSSC student) BEFORE you enrol in PSY2100. If you have not successfully completed either of these courses (or their equivalent) then you should not be enrolled in PSY2100 and have probably been enrolled without my approval. Which means that Arts has overridden the pre-requisite for this course without my approval or support or you have enrolled yourself in this course knowing full well you do not have STA2300 or STA3100.
If this is the case then you must un-enrol yourself from this course immediately and enrol in either STA2300 or STA3100 and successfully complete this course and take PSY2100 in 2013. If you continue on in PSY2100 you do so acknowledging and taking full responsibility for your success or failure in this course. Last year a number of BSSC students undertook PSY2100 without having passed or attempted STA2300 or STA3100 and subsequently they did not pass PSY2100.
I need an extension what sort of information or documentation will I need? I cant upload my assignment into EASE help!! Where is the best place to buy textbooks? I dont know how to see my assignment results
How do I know if my assignment has been received? How do I use EASE? EASE/UConnect/Study Desk isnt working am I doing something wrong? Where do I find my exam timetable? When is the exam for PSY2100? I am thinking of withdrawing from PSY2100 what do I need to do? Im an external student how do I submit my assignment?
Basically questions that are not course content specific should be directed to your SRO in the first instance. As an examiner I need you to use your SROs so that I can better manage all the student queries that I get for PSY2100. By using your SRO for the more generic administrative questions means that I will be able to answer your course related questions in a more timely and detailed manner.
First year is now over please read this carefully. I really need you to do this
Some of you may find the transition into second year and my expectations of you different from what you encountered in first year. Here are some points that will help you understand what I expect of you as a second year student and what you can expect from me. Many students find it difficult to accept that I will treat you like a second or third year student and ask you to work hard. So if you are not a second year student and are taking this course out of sequence you may need to adjust how you approach this course. I expect you to:
Access the Study Desk regularly. This is regardless of your mode of study (i.e., on campus or external). This is regardless of where you are based (i.e., Springfield or Toowoomba). I recommend accessing the forum three times per week, especially near assessment submission Know the extension policy and know what you need to gather as evidence before you ask for an extension. If in doubt contact your SRO for assistance about what you need to have before you contact me Know what plagiarism is. I know what information you have been provided with in first year about plagiarism so I know you know about plagiarism. If you do not know what this is then you will need to find this out. Your SRO will be able to help you locate information about plagiarism on the USQ website
Inform me immediately if something happens in your life that impacts upon your study in this course. This way we can work together to help you through this difficult time. Informing me after the course has finished or after an assignment has been submitted makes it almost impossible for me to assist you Purchase all the study materials and text books as per the course specifications. I have more on this in the next section Inform the university if you change your address or phone numbers so that if I need to contact you I can. If you need help with this, contact your SRO Work progressively through this course. Unlike other courses you cant leave the study for this course for a couple of weeks at the end of the semester and still expect to either pass or do well. This course has a heavier workload than your first year courses as it should be as this is not a first year course this comes as quite a shock to many students so you will probably need to do some work on this course every week of the semester Accept and understand that the grades that you have received in your first year courses may not be valid or reliable indicators of how you will perform in this course. This is not PSY1010 Foundation psychology A. The content and skills being learnt and assessed in this course are very different from Foundation psychology A. You may need to work differently and adjust your expectations accordingly. So just because you got a HD for PSY1010 does not mean that you will get a HD for this course. Conversely just because you got a C for PSY1010 does not mean you cant get a HD for this course! Read the study materials, textbooks, and Study Desk and act in ways that indicate that you are an independent adult learner. There is no spoon feeding or hand holding in this course. There is learning assistance for students who take charge of their learning journey. I have been asked in previous years to indicate exactly which pages and which paragraphs students need to read in the study materials and textbooks. That is spoon feeding because I dont know what you need to read only you know that. I know that you are more than capable of finding information for yourself so I will not be providing such detailed instructions in this course. Organise your time appropriately. I know that you are busy. I know that many of you wear many hats. So you need to make sure you are well organised and well prepared for this course. Being busy is not grounds for an extension, not a justification for not reading the Study Desk, and is not a reason why you didnt do as well as you thought you would on the assignment/exam Take responsibility for your successes and mistakes in this course. You will have success and you will make mistakes. It is how you learn from your mistakes that will shape your overall enjoyment and grade outcome in this course Not read inferences, meaning, or intent into Study Desk posts, especially those posted by myself. So I am not being rude, sarcastic, angry, upset, or frustrated when I respond to you. I am being direct, I am asking you to think for yourself, I am asking you to find out information for yourself, and most of all I am asking you to be responsible for your own learning journey.
Answer your queries in a timely manner. Depending on when you send me a query or make a post on the Study Desk, I will normally respond to you within 2448 hours Ask you to direct your administrative questions to your SRO Apply USQ policy and procedures with fairness and equity Not hold your hand and spoon feed you in this course. Rather I will work with you and help you best understand the content of this course. So I will treat you as an independent learner Keep you up to date on any course developments, problems, or issues that may impact upon your progress through the course (e.g., USQ technical problems) Mark and return assessment pieces within reasonable time periods given the available resources. Sometimes this is not always possible and I will inform you of this Be available for consultation Monitor the Study Desk at least three times per week Not read inferences or meaning into your Study Desk posts. No I dont think your rude, lazy, sarcastic, too busy, or trying to get a free ride (just some of the thoughts from students over the years!) Take responsibility for the running of this course Challenge your thinking and ways of understanding in order for you to fully engage in this course. Now you may not like this in the first instance as I ask you to justify your response, show me the evidence, read a section again, take an alternative view of a concept, ask you a question in response to your question. Yes this will be frustrating but this is adult learning. Each year I get criticised for not just telling students where to find something or for asking a student to read something and come back with what they understand before I answer a question. I am not trying to frustrate you rather I am asking you to re-read or reconsider or take a moment to think about your problem from another perspective so that you gain a deeper understanding of the issue and this is good teaching practice based upon empirical data. By the way I tend to ask you to do this for important foundation concepts that would probably make good exam questions Ask you to work in this course. You will need to work and apply yourself in this course. It is unlikely that you will be able to read something once and get it. You will probably need to read and re read and then re read information and then do some learning activities before you get it yes you will need to get your hands dirty with some data!
The above may seem quite daunting but I have found over the years that if you are clear about what I expect from you and what you should expect from me, then there is less chance for misunderstandings and difficulties to arise.
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I recommend that you purchase the 6th edition of the AAC text if possible. If you are not able to purchase the 6th edition you may use the 5th edition as the changes between editions are not major. There may be some page number changes but the chapter numbers are the same. There may also be example changes, learning activity, and slight content explanation changes. You also need to understand that all of the study materials, lecture notes, and Study Desk posts will be based upon the 6th edition. The 6th edition also comes with access to a teaching and learning package called MyStatLab and we will be using this throughout the course. Do you need to purchase or be able to easily access this text? YES Why? This is the main statistics text for this course. It has been selected because it covers the important statistical material in an integrated and uncomplicated way and emphasise definition formulas of the various statistical analyses to encourage deeper understanding of these procedures. PSY2100 covers 11 of the 15 chapters of AAC. The remaining chapters and some chapters that you have already covered in this course will be covered in PSY3111 Research methods in psychology B. The texts also include activities that will assist you in learning the course content. In addition, the texts incorporate SPSS activities that I will be directing you to as we cover each analysis technique. If all of this wasnt enough, the 6th edition comes with a specific teaching and learning package called MyStatLab. This package includes on-line quizzes that will help you learn the statistical concepts that we cover as well as help you prepare for the two on-line quizzes that form part of the assessment for this course. The fourth textbook refers specifically to writing APA research reports. Whilst you would already have the Burton APA writing guide from PSY1010 Foundation psychology A and PSY1020 Foundation psychology B as it is a required text in these two courses, student feedback in PSY2100 has been that this text does not adequately cover the more detailed APA nuances that a research report often requires. So on the basis of this feedback I have set the APA publication manual as the textbook that will assist you in writing APA reports. However I would not throw away the Burton text as it does contain an example of a good report that you may find helpful. American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Do you need to purchase or be able to easily access this text? YES Why? The book contains information relating to how to write a research report. You will need this book for assignments 1, 2, and 3.
Software
You are also required to purchase a statistical software package for use in this course. You may already have this software from STA2300 Data analysis. SPSS is available on the computer labs at USQ Toowoomba, Springfield, and Wide Bay. In addition, many workplaces have SPSS as standard computer software.
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PSAW Student Version 19.0 for Windows, Prentice Hall. Earlier versions of SPSS are acceptable as there are no real changes from version to version. Do you need to purchase it? YES or at least be able to access the software Why? Many of the activities in this course make use of the SPSS package. Learning to use a statistical package and to read and interpret the output is an important part of this course and contributes to your understanding of the statistical concepts that are covered in this course. Assignment 3 requires that analyses be conducted with the package and on-line quiz 2 requires you to answer questions about an SPSS output that you have to produce. There are some subtle differences between different versions of SPSS, but these should not negatively impact upon your learning in this course.
to communicate matters of course administration to communicate matters of course content to communicate matters of assessment.
Thus it is YOUR responsibility to regularly access and monitor the Study Desk for information. Failure to do so can result in you misunderstanding assessment requirements or not being up to date on assessment details. I will NOT accept lack of knowledge as a reason for assessment performance, as Im making it clear YOU need to monitor the Study Desk for information. Similarly, make sure that the personal details that you have provided to USQ are up to date, as I may need to contact you about a course matter. Failure to update your student information will NOT be accepted as a reason for assessment performance.
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4. Given what I have said earlier, you need to take collective responsibility for discussing and clarifying issues rather than simply waiting for a response from me. Sometimes a response from myself can stifle discussion rather than facilitate it, so I may deliberately hold back to see what others in the course think. 5. Study Desk etiquette: There is a good history of the use of the Study Desk by students in this course. In 2011 there were around 1000 messages on the Study Desk. About half the students in the course contributed to the discussion at some point during the semester, and of course many others would have monitored the Study Desk for useful discussion without necessarily contributing. A number of students found that contributing to the Study Desk helped with their own learning. 6. This course can be a difficult, stressful, and confronting for many students. In most cases students deal with this anxiety in constructive ways and make good use of the provided support materials and discussion resources. Some students use the Study Desk to vent that anxiety in less constructive ways and on occasion students have spoken disrespectfully of myself or student peers. This is not an acceptable use of the Study Desk. When considering the most productive use of my time, I will give priority to responding to messages that constructively seek to clarify or extend knowledge of course material. 7. The Study Desk is a TEACHING space not a social space. Your interactions in this space need to be grounded within this understanding. This is important for you to understand. I treat this space like an on-campus teaching space. This is not Facebook or any other social networking site so how you communicate on those sites is not appropriate here. The Study Desk areas are learning sites and thus we all need to interact in appropriate ways. 8. You need to familiarise yourself with the following ICT policies and Codes of Practices. Failure to adhere to these policies and codes will taken seriously <http://www.usq.edu.au/ict/guidelines> 9. An analysis of previous Study Desk use shows that the best posts are those that raise a question and where the student posting the discussion has had a reasonable attempt at answering the question based on the material, or setting out the potentially confusing interpretations that require clarification. Such posts allow an elaborated discussion that not only clarifies the material but deepens understanding as well. Posts that ask an unelaborated question are less useful because they do not provide any clues to the reader about where the confusion or misunderstanding lies, and a common reply to such questions is to seek clarification about the question. The more you can elaborate the question in the first instance, the quicker and more useful will be the reply and discussion. So include page numbers, what you have read, what you understand, what you dont understand, where you think your confusion lies. Doing this allows your fellow students and myself to best help you. 10. Please make sure that you have read the next section on productive use of support from the examiner carefully. Especially read the section on how to ask questions as I often get criticised for being rude and unapproachable because I wont just give students answers to their questions. Also you need to understand that I may be the only staff member working in this course. So in order to facilitate smooth running of the Study Desk I do need you to help me out by posing questions in the appropriate way.
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d. If you have registered a query through USQAssist or the Universitys phone or fax number (refer to Support section) and do not receive a timely reply, note that it may be because I am overwhelmed and working through the queries and/or that you have not been specific enough in your request and it has been given a lower priority. Please be patient and provide more information about your request if possible or redirect the query to the Study Desk.
Note
Please avoid using direct email contact in the first instance. Such contact is best reserved for following up issues that have been raised first on the Study Desk or are of a personal nature. Please post your message on the Study Desk first so that all students can benefit from your query and thus my answer.
Residential school
There is no residential school for this course.
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Study schedule
A study schedule has been provided to help you progress through the course. It is important that you do not fall behind as steady progress through the semester will give you the best possible chance of success.
Note
Not everything in the text readings are associated with this course. In order to streamline your readings, make sure that you are reading and noting that text information that is related to the module objectives.
Week 1
25 Feb 1 Mar
Assessment
2
48 March
3
1115 March
Research report writing: the APA Chapters 2, 3 & 4 introduction section and IB Assignment 1 critical analysis section Survey designs SZZ Chapter 5 APA Chapter 5 SB Module 3
4
1822 March
Reminder: End of week 4 is the last date to drop S1 courses without academic or financial penalty.
5
2529 March
Research report writing: the APA Chapters 2, 6 & 7 method section IB Assignment 2 section MID SEMESTER BREAK MID SEMESTER BREAK Observation designs SZZ Chapter 4 APA Chapters 3 & 4 SB Module 4 Assignment 1: Introduction Section of an APA research report Due: 15th April 2013
6
15 April
7
812 April
8
1519 April
Reminder: End of week 8 is the last date to drop S1 courses without academic penalty.
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Week 9
2226 April
Module
Activity/Reading
Assessment
Research report writing: the APA Chapter 5 results section IB - Assignment 3 section Measures of central tendency AAC pp. xv-xvi, Chapters 1 & 2 SB Module 5
10
29 Apr 3 May
Hypothesis testing
Assignment 2: Method Section of an APA research report Due: 3rd May 2013
11
610 May
12
1317 May
13
2024 May
14
2731 May
Chi-square tests
Assignment 3: Results Section of an APA research report Due: 31st May 2013
15
37 June
Revision week
1617
1021 June
EXAMINATION PERIOD
SZZ = 9th edition Shaughnessy, Zechmeister & Zechmeister text APA = 6th edition APA Publication Manual AAC = 6th edition Aron, Aron & Coups text
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Assessment
Assessment Toowoomba and external offerings only
The assessment for this course consists of six assessment pieces for this course. There are three research report assignments (which equate to the first three sections of an APA style research report), two on-line Moodle quizzes that assess the statistics part of this course, and one examination that assesses the method part of the course.
Assignments 1, 2, and 3 (the first three sections of an APA style research report)
Based on student feedback in 2012, the former partial research report assignment that consisted of an introduction, method, and results section of an APA research report has been separated into three separate assignments in 2013. Yes you guessed correctly Assignment 1 is the introduction section, Assignment 2 is the method section, and Assignment 3 is the results section of an APA style research report. By doing this you will receive early feedback on your APA style adherence skills, your understanding of how research hypotheses link to particular analyses, and your understanding of research methodology. In this way you can work to improve the quality of your work across the three assignment pieces. You can do this by using the feedback you receive on earlier pieces of work and apply this to the later assessment pieces. It is also anticipated that this break down of a large assessment task will help you better manage your workload and will better introduce you to the rigours of research writing and how strict adherence to APA is an expectation not an option. With that, please make sure you read each assignment section carefully and regularly monitor the Study Desk for information about these assignments. Given the timing of these assignments, extension requests will be strictly limited to 5 days that includes the assignment due date to ensure that all students receive feedback in a timely manner. Given the spread of the assignments, I do not anticipate many assignment requests as your load is now spread across three assessment pieces and each assessment piece is quite contained.
Moodle quizzes
There are two Moodle quizzes in this course. Both assess your understanding of statistics with Moodle Quiz 2 also assessing your ability to use SPSS. These are timed Moodle quizzes and given this, it is an expectation of this course that you have reliable access to the Internet. If you do not the I strongly suggest that you contact me so that we can work together to ensure you have reliable access. Unreliable access will not be grounds for an extension on these quizzes.
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Examination
There is one exam for this course. It assesses your understanding of the method section of the course. This exam will be held in the end of semester examination period.
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The on-line Moodle quizzes in this course are summative. This means that they do contribute to your final result (this is unlike some other courses that you may have taken where on-line quizzes are formative and thus do not contribute to your final result). The quizzes will only assess the statistical part of the course. There may be occasions where a question draws upon your methodological knowledge (e.g., a research scenario may be presented where you need to know the research design in order to answer the statistical question), however the aim of these quizzes to assess your statistical knowledge. You will only be allowed one attempt at each quiz and each quiz is a strictly timed quiz. This is because I am assessing your understanding and ability to problem solve. I am not assessing your ability to look up information in your text using the index.
Purpose
The on-line quizzes has been designed to assess the following learning objectives:
demonstrate an understanding of measures of central tendency, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, Chi-Square tests, z scores, z test, t-tests, Correlation, and Regression including the appropriate selection of analysis techniques demonstrate an understanding of data screening, assumption testing, and power and effect size as they relate to the above statistical analyses use SPSS to analyse psychological research data.
Further, each on-line quiz question is directly linked to a module objective (please see the study book for module objectives).
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Time
Both on-line quizzes are timed quizzes. That is, each quiz will need to be completed and submitted during this time. The aim of these quizzes is not to assess your ability to look up information in a textbook. They are designed to assess your knowledge, understanding, and skills in statistics. Thus you will need to study for these quizzes in a similar way in which you would study for an exam. This is an on-line open book exam if you like. Based on the data from last year where I can access how long it took students to complete and then submit on-line quiz 1. In 2013 you have 35 minutes to complete the 25 questions. Last year the average time to complete and submit quiz 1 was 29.13 minutes so 35 minutes is ample time.
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Time
Both Moodle quizzes are timed quizzes. That is, each quiz will need to be completed and submitted during this time. The aim of these quizzes is not to assess your ability to look up information in a textbook. They are designed to assess your knowledge, understanding, and skills in statistics. Thus you will need to study for these quizzes in a similar way in which you would study for an exam. This is an on-line open book exam if you like. Based on the data from last year where I can access how long it took students to complete and then submit on-line Moodle quiz 2. In 2013 you have 15 minutes to complete the 10 questions. Last year the average time to complete and submit quiz 2 was 11.46 minutes, so 15 minutes is ample time.
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Rationale
Understanding and doing research is paramount to studying psychology. Following systematic procedures involved in conducting research helps us to be confident about what we think is happening in the research setting. Being able to assess and evaluate research assists us in determining the value of the research results and their applicability to our own research and/or consultancy work. Further, being able to communicate to others in the field precisely what was done and why, what was found, and how the results fit in with the existing academic literature is important in psychology. Typically in psychology this is done via a research report. A complete research report includes four major components: Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. The section of the research report that this assignment focuses on is the Introduction. Assignment 2 will focus on the Method section with Assignment 3 focusing on the Results section.
describe different research designs, identify when it is appropriate to use them, and discuss their strengths and limitations identify the concepts used in a study, the variables used to operationalise these concepts, and the control techniques used develop research questions and hypotheses to test psychological concepts and theories critically analyse published journal articles by identifying and explaining article aims, relevant method information, results, and potential methodological limitations write an introduction, method, and results section of an APA 6th edition research report.
Time
You will need to set aside approximately 10 hours for Assignment 1. The actual time that it takes you will depend on your level of skill and knowledge.
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Information relating to the research study that forms the basis of this assignment will be presented on the Study Desk by the end of Week 4. This delay is to discourage contract cheating. Unfortunately some students are engaging in contract cheating whereby they pay others to produce their assessment pieces. Best practice recommends that information about assessments be delayed as long as possible. In keeping with this practice recommendation I will post information about each assignment no mater than 4 weeks before each piece is due. Reading empirical research articles will give you an idea of how an introduction section should be written. But be careful in selecting articles as not all psychology articles are written strictly to APA guidelines. Editorial rules override APA style guidelines in many journals (yes I know that is frustrating and I share your frustration but that is how it is). In terms of what goes in the introduction section of an APA research report, you will need to follow Chapter 2 of the APA manual closely for assistance with this assignment and also follow the lecture recordings and notes that I provide. The SZZ text will help you in writing your aims and hypotheses.
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Focusing on APA content is important in Assignments 1 to 3 you need to read this carefully
For this assignment you are to concentrate on what APA recommends to include in the introduction section of an APA research report as well as remembering to adhere to overall APA format guidelines. I am including marks for general adherence to APA format in each assignment. There are specific format guidelines that APA requires for the sections that we cover and you need to adhere to these as well as adhere to the overall format guidelines that you have covered in PSY1010 Foundation psychology A.
First of all, you are to take up the role of researcher in each assessment piece and pretend that you came up with the research idea, collected the presented data, and so on. You will be using the three set research articles as the basis for your study. Typically in an APA introduction you would need to identify a model/theory that explains the variables you are interested in. However as this assignment is designed to assess your understanding of the research process and not models/theories you are not required to identify and describe any model/theory in your introduction section. You may do so if you wish but this will not be marked and will not contribute to your overall mark for this assignment.
Introduction information
You will need to read Chapter 2 of the APA (2010) manual as this contains information regarding the structure of an APA introduction section. I will covered what goes in the introduction section in week 3. This lecture will be recorded. I recommend that you access this recording as soon as it is available. You will need to read the three articles that I have set.
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Note
There are NO automatic extensions granted in this course. The due date is the due date.
Assignment submission
All students are to submit their assignment via EASE.
Plagiarism
I am assuming that you are well aware of what is and is not plagiarism. If you need to brush up on your understandings please go to this website for more information <http://www.usq.edu.au/plagiarism/infostud/default.htm>. You can also talk with your SRO and they will be able to help you access USQ information regarding plagiarism.
Over the years I have found that the main problem students have is not understanding how to paraphrase or misunderstanding what is OWN words. To assist I have included the following as a guide: Directly using the information presented in a source as if you wrote it yourself is plagiarism (e.g., directly using information presented in an article as if you wrote it yourself is plagiarism) Changing just the tense of a phrase or sentence from a source is plagiarism. (e.g., Changing just the tense of a phrase or sentence from a source was plagiarism) Changing the order of words in a phrase or sentence is plagiarism. (e.g., Plagiarism is changing the order of words in a sentence or phrase)
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Changing a few words in sentence or phrase. (e.g., Changing some parts of a sentence or phrase).
None of the above bold information is paraphrasing information in your own words. Paraphrasing is presenting information using your OWN words. To not do this is to engage in plagiarism.
Turnitin software
All students are encouraged to run their assignments through Turnitin prior to submission in order to detect early instances of possible poor paraphrasing and amend appropriately.
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Adherence to APA Format Not covered in other sections please make an effort in this section as it could be the difference between a B and an A. If you include a title page or reference list I will mark this and deduct marks for non-adherence to APA. You are not to include a title page or reference list as part of this assignment Total /5
Final mark
/35
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Rationale
Understanding and doing research is paramount to studying psychology. Following systematic procedures involved in conducting research helps us to be confident about what we think is happening in the research setting. Being able to assess and evaluate research assists us in determining the value of the research results and their applicability to our own research and/or consultancy work. Further, being able to communicate to others in the field precisely what was done and why, what was found, and how the results fit in with the existing academic literature is important in psychology. Typically in psychology this is done via a research report. A complete research report includes four major components: Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. The section of the research report that this assignment focuses on is the Method section with Assignment 3 focusing on the Results section.
describe different research designs, identify when it is appropriate to use them, and discuss their strengths and limitations identify the concepts used in a study, the variables used to operationalise these concepts, and the control techniques used demonstrate an understanding of measures of central tendency, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, Chi-Square tests, z scores, z test, t-tests, Correlation, and Regression including the appropriate selection of analysis techniques use SPSS to analyse psychological research data write an introduction, method, and results section of an APA 6th edition research report.
Time
You will need to set aside approximately 10 hours for this assignment. The actual time that it takes you will depend on your level of skill and knowledge.
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You will find information relating the second assignment posted on the Study Desk for this course by the end of week 5. Reading empirical research articles will give you an idea of how a method section should be written. But be careful in selecting articles, not all psychology articles are written strictly to APA guidelines. Editorial rules override APA style guidelines in many journals (yes I know that is frustrating and I share your frustration but that is how it is), In terms of what goes in the method section of an APA research report, you will need to follow Chapter 2 of the APA manual closely for assistance with this assignment and also follow the lecture recordings and notes.
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Focusing on APA content is important in Assignments 1 to 3 you need to read this carefully
For this assignment you are to concentrate on what APA recommends to include in the method section of an APA research report as well as remembering to adhere to overall APA format guidelines. I am including marks for general adherence to APA format in each assignment. There are specific format guidelines that APA requires for the sections that we cover and you need to adhere to these as well as adhere to the overall format guidelines that you have covered in PSY1010 Foundation psychology A.
As a reminder you are to take up the role of researcher in this assignment and pretend that you came up with the idea, collected the presented data, and so on. As I have mentioned above you will have the opportunity to recruit a participant and collect data so that you actually experience the researcher role. Remember you will not be using this data in your assignment A copy of the surveys and demographic sheet that were used to collect the data for the assignment will be uploaded onto the Study Desk for this course under the Assignment 2 section by the end of week 5 of the course. These are the surveys and demographic sheet that you are to use when you engage in the recruitment and mock data collection learning activity.
Method information
There are three sub-sections in a method section. For the participants sub-section you will need to access the raw data that I have provided to obtain much of the information that you need for this section. Other pieces of information that you need for this sub-section will be found on the Study Desk in the recruitment and data collection learning activity information section, the participant information sheet, and the consent form. Information that you need to complete the materials and procedures sub-sections will also be found on the Study Desk and on the participant information sheet and consent form. You will need to know what information you are looking for so what information is needed in each section before you start searching through these documents. Some information that you need about the scales and questionnaires that we used to collect the data will be contained in the three articles that you used in Assignment 1. You will need to read the method sections of these articles to obtain that information. Again you will need to know what information you are looking for so what information is needed in the material section before you start searching through these articles. Now please read these next points very carefully:
You must re-write the method information in your own words, putting the information in each appropriate sub-section of the method Failure to do this will be treated as plagiarism I take plagiarism very seriously and so should you.
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Note
There are NO automatic extensions granted in this course. The due date is the due date.
Assignment submission
All students are to submit their assignment via EASE.
Plagiarism
Please see Assignment 1 information relating to plagiarism. I recognise the difficulty that students face when paraphrasing method information. It is a challenge but it can be done. You do need to work at it. Also if in doubt make sure you run Assignment 2 through Turnitin prior to submission as a check.
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Adherence to APA Format Not covered in other sections please make an effort in this section as it could be the difference between a B and an A. Total /2
Final mark
/35
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Rationale
Understanding and doing research is paramount to studying psychology. Following systematic procedures involved in conducting research helps us to be confident about what we think is happening in the research setting. Being able to assess and evaluate research assists us in determining the value of the research results and their applicability to our own research and/or consultancy work. Further, being able to communicate to others in the field precisely what was done and why, what was found, and how the results fit in with the existing academic literature is important in psychology. Typically in psychology this is done via a research report. A complete research report includes four major components: Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. The section of the research report that this assignment focuses on is the Results section.
demonstrate an understanding of measures of central tendency, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, Chi-Square tests, z scores, z test, t-tests, Correlation, and Regression including the appropriate selection of analysis techniques demonstrate an understanding of data screening, assumption testing, and power and effect size as they relate to the above statistical analyses use SPSS to analyse psychological research data write an introduction, method, and results section of an APA 6th edition research report.
Time
You will need to set aside approximately 10 hours for this assignment. The actual time that it takes you will depend on your level of skill and knowledge.
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By this point you should be familiar with the underlying design of your study. This assignment is focused purely on analysing and writing up the results of your analyses. Reading empirical research articles will give you an idea of how result sections should be written. But be careful in selecting articles, not all psychology articles are written strictly to APA guidelines. Editorial rules override APA style guidelines in many journals (yes I know that is frustrating and I share your frustration but that is how it is). In terms of what goes in the results section of an APA research report, you will need to follow Chapter 2 of the APA manual closely for assistance with this assignment and also follow the lecture recordings and notes. In terms of selecting the appropriate analyses and then conducting these, the AAC text will assist you in this task.
Focusing on APA content is important in Assignment 3 you need to read this carefully
For Assignment 3, you are to concentrate on what APA recommends to include in the result section as well as remembering to adhere to overall APA format guidelines. I am including marks for general adherence to APA format in each assignment. There are specific format guidelines that APA requires for the sections that we cover and you need to adhere to these as well as adhere to the overall format guidelines that you have covered in PSY1010 Foundation psychology A.
First of all you are to take up the role of researcher in this assignment and pretend that you came up with the idea, collected the presented data, and so on. You are now entering your third phase of your research study the analysis stage.
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Note
There are NO automatic extensions granted in this course. The due date is the due date.
Assignment submission
All students are to submit their assignment via EASE.
Plagiarism
As per previous assignment sections. I wouldnt run this assignment through Turnitin. There is only one way of presenting the actual statistical result according to APA format. If you run your assignment through Turnitin it will pick up the actual numerical values as being a match.
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Adherence to APA Format Not covered in other sections please make an effort in this section as it could be the difference between a B and an A. Total /2
Final mark
/35
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The examination
Description Examination Weighting (%) 35% Due date Semester 1 exam period
The exam will only assess the method section of the course. The exam will contain four challenge questions that are similar to those in the SZZ text. Further information about the exam will be provided via the discussion forum during the semester. The following objectives are assessed in the exam: 1. describe different research designs, identify when it is appropriate to use them, and discuss their strengths and limitations 2. identify the concepts used in a study, the variables used to operationalise those concepts, and the control techniques used 3. develop research questions and hypotheses to test psychological concepts and theories. I have not provided you with access to past examination papers and I have not provided you with a practice exam due to the limited test bank that I draw upon to develop the exam. BUT The directed text and web learning activities, directed self-tests, and tutorial activities have been specifically designed to allow you to monitor your learning and understanding of the course content. These activities allow you the opportunity of on-going assessment and ongoing feedback about your progress. Further, the summary and key concepts/terms associated with each chapter in SZZ are useful guides in your learning and understanding. Dont forget to use the websites associated with the SZZ text. All of this is sufficient in assisting you to prepare for the exam.
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