Thursday, May 29, 2008

Course Outline

Course Title
Statistics for Psychology

Course Description
This is a course on the basic concepts and methods of inferential statistics and their use in the design, analysis, and interpretation of psychological studies.

Number of Units
5 (3 lecture units + 2 laboratory units)

Pre-requisite Course
M 102 – Elementary Statistics


Course Objectives

The main objective of this course is to help psychology students achieve statistical literacy.
At the end of the semester, the following will be expected for each student to be considered statistically literate:
  • computational facility
    • performing basic calculations manually
    • using SPSS for Windows, MS-Excel or available online programs for more advance computations
  • statistical comprehension
    • selecting the most appropriate statistical procedure when presented with a particular research question or data set
    • interpreting results of statistical analysis
  • appreciation of the link between research and statistics
    • writing results using the APA format as a beginning psychological researcher,
    • critically examining results written in published journal articles as a research consumer .


Course Content

  1. Descriptive Statistics
    Brief review of lessons learned in M-102
    1. Basic Concepts
    2. Summarizing Data Through Tables and Graphs
    3. Summarizing Data Numerically:
      The Measures of Central Tendency, Dispersion, Skewness and Kurtosis

  2. Inferential Statistics
    1. z-scores and The Normal Curve
    2. The Logic of Inferential Statistics
      1. Sampling & Probability
      2. Sampling Distributions & Parameter Estimation
      3. How are Hypotheses Tested?
    3. Hypothesis Testing Using Parametric Tests
      1. Hypothesis Testing I: Single Means
      2. Hypothesis Testing II: Two Independent Means
      3. Hypothesis Testing III: Two Related Means
      4. Hypothesis Testing IV: Two or More Independent Means
        1. Studies involving One Independent Variable
        2. Studies involving Between-Subjects Factorial Design
      5. Hypothesis Testing V: Two or More Related Means
        1. Studies involving One Independent Variable
        2. Studies involving Within-Subjects Factorial Design
      6. Hypothesis Testing VI: Multiple Means from Mixed Factorial Designs

  3. Measures of Association
    1. Linear Correlation
    2. Linear Regression

  4. Brief Introduction to Multivariate Techniques


Course Requirements
  • Attendance
  • Active participation in class
  • Self Tests
  • Quizzes
  • Final Exams
  • Term Projects

Grading System
  • 70% Class Average
  • 30% Final Exams Mark


References



Gravetter, F.J. & Wallnau, L.B. (2007). Statistics for the behavioral sciences, 7th ed. Singapore: Thomson Wadsworth.


  1. Online Statistics Books


  2. SPSS Tutorials

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