PSYCHOLOGY 201 B
STATISTICAL METHODS
 COURSE SYLLABUS

Instructor: Dr. Daniel Arkkelin
Office: DMH 219
Office Hrs: 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. W; 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. TR
Phone: 219.464.5441

Stat. Tutor Hours: TBA
Online Help: To access helpful online exercises, click here: Spatz Companion Website
Texts:

Course Description: This course has two specific goals: (1) to provide the student with the skills to understand, calculate and interpret various statistics, and (2) to provide the ability to determine when and how to apply a particular statistical technique. From a broader perspective, however, the course has several additional purposes. It will familiarize students sufficiently with the terms and procedures of statistics to enable them to understand scientific reports. It will attempt to teach students to view statistical techniques (as well as computer skills) as scientific tools for generating and interpreting data. Finally, it will strengthen students' general problem-solving skills and their understanding of the use of the scientific method for testing ideas in the social, behavioral and health sciences.

Computer Requirement: Students will be required to learn how to use the computer to aid them in the statistical analysis of data, and will be expected to carry out a number of exercises on the computer. Students will log in to the campus network to access a statistical analysis program called SPSS. They will learn how to create and modify data files, execute statistical routines with SPSS, and generate printouts of the required exercises.

Attendance Policy: Class attendance is essential to successful performance in this course, and you are responsible for all class activities. Attendance for scheduled quizzes and exams is mandatory, and make-up quizzes/exams will be considered only in cases of extreme personal hardship.

Evaluation Policy: There will be four exams (50 pts. each), six quizzes (10 pts. each), and ten computer assignments (5 pts. each; points will be deducted for late assignments), for a total of 310 pts. Grades will be assigned according to the following criteria: 90-100% = A; 80-89% = B; 70-79% = C; 60-69% = D; < 60% = F. The instructor retains the right to lower these criteria, but they will not be raised under any circumstances.

COURSE SCHEDULE & ASSIGNMENTS

Week

Dates

Assignments

Topics

Computer

 

 

 

 

 

1

T, 8/25

Ch 1

Introduction

Ch 1

 

R, 8/27

Ch 1; Ch 2

Data Organization; Graphing

Ch 2

         

2

T, 9/1

Ch 1 HW; Ch 2

Normal/Skewed Distributions

Ch 2

 

R, 9/3

Quiz 1 (10 pts.-Ch 1);Ch  3a, p. 40-52

Central Values

SPSS Crib
         

3

T, 9/8

Ch 2-3 HW; Ch3b, p. 52-68

Standard Deviation

Ch 2 Due (5 pts.)

 

R, 9/10

EXAM 1 (50 pts.-Ch. 1,2,3a); Ch 4

Z-Scores

 

         

4

T, 9/15

Ch 4

Box Plots & Effect Size

Ch 3

 

R, 9/17

Ch 3-4 HW; Ch 5

Correlation

Ch 3 Due (5 pts.)

         

5

T, 9/22

Quiz 2 (10 pts-Ch 3b; 4); Ch 5

Regression

Ch 4

 

R, 9/24

Ch 5

Prediction

Ch 5

         

6

T, 9/29

Ch 5 HW

 

Ch 5 Due (10 pts.)

 

R, 10/1

EXAM 2 (50 pts-Ch 3b,4,5); Ch 6

Inference

Ch 6

         

7

T, 10/6

Ch 6

Sampling & Probability

 

 

R, 10/8

Ch 6 HW; Ch 7

 

Ch 6 Due (5 pts.)

         

8

T, 10/13

Quiz 3 (10 pts-Ch 6); Ch 7

Central Limit Theorem

 

R, 10/15

Fall Break!! 10/15 -10/16

 

Ch 8

         

9

T, 10/19

Ch 7

Sampling Distributions

 
R, 10/21
Ch 7 HW
  
Ch 8 Due (5 pts.)
         

10

T, 10/27

Quiz 4 (10 pts-Ch 7); Ch 8

Hypothesis Testing

Ch 9

 

R, 10/29

Ch 8

To “SIR” with Love

 

 

 

 

 

 

11

T, 11/3

Ch 8 HW

Differences in Means

Ch 9 Due (5 pts.)

 

R, 11/5

EXAM 3 (50 pts-Ch 6,7, 8); Ch 9

Experimental Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

12

T, 11/10

Ch 9

The t-test

Ch 10

 

R, 11/12

Ch 9 HW

 

Ch 10 Due (5 pts.)

 

 

 

 

 

13

T, 11/17

Quiz 5 (10 pts-Ch 9); Ch 10

Analysis of Variance

Ch 11

 

R, 11/19

Ch 10

Comparing Means

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Break! 11/21-11/29

 

 

14

T, 12/1

Ch 10 HW

 

Ch 11 Due (5 pts.)

 

R, 12/3

Quiz 6 (10 pts-Ch 10); Ch 11

Factorial ANOVA

Ch 13

 

 

 

 

 

15

T, 12/8

Ch 11

Interaction Effects

Ch 13 Due (5 pts.)

 

R, 12/10

Ch 11 HW

Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

16

M, 12/14

EXAM 4  (50 pts-Ch 9,10, 11)

10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.