Course Description

PSYC 2317 Statistical Methods in Psychology

PSYC 2317 is an introduction to the basic concepts and the application of statistics in psychology. Statistical techniques are tools that are used to organize information and make inferences from data. Upon completion of the course, you should be able to understand (a) the basic terminology and logic of a statistical analysis, and (b) the proper application of some commonly-used statistical procedures to scientific research. The course should enable you to become a more informed and critical reader of scientific journals. It also will equip you with basic tools to conduct simple scientific research.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Course Goals (includes core competencies, incorporation of SCANS, etc.)

As part of the core curriculum for the Math Cluster, this course is designed to help develop basic intellectual competencies such as reading, writing, listening, critical thinking and computer literacy.

It offers the foundation for meeting the following educational objectives:

• To apply arithmetic, algebraic, higher-order thinking and statistical methods to modeling and solving real-world situations.
• To represent and evaluate basic statistical information verbally, numerically, graphically, and symbolically.
• To expand statistical/mathematical reasoning skills and formal logic to develop convincing statistical/mathematical arguments.
• To use appropriate technology to enhances statistical thinking and understanding, to solve statistical problems and provide critical evaluation of the results.
• To interpret statistical/mathematical models such as formulas, graphs, and tables, and draw inferences from them.
• To recognize the limitations of mathematical and statistical models.

Instructor Information

This course will be taught by a qualified psychology instructor.  Please read the specific course syllabus for the instructor information.

Textbook Information

Gravetter, F. J. & Wallnau, L. B. (2000).  Statistics For the Behavioral Sciences (5th ed.).  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Lab Requirements (if any)

No lab requirements

Students with Disabilities

Students who are in need of special accommodations related to a condition or disability should contact ADA Counselor at each college to obtain the proper documentation. Special accommodations will be provided to those students who show proper documentation.

Plagiarism, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited by the HCCS policy and the rules of this class. A student found guilty of the first offense will receive a grade of (F) for that particular assignment. For the second offense, the student will receive a grade of (F) for the course.

Attendance and Withdrawal Policies

Class attendance is required for the successful completion of the course. Following HCCS policy, a student with unexplained absences in excess of 6 class hours may be dropped from a class.

If you wish to withdraw, it is recommended that you submit the withdrawal form in the registration office. If you have ceased attending classes, some instructors may drop you from the class roll at the end of the semester, and you will receive a grade of W, even if you have not filed the official withdrawal form. However, other instructors may give a grade of F instead. Please read the syllabus for your class carefully about the attendance and withdrawal policies.

If you are on the installment plan, please remember to make payments according to schedule. Otherwise, you will be dropped from the class roll.

Grading Policy

The following example is the grading policy used by one of the PSYC2317 classes (Dr. Joanne Hsu's class):

A student's final course grade will be calculated according to the following formula:
         Test 1                                                           16%
         Test 2                                                           16%
         Test 3                                                           20%
         Test 4                                                           20%
         Final Exam                                                    25%
         Attendance                                                    3%
                                                                             ----------
                                                                              100%
      The final score resulting from the sum of the above components will be converted into letter grades according to the following scale.

         A = 90 and up       B = 80 - 89   C = 70 - 79    D = 60 - 69    F  = 59 and below  

Course Requirements for example: Testing, Projects, Assignments, Portfolios, Service Learning, Internships, etc.

Instructors may use a variety of assessment methods in grading, including objective tests (multiple-choice, true-false, filling-in-blanks, etc.), problem solving questions, course project, group assignments, etc. Please consult with the specific course syllabus.

Make-up policy

Different instructors may have different make-up policies.

Some instructors may allow make-up exams. Other instructors may not allow make-up tests, but give students the option to drop one test grade.

Course Content

PSYC 2317 covers an introduction to the use of scientific methods in psychology and to the statistical analysis of data. Attention is given to descriptive, correlational, and inferential statistical methodology.

Course Calendar with Due Dates for Assignments and Testing

The following is a sample course calendar ( Dr. Joanne Hsu's class) :

Other Student Information (clubs, tutoring, web resources, student services, etc.)

The textbook has an accompanied website: http://psychology.wadsworth.com/book/gravetterwallnau5e/index.html

Psi Beta is a systemwide honors organization for psychology majors in community colleges. Psi Beta - HCC chapter's website can be found at http://nwc.hccs.edu/psyc/psibeta.html. In addition, some colleges (for example, Southwest College) have Psychology Clubs.

Some useful links to web resources in psychology can be found at http://nwc.hccs.edu/psyc/LINKS.HTML.