Maria Takousi Based on Sandra O’Brien lecture notes

 Introduce you to a range of research methods employed in psychology  Develop your ability to work with quantitative data  Introduce you to new and important IT skills such as how to use SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences)  Start design and conduct a research analyze, interpret and present results

 Most weeks, there will be a lecture and a lab  In the lecture, the theoretical background of various issues will be covered  In the lab, practical activities will take place  However, there are few weeks with no lecture, so have in mind the timetable

WeekLecture? (Monday) Lab (Wednesday) 1Yes Overview of Practical Psychology I Basics of Research (Variables, frequencies and measurements) 2Yes Measures of central tendency 3Yes Measures of dispersion Data entry for Report 1 4No Tables, graphs and figures 5Yes Relative frequency Data analysis for Report 1 and introduction to probability 6Yes Research design 7No Report writing Data collection for Report 2 8Yes Distributions 9Yes Hypothesis testing, Type I and II errors Data analysis for Report 2 10Yes Significance and probability 11No Survey design 12NoReview

 Attendance at labs is mandatory  Failure to attend labs results in penalties and possible failure  5% penalty for the first non-attendance  An additional 5% penalty for the second non- attendance  Failure for the third non-attendance

 These will be 2 labs reports, one each due in Week 8 (17/12/14) & Week 12 (28/1/14)  The first is worth 25%, the second is worth 75%  There will be also two homework assignments (no grade, but must be completed in order to get feedback)  You will be required to submit two pieces of coursework : a hard copy and an electronic copy  Both of them have to be submitted by the deadline  Hard copy into the Registrar office (17:00 the latest)  Soft (electronic) copy uploaded to Sulis

 If either one of these are not submitted on time it is considered a late submission  Penalties for late submission are 5% per day up to 5 days  Any submission after 5 days is a fail  If you fail you will have to repeat in Summer

 You must get a grade of C3 or higher (i.e. ≥45%) in order to pass PS4041  Grades of D1 and D2 cannot be used as compensatory fail grades for this module  The next grade below C3 is F

 Percentage Grade-Literal Grade ≥ 80%-A1 ≥ 75%-A2 ≥ 70%-B1 ≥ 65%-B2 ≥ 60%-B3 ≥ 55%-C1 ≥ 50%-C2 ≥ 45%-C3 F

 If you have missed labs or submitted coursework late due to mitigating circumstances it is ESSENTIAL that you complete a M form with supporting documentation

In psychology we are interested in studying individuals’ attributes (characteristics) For instance, Female 18 yrs old Greek Blond hair 1.70 height 50 kilos (weight)

A set of logical attributes consists a variable For instance, Male/ female = attributes Gender = variable Greek/Irish/English/French = attributes Nationality= variable 18yr, 25yr,33yr= attributes Age=variable

Are males more extraverted than females? Variables: gender and personality trait Is age related to healthy lifestyle? Variables: age and healthy lifestyle (nutrition, physical activity, smoking) Different types of variables (categorical, ordinal, interval, ratio)

 Categorical or nominal (a variable that has two or more categories)  e.g. gender, age group, nationality, religion, field of study, e.t.c  There is no ordering

 Similar to categorical, but with clear ordering  ordered categories e.g. self-ratings of satisfaction on a scale of 1-4 (1=very, 2=moderate, 3=little, 4=not at all) Educational level (4 th, 5 th, 6 th )  The intervals are not equal

 Numeric, similar to ordinal  Same intervals between cut points  Have not true zero e.g. temperature (0 does not mean no temperature)

 Numeric, similar to intervals  Same intervals between cut points  Have true zero e.g. number of children (0 children means no children in the family)

 Independent variables (IV)  Dependent variables (DV)  The IV is controlled or manipulated by the researcher (cause)  The DV is the variable observed (effect)  The effect of Mozart music on the short–term memory

 The effect of smoking on food consumption  The effect of stress in blood pressure  Are males more extraverted than females?  Differences in healthy lifestyle depends on life stage ?  First year students will report higher anxiety in the Anxiety Scale

 An independent variable may have a number of levels (values) e.g. Gender (2 levels –male/female) Place of residence (3 levels-urban/ suburban /rural areas)  A dependent variable may or may not be divided into levels

...is the definition of variable in exact terms and these terms are the steps taken in the measurement of the variable. e.g. Are males more extraverted than females?  What the variables are (identify & define)  How the variables are measured in your study (e.g. extraversion ? personality, questionnaires)

A population includes all individuals of interest  All Psychology students  All Greek people It might be difficult, or impossible to test the whole population  A sample is a subset of a population  Samples should be representative of the population

Descriptive & Inferential stats Descriptive stats – illustrate your data Inferential stats – test your hypotheses