Finishing up: Posters, Talks, & Regression Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology

Announcements Poster sessions in lab this week Go to lab, set up posters, take attendance Turn in group ratings sheet Turn in results and reference section for group project

Your posters (our checklist) Content Introduction Problem of interest Very brief summary of past research Basic purpose of experiment(s) Hypotheses Method Brief but clear Design Materials Procedure (brief)

Your posters (our checklist) Content cont. Results Descriptive statistics Inferential results Discussion Hypothesis rejected or supported Implication of results A few take home points References Tables and figures Useful info to reader Easy to understand

Your posters (our checklist) Format Overall clarity Organization Font size Figure/text balance Title Authors

Different kinds of talks Research Presentations (typically 10 to 30 mins) Paper with respondent Panel Presentation Workshop

Talk Content Create a logical progression to the talk Hourglass shape Work on the transitions between slides Be brief, but include enough details so that the audience can follow the arguments Use slides to help simplify/clarify points Include tables, graphs, pictures, etc. Don’t just read the slides but do “walk through” those that need it (e.g. graphs of results) Be careful of jargon, explain terms (if in fact you really need them)

Presentation of the talk Make it smooth (lots of practice will help) Watch your speaking rate (again, practice) Maintain eye contact with whole audience Emphasize the key points, make sure that the audience can identify these Point to the slides if it helps Beware jokes, can be a double-edged sword Don’t go over your time

Dealing with questions Repeat the question in your own words so that the rest of the audience can hear it to make sure that you understood the question to buy yourself some time to think about the answer Try not to be nervous you know your study better than anyone else When preparing, try to think of likely questions and prepare answers

Checklist for the talk Preparation Analyze the audience Choose your main points etc. Prepare the Final Outline fix any problems/loose ends Construct your “speaking” outline e.g., the note cards that you’ll read Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse

Relationships between variables Example: Suppose that you notice that the more you study for an exam, the better your score typically is. This suggests that there is a relationship between study time and test performance. We call this relationship a correlation. Can describe: Shape, direction, and shape Suppose want to do more? Make predictions - Regression What exam score do you predict based on how much you study

Scatterplot Hours study X Exam perf. Y Y X

Y X Regression Compute the equation for the line that best fits the data points Y = (X)(slope) + (intercept) 2.0 Change in Y Change in X = slope 0.5

Y X Regression Can make specific predictions about Y based on X Y = (X)(.5) + (2.0) X = 5 Y = ? Y = (5)(.5) + (2.0) Y = =

Regression Also need a measure of error Y = X(.5) + (2.0) + error Y X Y X Same line, but different relationships (strength difference)

Cautions with correlation & regression Don’t make causal claims Don’t extrapolate Extreme scores (outliers) can strongly influence the calculated relationship

Labs this week Poster presentations Turn in group ratings sheets Turn in results and reference section for group project