Introduction to Quantitative Methods in Psychology
(PSYC 1004b)
Spring 2017
Department of Psychology
The University of Hong Kong
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Lectures:
Tuesday & Thursday
1230 – 1320, CPD 2.42
Instructor:
Office:
Telephone:
Email:
Office Hours:
Dr. Joseph Cheng
JCT 616
3917-8205
[email protected]
Wed 1530 – 1630, or by appointment
Tutor/Coordinator:
Office:
Email:
Office Hour:
Tutorial Hours:
Wendy Lau
JCT 613
[email protected]
by appointment
TBC
Boley Cheng
JCT 618
[email protected]
by appointment
TBC
Course Description
The aim of this course is to introduce basic research approaches and statistics used
the field of psychology. It means to empower students to 1) critically evaluate
different psychological study, and 2) design, conduct, and report simple
psychological study. The course adopts an interactive and practical approach to
teaching statistics. Students are expected to actively participate during lectures and
tutorials sessions.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the basic logic and statistical theories behind simple experiment
designs.
- Identify appropriate experiment designs and analyse the data collected for
simple research questions
- Use graphs to illustrate, explore, and diagnose data
- Interpret and report results of basic statistical analyses
Textbook(s)
King, B. M., Rosopa, P. J. & Minium, E. M. (2010). Statistical Reasoning in the
Behavioral Sciences, 6th Edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Computer Resources
Lecture slides, homework assignments, and readings will be made available on
Moodle. We will use SPSS for statistical analyses.
If you have trouble accessing the course website, please contact your tutor.
Assessment
Participation / Tutorials
Lab Report
Assignments
Mid-term quiz
Final Quiz
20%
10%
20%
20%
30%
Participation / Tutorials
You are required to participate all 8 tutorials in this course. During each tutorial, you
should follow tutor’s guidance to complete a SPSS exercise and upload it to Moodle
by the end of the tutorial. The attendance and the completion of the exercises
together consist of 20% of the total grade.
Quizzes
There will be two quizzes which together consists of 50% of the total grade. Each will
consist of multiple-choice items (50%) and short questions (50%). All quiz materials
MUST be returned. Leaving the testing room with quiz materials will be viewed as
academic dishonesty. No make-up quiz will be permitted without an official
university document for the approval of absence.
Assignments
There will be 8 regular assignments (each worth 2.5% of the total grade). Each will be
posted on Moodle two weeks before the deadline. You should submit a hardcopy of
your finished assignment into your tutor’s mailbox by 5pm in due dates as listed in
this course outline.
Lab Report
A dataset and a handout describing a study will be provided. You will need to analyse
the data and write the results of the analysis(es) to address the research problems in
the study in the form of a short report (max 1000 words), excluding references. You
are required to submit both softcopy (to Turnitin through Moodle) and hardcopy (to
your tutor pigeon hole) by 5pm on May 10th.
Homework Submissions
No late homework assignments will be accepted, unless a valid medical proof
(medical certificate) is presented. Each assignment submission should be
accompanied by a title page with the course code, instructor’s name, your name,
UID, and tutorial session written clearly.
Feedback Policy
Students can expect to receive feedback within three weeks after submitting written
assignments and the quiz. Quiz paper will not be returned to students; however,
students can get individual feedback about the quiz through meeting with their tutor.
Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Any student who engages in any form of
academic dishonesty (e.g., cheating on exams, plagiarism, interfering with grading)
will receive a grade of F in this course and will be reported to the Office of Student
Conduct &Ethical Development for further disciplinary action. There will be no
exceptions. If you are not sure what constitutes the academic offense of plagiarism,
consult your Lecturer or Tutor. You may also consult the relevant HKU webpage on
plagiarism at http://www.rss.hku.hk/plagiarism.
Plagiarism
A hardcopy and a softcopy are required for all written assignments. The softcopy will
be checked for plagiarism against a database of articles, books, webpages, and
essays submitted by students at HKU and other universities. No credit will be given
for an assignment that contains plagiarized materials. Further penalties will also be
applied. These penalties include a zero mark for participation in course tutorials and
a zero mark for the course. Plagiarism will also be reported to your Faculty for
consideration of possible disciplinary action.
Teaching Schedule (Tentative)
Wk Date Contents Text
Tutorial
1
17/1 Ch. 1: Introduction – What is psychological research?
and why statistic?
19/1 Ch. 2: Frequency Distributions, Percentiles, and
Percentile Ranks
2
24/1 Ch. 3: Graphic Representation of Frequency
Distributions
26/1 Ch. 4: Central Tendency
3
31/1
No Class (Lunar New Year)
2/2
4
7/2 Ch. 5: Variability and Standard Scores
Introduction to SPSS;
Tables & Graphs
9/2 Ch. 6: Standard Scores and the Normal Curve
5
14/2 Ch. 7: Correlation
SPSS
16/2 Ch. 8: Prediction
6
21/2 Ch. 9: Interpretive Aspects of Correlation and
SPSS
Regression
23/2 Ch. 9: Continued & Review
7
28/2 Mid-term Quiz (MCs)
2/3 Mid-term Quiz (Short Qs)
8
7/3
No Class (Reading Week)
9/3
9
14/3 Ch. 10: Probability
16/3
No Class (Foundation Day)
10 21/3 Ch. 11: Random Sampling Distribution
Lab Report
23/3 Ch. 12: Introduction to statistical inference
11 28/3 Ch. 12: Continued
SPSS: Exercise
30/3 Ch. 13: Interpreting the Results of Hypothesis Testing
12 4/4
No Class (Ching Ming Festival)
6/4 Ch. 14: Testing hypothesis about the Differences
between Two Independent Group
13 11/4 Ch. 14: Continued
SPSS: T-test
13/4 Ch. 15: Testing for Difference Between Two Dependent
Groups
14 18/4 Ch. 18: Testing for Differences among Three or More
SPSS: T-test
Groups
20/4 Ch. 18: Continued
15 25/4 Ch. 18: Continued
SPSS: ANOVA
27/4 Review + Q&A
16 2/5 Final Quiz (MCs)
4/5 Final Quiz (Short Qs)
Due:
HW 1
HW2
HW3
HW4
HW5
HW6
HW 7
HW8