Intro to Stats
Welcome to Introduction to Statistics for Psychology!
This course will introduce you to the basic statistics used in psychological research. Psychology has developed scientific methods to explore questions about humanity and this course will introduce you to the statistics used to interpret and evaluate research findings. The goal is to provide you with a foundation to continue your training in psychology and to think critically about psychological findings reported in research articles and the media. Specifically, this class will teach you to: neither fear nor revere statistics, use statistics to share observations, understand statistical inferences, use SPSS to analyze data, and interpret results obtained during analysis. You will also develop the ability to write clearly and concisely about scientific research.
***Powerpoints are provided as an aid to note taking during lecture. They are not intended to replace lecture and may not contain all of the information needed to study for tests or complete assignments.
***You are required to turn in assignments from the lab manual during lab sessions. Be sure to bring the manual with you.
***Your grades on class assignments, tests, and quizzes will be released through the TAMU elearning system for your section. It’s a good idea to check this system regularly to check your scores.
Week 1
***There is no lab this week
Tuesday (1/17) Lecture: Introduction
Thursday (1/19) Lecture: Psychological Methods
Additional Links:
- Tips on study design and methods
- Tutorial on scales of measurement
- A silly video about statistics - all of this will make sense by the end of the semester
Week 2
***It is EXTREMELY important that you attend this lab session****
Monday 1/23 Lab: Introduction and Picking Projects, bring this Study Sheet
Tuesday 1/24 Lecture: Measures of central tendency
Thursday 1/26: Variability
Week 3
Monday 1/30 Lab: Introduction to SPSS
Tuesday 1/31 Lecture: Graphing Data
Thursday 2/2 Lecture: Reliability and Validity
Week 4
Monday 2/6 Lab: Descriptive statistics
Tuesday 2/7 Lecture: Review Day (bring calculators), Test 1 Review
Thursday 2/9: Test #1 (bring calculators)
Week 5
Monday 2/13 Lab: Quiz #1, Reliability & validity, Draft #1 Due (attach the writing rubric)
Tuesday 2/14 Lecture: Hypotheses
Thursday 2/16 Lecture: Probability & Zs
Week 6
Monday 2/20 Lab: Hypotheses & probability
Tuesday 2/21 Lecture: Significance testing
Thursday 2/23 Lecture: Independent samples t-tests
Week 7
Monday 2/27 Lab: Independent t-tests
Tuesday 2/28 Lecture: Dependent t-tests
Thursday 3/1 Lecture: Review (bring calculators)
Week 8
Monday 3/5 Lab: Dependent t-tests, Final #1 Due (attach the same rubric you submitted with the draft)
Tuesday 3/6 Lecture: Test 2 (bring calculators)
Thursday 3/8 Lecture: Analysis of Variance
***Spring Break***
Week 9
Monday 3/19 Lab: Quiz #2, ANOVA
Tuesday 3/20 Lecture: ANOVA continued (bring same notes)
Thursday 3/22 Lecture: Factorial ANOVA
Week 10
Monday 3/26 Lab: Factorial ANOVA, Draft #3 Due (attach the writing rubric)
Tuesday 3/27 Lecture: Correlation coefficients
Thursday 3/29 Lecture: Review (bring calculators)
Week 11
Monday 4/2 Lab: Quiz #3, Correlation coefficients
Tuesday 4/3 Lecture: Test 3 (bring calculators)
Thursday 4/5 Lecture: Linear regression
Week 12
Monday 4/9 Lab: Linear regression, Final #3 Due (attach the same writing rubric you submitted with the draft)
Tuesday 4/10 Lecture: Linear regression continued (bring the same notes)
Thursday 4/12 Lecture: Chi square
Week 13
Monday 4/16 Lab: Chi square, Draft #4 Due (attach the writing rubric)
Tuesday 4/17 Lecture: Overview of other tests
Thursday 4/19 Lecture: Review (bring calculators)
Week 14
Monday 4/23 Lab: Quiz #4, Prepare for presentations
Tuesday 4/24 Lecture: Test 4 (bring calculators)
Thursday 4/26 Lecture: Presentation Day, Grading rubric for presentations
Finals Week
Wednesday, 5/2: Final #4 due to TA mailbox by 5 pm (attach the same rubric you submitted with the draft)
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Useful Class Links and Information
If you need writing help or consulting, it is available at the University Writing Center: http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/
If you would like a class tutor (or would like to volunteer as one), they are often arranged through the psychology advising office
A website that discusses many statistical concepts and includes interactive demonstrations of different concepts: http://onlinestatbook.com/rvls.html
You can access SPSS and other programs remotely (at home) through TAMU VOAL system: http://hdc.tamu.edu/Labs_Printing/Virtual_Open_Access_Lab/index.php
