323 Methods Syllabus

PRELIMINARY SYLLABUS, RESEARCH METHODS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
FALL, 2009, PROFESSOR LEE JUSSIM
DRAFT, SUBJECT TO CHANGE, LAST UPDATED 9-4-09

Required Text: Beginning Behavioral Research (6th Edition), Rosnow & Rosenthal
Additional Required Readings: (Available online)

NOTE READINGS APPEARING IN BOLD ARE OR WILL BE AVAILABLE
THROUGH THIS CLASS'S SAKAI SITE.

I. The Basics (1 week)
a. Human bias and the need to do something about it
b. How to Write
   1. The Rigid Structure of APA Style
   2. Principles of Good Scientific Writing
   -- in class exercises: How to Write APA Style
c. Science vs nonscience
d.Theories, Hypotheses, Facts
e. Logic
f. Experience
g. Research Literature

Readings:
Rosnow & Rosenthal, Chapter 2
Bem, D. J. (1987). Writing the empirical journal article. In M. P. Zanna & J. M. Darley (eds.),
The compleat academic. New York: Random House.
Rosnow & Rosenthal: Appendix A

II. CONTENT ANALYSIS (Minor Project) (about 3 weeks)
A. What is a content analysis?
     1. Some classic content analyses in social psychology
     2. How to conduct a content analysis
     3. Film: Killing Us Softly
B. The chi-square statistic

Readings:
     Rosnow & Rosenthal: Chapters 4, 15
     Wilkes, R. E., & Valencia, H. (1989). Hispanics and Blacks in Television Commercials
          Journal of Advertising, 18, 19-25.
   Archer et al (1983). Face-ism: Five studies of sex differences in facial prominence.
            Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, , 725-735.

III. SURVEYS (Major Project I) (about 4 weeks)
A. What is a survey?
B. Some classic surveys in social psychology
C. How to conduct a survey
     1. Question creation and construction
     2. Data collection
D. Statistics for surveys
     1. Descriptive statistics
     2. Reliability
     3. Correlations
E. Validity
F. More on How to Write

Readings:
     Rosnow & Rosenthal: Chapters 6, 9, 10, & 13
     Warwick, D. P., & Lininger, C. A. (1975). Questionnaire Design. Chapter 6 in
           The Sample Survey: Theory and Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill.
    Crawford, et al (2009). The Use of Stereotypes and Individuating Information in Political Person Perception.
     Jussim et al (2009). The Unbearable Accuracy of Stereotypes.
     Crawford, et al (2009). Imprisoned Perceptions: Error, Bias, and Accuracy in Incarceration Demographic Stereotypes
     Re-read the CONTENT ANALYSIS readings on how to write

V. EXPERIMENTS (Major Project II) (about 4 weeks)

a. Some classic, simple experiments
b. Second Major Project
c. Simple experimental designs
d. Complex experimental designs

Readings:
Rosnow & Rosenthal: Chapters 7, 13, 14
Crawford, et al (2009). The Use of Stereotypes and Individuating Information in Political Person Perception.

Re-read the CONTENT ANALYSIS readings on how to write

Grading:
Tests                                                                        10%
Minor writing assignments                                             10%
Minor research project (1800-3500 words)                    5%
Rewrite of Minor Research Project (1800-3500           10%
words)
Major research project I, Survey                                   25%
(3500-5000 words)
Major research project II, Experiment                          30%
(@3500-5000 words)
In-class participation                                                       10%

PAPERS MUST BE HANDED IN AT THE START OF CLASS ON THE DAY THEY ARE DUE.
PAPERS HANDED IN MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES AFTER THE START OF CLASS
ON THEIR DUE DATE WILL BE CONSIDERED ONE DAY LATE (SEE BELOW).

WARNING I: LATE PAPERS WILL BE DOWN GRADED ONE FULL GRADE LEVEL FOR
EACH DAY LATE. FOR EXAMPLE: 1)A B+ PAPER THAT IS ONE DAY LATE WILL
RECEIVE A GRADE OF C+ ; 2) AN A PAPER HANDED IN AT 2PM ON THE DUE DATE
WILL RECEIVE A B ; 3) A B PAPER HANDED IN TWO DAYS LATE WILL RECEIVE A D .
ALL PAPERS HANDED IN MORE THAN THREE DAYS LATE ARE AUTOMATICALLY F s.

WARNING II: The minimum wordcount indicated on the syllabus is a true minimum.
Minimum, in this context, means "not less than." Papers that have fewer than
the minimum required are inadequate. The maximum wordcount indicated
on the syllabus is a true maximum. Maximum, in this context, means "not more than."
You must be able to do justice to your topic within certain limits. If you have either fewer
than the minimum, or more than the maximum, required words, your maximum grade will be a
B, and any imperfections will further lower your grade.

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