Psychology 220:  Research Methods

Pre-semester Textbook Information

Syllabus (Section 003) - to be posted one week before classes begin

WebCT     This password-protected "private web" site is available only to students in my Psychology 220 class.  This is where you will go to take daily online quizzes, peruse resources (e.g., graphics, PowerPoint slideshows) used during class, and check your grades.

My Advice to 220 Students

General Research Methods Links

Although I obviously cannot vouch for the accuracy of the content of each site, these sites appear to be worth a look.  Perhaps the most useful resource for students in my Methods class is first link below (to the website by the authors of your textbook).

     Goodwin, J, (2008). Research in Psychology: Methods and Design (5th Edition). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.   The textbook is available at the College of Charleston Bookstore (160 Calhoun St., 953-5518) and at University Books of Charleston (360 King St., 853-8700).   Clicking this link will take you to a useful publisher's website with a variety of resources related to your textbook.  For each chapter there is a set of chapter objectives, a concept review, application exercises, key terms, and a variety of sample test questions.   Enjoy!

    The Knowledge Base   An online research methods textbook--excellent, comprehensive source of research methods topics (e.g., interaction effects, quasi-experimental designs, factorial designs) written by Dr. William Trochim of Cornell University.

    AmoebaWeb, an extensive collection of research methods links on numerous topics (e.g., reliability, program evaluation, scales of measurement, how to construct a survey), is maintained by Douglas Degelman at Vanguard University of Southern California.

    Research Methods Tutorials  Web projects by graduate students at Cornell University (examples of topics include correlational designs, regression to the mean, reliability).

    Psychology Tutorials and Demonstrations  Part of an excellent website at Hanover College (examples of topics include internal validity tutorial, demonstrations in auditory and visual perception.

    "Name That Threat"  Examples of threats to internal validity taken from Huck and Sandler's book, Rival Hypotheses.

    Electronic Statistics Textbook     Rusty on stats?  This is a good online review and general reference book made available by the StatSoft company.

     Online Statistical Calculation    A number-cruncher's delight:  Many links to web pages that perform statistical calculations online, as well as links to free statistical software, online statistical manuals and tutorials, and so on.  Compiled by a biostatistician, John C. Pezzullo.

APA Style, Library and Internet Research

    Psychology with Style  Written by Dr. Mark Plonsky, University of Wisconsin) -- a very useful online guide to writing research papers in APA style.  The guide was updated in 2004 to the current (5th) edition of the Publication Manual.

    E-Journals and Databases  The best online database for references and abstracts of professional articles in psychology is PsycINFO.  The College of Charleston Library also provides full-text access to over 40 high-quality APA journals, such as the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, American Psychologist, Neuropsychology, and Psychological Review, via the PsycARTICLES database  If you are a student at the College and wish to use these databases, this link will take you to the list of all of the College's databases.  Click "P" to go to the PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES links (if you are off-campus, be sure to login to "Off-Campus Access" first).  Two other useful psychology-related databases are Medline and the InfoTrac Expanded Academic Index.

        I am amazed at the number of e-journals (electronic journals) and databases that our College Library carries -- and most with access to full-text articles!  For example, the journals Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, Brain and Cognition, and Neuroscience are carried in the ScienceDirect database, and the journal Annual Review of Psychology and Journal of Applied Psychology are carried in the Business Source Premier database.

    Bare Bones 101    New to the Internet? To Boolean logic? Metasearch engines? Specialized databases? Check out this basic tutorial on searching the web from the USC-Beaufort library.

    Google     My favorite search engine.  This link takes you to the Advanced Search screen.

Research Ethics Resources  

     Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science   Interesting research ethics issues raised through various concrete examples; maintained by Case Western Reserve University.

    Centre for Applied Ethics  Many useful links to ethics resources in health care, animal welfare, environment, business, science, etc.

    Teaching Research Ethics  A project of Indiana University; more links to ethics resources.

    College of Charleston Institutional Review Board   The IRB is coordinated by the College's Office of Research and Grants Administration (ORGA).

    Government Accountability Project    Resources concerning whistleblowing, governmental wrongdoing, scientific integrity and misconduct, and so on.   [This is a private organization, not a government agency.]

Internet-Based Online Experiments

Psychological Research on the Net    Many single, stand-alone experiments in different areas of psychology; an up-to-date list maintained by Dr. Krantz.

    Yahoo! Listing of Tests and Experiments in Psychology  More single, stand-alone experiments in different areas of psychology.

    PsychExps - Psychology Experiments on the Internet    An excellent site begun by Drs. McGraw and Tew of the University of Mississippi.  The experiments are written in Macromedia Authorware, which requires a free plugin for your browser (downloadable through their site). 

      Web's Experimental Psychology Lab   The WWW's first online site for experimentation in psychology.  Experiments in English and German, with much up-to-date information about online experimentation and useful links.  Created by Dr. Ulf-D. Reips of the Psychological Institute, University of Zürich.

Psychology Career Resources (also see my Advising Resources public web page...)

   21st Century Careers in Psychology     A very useful APA online brochure on psychology careers, job outlooks, employment statistics, and so on.

      APA Student Site    All the wonderful student resources of the American Psychological Association at your fingertips; take a look at the new online version of the monthly Monitor, which includes job advertisements in psychology.

Last revised on May 13, 2008

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