General Principles of Research Design (8th edition)

LECTURE 1:  Science and research (Chaps. 1-3) 
A.  Definition (pp. 2-3)
B.  Scientific Research & Explanations (pp. 5-14) 
	Characteristics of Explanations (pp. 12-13 		Characteristics of Theories (pp. 46-49)
C.	Science, pseudoscience, and other methods of arriving at knowledge (pp. 9-11, 14-17, 21-22)
D.	When scientific explanations fail (pp. 17-21)
E.	The process of scientific research (pp. 22-29)
1.  Steps of science
	2.  Problems with steps (Lecture) 
                        3.  Amsel’s account  (Lecture)
E.   Sources of hypotheses (57 -63; 98-99)
F.	Characteristics of research questions (63-66)
G.	Literature review (66-101)
1.  Library work
2.  PsycINFO
     		3.  Reading papers (Also see Lecture 4)

MODULE 1: Tutorial on theories (Chap. 2)
	A.  Nature of theories
	B.  Types of theories
	C.  Functions of theories
	D. Testing theories

LECTURE 2:  Measurement issues (Chap. 5)
A.  Operationalization (pp. 64-65)
B.  Measurement validity (pp. 133-135)
C.  Measurement reliability (pp. 130-132)
	1.  Accuracy (pp. 132-133)
D.  Measurement Scales
1.  Nature (pp. 135-138)
2.  Choosing among them (pp. 138-141)
	E.  Problems & limits of measurement (141-142)
		1. Range effects
F.   Reactivity of measurement (pp. 149-156)
	1.  Demand characteristics
	2.  Attitude of participants
	3. Experimenter bias 
	4.  Expectancy effects
G.  Anticipating & Fixing Problems (pp. 157-159)
		1.  Automation
		2.  Pilot studies 
		3.  Manipulation checks.

LECTURE 3: Choosing designs & subjects (Ch. 4 & 6)
A.  Articulating a hypothesis
1.   Dependent Variable (pp. 109)
2.	Independent Variable (pp. 109)
	a. True vs. Subject IV 
3.	Extraneous Variable (pp. 110-111)
4.	More about Hypotheses (23, 26-27, 33-34; 98-94, 102,)
B.  Correlational Designs (pp. 104-108, 418-426)
1.  Status of Experimenter 
		2.  The Correlation Coefficient
3.	Causation and Correlation 
C.  Experimental Designs (pp. 108-112)
1.  Status of Experimenter
2.  Experimental Control & 
     Extraneous Variables
D.  Settings 
1.  Laboratory vs. Field Settings 
		      (pp. 120-123; 169-170)
2.  Basic vs. Applied Research 
		      (pp. 1-2)
E.  Research Participants (pp. 162-178)
1.  Populations and samples 
2.  Volunteers
 	a. College sophomore problem

MODULE 2:   Tutorial on ethics (for review)
A.	Human participants (pp. 178-185; 197-211, also the IRB web site)
B.	Not covered in the tutorial
1.	Animal participants (pp. 185-194; 211-214)
2.	Scientific fraud and values (pp. 214-220)
LECTURE 4:  Research and its evaluation
A.  Critically reading research (pp. 83-85)
B.	Evaluating research 
1.	Factors affecting quality (pp. 88-96)
2.	Assessing a study (pp. 114-120)
a. Internal Validity 
		   b. External Validity
C.  All studies are flawed. 
D.  Defining the Next Best Study
E.  Writing the Proposal