Course Description

This course provides doctoral-level training on contemporary research methods in psychological science. Topics include measurement, a review of validity, reliability and its paradoxes, power and sampling, introduction to common experimental designs, and guidance to best practices in data management and open science. The course also touches on survey design, meta-analyses, longitudinal studies, the ergodicity assumption, and emergent topics such as non-experimental approaches to causal inference.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to…

1. Assess the reliability and validity of study constructs.
2. Design clear experimental manipulations that allow for causal inference.
3. Fluently articulate limitations of various experimental studies.
4. Organize and structure their data in accordance with open science best practices.
5. Critically and thoughtfully engage in peer review of experimental psychology studies.
6. Understand enough about the basic premise of non-experimental approaches to causality to bootstrap additional self-study.

Expectations

Students are expected to read and critically engage with the 2-4 readings assigned each week. Be on the lookout for ideas that challenge your intuitions and that provoke you into thinking differently. Please note that some weeks have more reading than other weeks. Plan your schedule accordingly. To help you engage with the readings and to avoid falling behind, you will be expected to (1) Post a comment/response on each reading by Monday 8pm prior to each class. Strive for being brief and to the point. What did you learn from the reading? What was most surprising to you? (2) We’ve designed a little web-app that allows you to submit questions and vote on questions submitted by other students. This helps us focus on the questions you’ve identified as most in need of being answered.

There will also be several short assignments. Detailed instructions for each will be provided at least 2 weeks before the due date.