Course Description
Descriptive and inferential statistics, including estimating parameters and testing significance, as applied to psychological research. Taught at an introductory level. Requires knowledge of elementary algebra. Prerequisite: Grade of at least C- in PSY 121, and grade of at least C- in STA 108 or MAT 115 or MAT 118 or MAT 120 or MAT 190 or MAT 196 or MAT 183 or MAT 184 or RCO 114 or RCO 115; Note: Students may not receive credit for more than one of the following: PSY 211 and also STA 271 (or STA 352 or ECO 250).
Syllabus
Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:
This course is intended to give you an introduction to statistical concepts and methods commonly used in psychology.
More generally, I hope that it will teach you to think in terms of probability and statistics, and to critically engage with and to be able to evaluate conclusions drawn from statistics that you encounter throughout your life, including in scientific articles, consumer reports, political polling, demographic and economic data, and so on.
Key topics covered will include: visualizing, describing, and summarizing data; probability and probability distributions; drawing probabilistic conclusions from data; experimental design; statistical hypothesis testing; and parameter estimation.
Course Grading Information:
Activity/Performance Measure | Percentage/Points |
|---|---|
Attendance & Participation | 10% |
Homework | 35% |
Exams | 55% |
Grading Scale
Percentage | Letter Grade |
|---|---|
94 – 100 | A |
90 – 93.99 | A- |
87 – 89.99 | B+ |
83 – 86.99 | B |
80 – 82.99 | B- |
77 – 79.99 | C+ |
73 – 76.99 | C |
70 – 72.99 | C- |
67 – 69.99 | D+ |
63 – 66.99 | D |
60 – 62.99 | D- |
0 – 59.99 | F |
Attendance/Participation:
We will start most classes with a short quiz reviewing what we covered in the last class or with a survey to generate data we will use in class. Your responses to these questions will not be graded for accuracy, but they will be used to calculate your class attendance grade. This component of your grade will be equal to the proportion of days in which you are in class and respond with two free misses (i.e., the first three days you miss won’t count against you).
Course Materials Purchased by the Students:
Gravetter, F. J. & Wallnau, L. B. (2016). Statistics for the behavioral sciences (10th ed.). Cengage.
Scholarly Perspectives
This course engages diverse scholarly perspectives to develop critical thinking, analysis, and debate and inclusion of a reading does not imply endorsement.