Child Development
Experimental Methods of Research in Child Development
Psychology 2510 – Fall 2011
Instructor: John Rieser (j.rieser@vanderbilt.edu; 322-8347)
This is the Fall 2011 Syllabus
The Fall 2012 Syllabus will be similar but not exactly the same
Course Description
Purpose of the course:
The course meets Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:45 to 10:00 in Mayborn 105. My office hours are Wednesdays from 10-12 and nearly anytime by appointment in Hobbs 217a. The course is about experimental methods of research on child development. It is designed for students concentrating in child development, cognitive studies, or psychology. The prerequisites include at least one course about child development and at least one course about statistics. The course is built around empirical articles about child development (many of the articles are “classics” that you may have read about in your other courses) and around readings about statistics & research methods. The main purpose of the course is to bring to life the basic elements of experimental approaches to psychological science in the context of child development research. To accomplish this we will read chapters about statistics and research methods. These concepts will be anchored to child development by applying them to classic (and recent) research reports, by applying them to hands-on experiences of designing and implementing data collection protocols, and by applying them to the entire research process by writing a research proposal.
Requirements:
1. Come to class and participate. This will count 5% of your final course grade. I hope everyone receives the entire amount of credit. I’ll distribute an attendance list at the start of each class. It is fine to miss two classes. If you need to miss, please email me the day before. As for participating in class – it is a good thing for students to ask & answer questions in class. Sometimes I’ll ask people to hold on to their questions and ask me after
Psychology 2510 – Fall 2011
Instructor: John Rieser (j.rieser@vanderbilt.edu; 322-8347)
This is the Fall 2011 Syllabus
The Fall 2012 Syllabus will be similar but not exactly the same
Course Description
Purpose of the course:
The course meets Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:45 to 10:00 in Mayborn 105. My office hours are Wednesdays from 10-12 and nearly anytime by appointment in Hobbs 217a. The course is about experimental methods of research on child development. It is designed for students concentrating in child development, cognitive studies, or psychology. The prerequisites include at least one course about child development and at least one course about statistics. The course is built around empirical articles about child development (many of the articles are “classics” that you may have read about in your other courses) and around readings about statistics & research methods. The main purpose of the course is to bring to life the basic elements of experimental approaches to psychological science in the context of child development research. To accomplish this we will read chapters about statistics and research methods. These concepts will be anchored to child development by applying them to classic (and recent) research reports, by applying them to hands-on experiences of designing and implementing data collection protocols, and by applying them to the entire research process by writing a research proposal.
Requirements:
1. Come to class and participate. This will count 5% of your final course grade. I hope everyone receives the entire amount of credit. I’ll distribute an attendance list at the start of each class. It is fine to miss two classes. If you need to miss, please email me the day before. As for participating in class – it is a good thing for students to ask & answer questions in class. Sometimes I’ll ask people to hold on to their questions and ask me after
References: [1 page]. This should include articles or chapters that you have read carefully and to which you refer in the text. Try to limit the references to 5 or no more than 10. Please do not site papers that you have not read carefully. G. IRB. Do your best. Work on it but do not obsess over it. 1. Here is the web address: http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/irb/forms/ If you paste this into your address-line, it will take you to the IRB “Forms” page. 2. When you are at the “forms” page, “click” on the top-line [the Behavioral/Social Sciences Application] – you can click either on the blue-W or the red-APPLE. This will take you to the “active” forms. You can type in these forms and save. 3. Please try to complete these items from the IRB forms: a. The study’s abstract in 200-300 words b. Description of the subject populations c. Sections 11.A, 11B, 12A, & 12C from the IRB forms d. Informed consent. You can either write your own letter, following the IRB guidelines, or you can “fill-in” the “hot” form that the IRB provides. At the very bottom of the application form, there is a “hot” button from which you can download an informed consent template. YOU WILL FIND IT on the same IRB website. Scroll down to the fifth set of things to the “INFORMED CONSENT AND ASSENT DOCUMENTS”. You want to use the item on the 2nd line [“Behavioral/Social Sciences – Standard Informed Consent Document”].