Psychology 215/L215: Statistics
Spring 2000, TTH
 
 

Instructor Alexander Genov
Office hours Wednesday 11:50 – 12:50 
Office Fenton 508
Phone (617) 573 – 8782
E-mail agenov@suffolk.edu

 
 
Teaching assistant -----------------------
Office hours -----------------------
Office -----------------------
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Text       (required):
               (required):
               (required):		 Minium, Clarke, & Coladarci (1999). Elements of Statistical Reasoning, Second Edition
Student Workbook for: Elements of Statistical Reasoning
SPSS 8.0 for Windows, Brief Guide
Some ground rules: There are two lecture sessions a week.  Class material will follow the text closely.  Still, it is very important to pay attention and TAKE NOTES! 
I will lecture but will often pause to ask you questions. Even if I don't stop, please feel free to interrupt me whenever you don't understand 
something I have said or even better if you have had a good idea about the topic we are discussing.
Grading: Final grades will be based on a combination of biweekly quizzes, homework assignments, a mid-term, and a final exam.
              Bi-Weekly
               Quizzes:		 There will be 5 in class quizzes throughout the semester, each worth 15 points. (75 points total).
             Homework: There will be 5 homework assignments, each worth 15 points (75 points total).
             Mid-term: There will be one in-class mid-term consisting of multiple-choice and short-answer items.  This exam is worth 40 points.
               Final: The final exam will be a cumulative multiple-choice and short-answer test to be described in more detail later (60 points).

 

The grading scale for each test and the final grading scale are as follows:
NOTE: final grades will take into account more that the sum of points!
 
 
Percentage  Total points  Grade
91-100  221-250  A
89-90  215-220  A-
87-88  209-214  B+
81-86  191-208  B
79-80  185-190  B-
77-78  179-184  C+
68-76  152-178  C
57-67  119-151  D
0-56  0-118  F

 
Make-up
policy:		 Make-up tests will be given only for two reasons:
(1) if it is approved and arranged at least one week before the test
(2) there is a real emergence or documented illness.
Make-up tests are not automatic that is they will be approved ONLY in the event of extremely unusual or urgent 
circumstances.
Extra credit: The maximum number of extra credit points you can earn over the semester is 20.  Any papers written for extra credit can be turned in at 
any time during the semester but no later than the beginning of the final.  The points can be earned in any of the following ways:
  • Psychology experimenters may recruit participants.  You can take part for extra credit (1 point per hour)
    		•
  • Find a newspaper or magazine article that you feel is related to our class material.  Write a 1-3 page  paper in which you briefly summarize

    • the article and discuss how it is related to the particular class topic (2 possible points).
  • Find a newspaper or magazine article that reports the findings of a study. Briefly summarize the article and critique it (e.g. how was the 

    • sample collected?  How were the data analyzed; what conclusions were drawn (1-3 pages) (4 possible points).
  • Find a psychology journal article.  Summarize it and explain how it is related to our class.  This paper (3-5 pages in length) should be more

    • detailed than option # 2. (4 possible points).

     

    All papers must be TYPES and DOUBLE-SPACED.  Points will be deducted for unclear writing (e.g. spelling, grammar mistakes, etc.).  Other extra credit options can be discussed with me.

    Academic misconduct:  All instances of academic dishonesty (as defined in the student handbook, including cheating on exams and plagiarism) will result in failure of the course.  Cheating on exams includes looking at someone else's test or giving information during the test, either directly or by positioning yourself or your test so as to get or give information.  Plagiarism is defined as taking someone else's ideas as passing them off as your own.  In ANY papers you write, if you use someone's idea, give that person credit for having come up with the idea first.  If two student papers are nearly identical, both students will receive F’s on the papers.
     
     

    DATE
    TOPIC
    Chapters to read
    QUIZ/Homework
    T – 1/18
    		 1  General Introduction: Syllabus, rules, and the question  of why we 
        inflict statistics on you?
    1
    .
    TH – 1/20
    		 2  Variables and Their Measurement
    1
    .
    T – 1/25
    		 3  Frequency Distributions of Data
    2
    Quiz 1
    TH – 1/27
    		 4  Graphic Representation of Data
    3
    .
    T – 2/1 
    		 5 Central Tendency
    4
    Homework 1
    TH – 2/3
    		 6  Variability 5
    .
    .
    T – 2/8
    		 7  Normal Distributions and Standard Scores
    6
    Quiz 2
    TH – 2/10
    		 .
    .
    .
    T – 2/15
    		 8  Correlation
    7
    Homework 2
    TH – 2/17
    		 9  Regression and Prediction
    8
    .
    TH – 2/22
    MIDTERM
    .
    .
    T – 2/24
    		 10  Probability and Probability Distributions
    9
    .
    T – 2/29
    		 .
    .
    .
    TH – 3/2
    		 11  Sampling Distributions
    10
    .
    T – 3/14
    		 12  Testing Statistical Hypotheses About ? When ? Is Known:  The 
          One-Sample z Test
    11
    Quiz 3
    TH – 3/16
    		 .
    .
    .
    T – 3/21
    		 13  Testing Statistical Hypotheses About ? When ?  Is NOT Known: 
          the One-Sample t-Test
    13
    Homework 3
    TH – 3/23
    		 14  Comparing the Means of Two Populations:  Independent Samples
    14
    .
    T – 3/28
    		 15  Comparing the Means of Dependent Samples
    15
    Quiz 4
    TH – 3/30
    		 .
    .
    .
    T – 4/4
    		 17  Statistical “Power” and How to Increase It
    17
    Homework 4
    TH – 4/6
    		 18  Comparing the Means of Three or More  Independent 
          Samples: One-Way ANOVA
    18
    .
    T – 4/11
    		  .
    .
    Quiz 5
    TH – 4/13
    		 19  Factorial Analysis of Variance: Two-Way  ANOVA
    19
    .
    T – 4/18
    		 20  Chi-Square and Frequency Data
    20
    Homework 5
    TH – 4/20
    		 21  Assumption-Free Tests
    21
    .
    T – 4/25
    		 22  Wrap-up: Statistics and Human Behavior
    .
    .
     
    .
    Final -- TBA
    .
    .