Research Methods in Psychology (Certificate)

All students are consumers of research from psychology and other scientific disciplines. As such, it is important to develop your capacity for critically evaluating “scientific evidence” that is communicated in journals, magazines, newspapers, and news programs.

This college level course is an introduction to the process of obtaining facts regarding social phenomena, social problems and problem solution commonly found in the social sciences. Students will be exposed to the wide range of social science research methods and designs, including observational methods, survey research, as well as correlation and experimental designs.

Social science is the study of how people interact with one another. The branches of social science include anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology. Research methods are specific procedures for collecting and analyzing data. Research methods in psychology are systematic procedures used to observe, describe, predict, and explain behavior and mental processes.

Learning Objectives

Define social science and research methods; Identify the stages of social research; Recognize the various types of research methods; Recognize influences in human behavior; Compare various theories of behavior; Define ethics as it pertains to ethical research; Identify ethical concerns within the research process; Recognize the professional codes of ethics; Increase awareness and sensitivity to ethical issues in research; Explain why it is necessary to consider ethical issues when designing and conducting research; Identify factors affecting problem selection; Recognize examples of current research; Develop ideas for research study; Explain influences on choosing a research design; Describe and develop research questions, frameworks, study designs, and measures appropriate for implementation science; Compare and contrast experimental and nonexperimental research; Identify types of nonexperimental research; Recognize technical terms in survey research methods; Compare and contrast between-subject and within-subject experimental design; Recognize non-survey data collection techniques; Recognize the various ways researchers describe data; Identify how validity and reliability are measured; Compare the quantitative / qualitative distinction; Explain the use of statistics in social science; Write in a clear and concise style; Gather relevant information from a variety of sources; Write an abstract that is appropriate for the target audience; Create and write a research report; Define terms relating to analysis and interpretation of research; Identify key methods in research reporting; Recognize presentation measures of association; and Compose social science research results.