Main Content
Syllabus
LER 312: Research Methods: Develop a better understanding of how to ask interesting questions about human behavior, and learn methods for answering those questions.
Course Expectations and Policies
Office Hours: While I am a psychologist, I am not a mind reader, and thus it is important that you let me know if you have any issues with the course. In particular, if you are have concerns, difficulties, or just questions, I need the class to inform me. If I cannot sufficiently answer your questions by email, please schedule an appointment to either meet by chat, telephone, or skype.
Attendance: As this is an online course, we have no need of an attendance policy. That being said, you should be sure to keep up with all the reading material and use the provided notes and commentary to guide your studies. I remind you that someone is paying for this educational experience, whether it be you, a family member, a government, or an industry. It is in your best interest to get the most out of this course as possible.
Late Submission of Work: Late work will be penalized 10% per school day (Monday-Friday), unless you have a valid excuse. You should be able to find all of the relevant drop boxes and exams on ANGEL, and these provide both of us with a time stamp so that we can verify when you completed each assignment.
Contesting Grades: If you think my grading of your work on an exam or paper was wrong or too harsh, it is important to me that you inform me of this. If I made a mistake on one person's work, then I have likely made it in another. Please, though, when you bring a potential grading error to my attention, do so with support from the textbook or other source from our course, with specific citations and clear reasoning. I can only accept such corrections within one (1) day of returning the given assignment or exam to you.
Canvas: The Penn State Course Management System will be the primary (if not only) means by which I will distribute work to you. This will be the platform for all of our course, including discussions about final papers.
Software: The software you will need to complete this class consists of the following:
- A Microsoft Office compatible office suite, including Powerpoint, Word, and Excel, or equivalents of these programs. To be clear, the document types this software should be able to open are: .doc, .ppt, and .xls. If you do not have Microsoft Office software and do not want to purchase it, I recommend using OpenOffice, available at www.openoffice.org. This software is free and provides most of the same functionality as Microsoft Office.
- A program that can read .pdf (Portable Document Format) files, such as the free Adobe Reader program available at http://get.adobe.com/reader/
Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at Penn State University, allowing the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and responsible manner. In according with the University’s Code of Conduct, you must not engage in or tolerate academic dishonesty. This includes, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, fabrication of information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person, or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students. Violations of academic integrity will result in a failing grade on the exam or term paper, and possibly the course.
Tutor.com
Tutor.com is a 24/7 tutoring service that provides students with assistance in coursework, test preparation, research, writing, and more for various subjects. The tutors are subject-matter experts, and each student will have personalized one-on-one sessions with them. Students can schedule their own tutoring appointments to engage in interactive sessions that include a whiteboard and chat feature. The service can be utilized on any device that has Internet access. Students are encouraged to use the service throughout the semester.
You can access this service by selecting Tutor.com from your course navigation menu. Here you can select your subject, enter a question, and begin your tutoring session.
Course Objectives:
Throughout the semester, students will:
- Learn how to be critical of research.
- Practice developing a research question.
- Develop research designs that produce relatively appropriate answers to research questions.
- Know the limitations of your findings.
- Report your findings in writing.
- Report your findings through public presentation.
- Gain experience on a research team.
Required Course Materials
Most World Campus courses require that students purchase materials (e.g., textbooks, specific software, etc.). To learn about how to order materials, please see the Course Materials page. You should check LionPATH approximately 3–4 weeks before the course begins for a list of required materials.
Using the Library
Many of the University Libraries resources can be utilized from a distance. Through the Libraries website, you can
- access magazine, journal, and newspaper articles online using library databases;
- borrow materials and have them delivered to your doorstep—or even your desktop;
- get research help via email, chat, or phone using the Ask a Librarian service; and
- much more.
You must have an active Penn State Access Account to take full advantage of the Libraries' resources and service. The Off-Campus Users page has additional information about these free services.
Software
One of the benefits of being a registered Penn State student is that you are eligible to receive educational discounts on many software titles. If you are interested in learning more about purchasing software through our affiliate vendor, please visit the Buying Software section of the Course Materials page.
Technical Requirements
For this course we recommend the minimum World Campus technical requirements listed below:
| Operating System | Canvas, Penn State's Learning Management System (LMS), supports most recent versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac operating systems. To determine if your operating system is supported, please review Canvas' computer specifications. |
|---|---|
| Browser | Canvas supports the last two versions of every major browser release. It is highly recommended that you update to the newest version of whatever browser you are using. Note: Cookies must be enabled, and pop-up blockers should be configured to permit new windows from Penn State websites. |
| Additional Canvas Requirements | For a list of software, hardware, and computer settings specifically required by the Canvas LMS, please review Canvas' computer specifications. |
| Additional Software | All Penn State students have access to Microsoft Office 365, including Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. |
| Hardware | Monitor: Monitor capable of at least 1024 x 768 resolution |
| Mobile Device (optional) | The Canvas mobile app is available for versions of iOS and Android. To determine if your device is capable of using the Canvas Mobile App, please review the Canvas Mobile App Requirements. |
DUE SUNDAY AT 11:59 pm Eastern time, NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED
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Formal instruction will end on the last day of class. Provided that you have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password, you will continue to be able to access the course materials for one year, starting from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered (with the exception of library reserves and other external resources that may have a shorter archival period). After one year, you might be able to access the course based on the policies of the program or department offering the course material, up to a maximum of three years from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered. For more information, please review the University Course Archival Policy.
Grading Student Evaluation and Grades
Grading Scheme (out of 1000 points):
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Lesson Activities
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Points
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Exams (best 3 of 4)
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300 points (100 points each) |
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Enrichment Activities(25)
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250 points (10 points each) |
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Research Paper:
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450 points total (see parts below) |
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Library assignment
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50 points |
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Topic paper
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50 points |
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Introduction section
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100 points |
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Methods and results
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100 points |
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Final paper
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150 points |
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Total
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1000 points |
The grading scale for the course follows Penn State University guidelines and consists of:
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Letter Grade
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Percentage
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Points
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A
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93-100
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950 points and more
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A-
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90-92.99
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900-949 points
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B+
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87-89.99
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870-899 points
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B
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83-86.99
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830-869 points
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B-
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80-82.99
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800-829 points
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C+
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77-79.99
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750-799 points
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C
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70-76.99
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700-749 points
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D
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60-69.99
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600-699 points
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F
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0-59.99
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0 - 599 points
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Exams: 300 points
Four 100-point exams will be given, covering material presented in the reading and lecture notes. All exams will be open-book and open-note, and will consist of approximately 25 multiple choice questions (worth 2 points each) and 5 short answer questions (worth 10 points each). I retain only the three highest of your four exam scores, because I know that we all have our bad days. These exams, while open-book and open-note, are to be completed by you and you alone. If there is any evidence of your cooperating with another individual during your exam, whether in the class or outside of it, I will have to pursue the matter through the appropriate University channels for academic dishonesty. Of your four exam grades, the lowest one will be excluded from your final grade.
Twenty five mini-presentations (powerpoint with audio narration) will be presented in the course of the semester. Accompanying each of these presentations will be a brief exercise worth ten points. These exercises will consist of open-ended responses and will not be timed. These are an opportunity for you to check on your understanding of the concepts before you take the exams.
Research Paper: 450 points
As a capstone assignment for the course, you will apply what you have learned to a hands-on project of your own design. You will develop familiarity with an existing field of research (distracted driving), apply that research to a new problem in the field of labor and employment relations, form hypotheses, and practice expressing the concepts and limitations of your design in written form (150 pts). This paper will take the form of a research proposal, and as such you will be writing this as if you were asking a supervisor or executive for funding and time to perform a study that you feel is important to the functioning of the company.
We will go through this process in steps. First, you'll familiarize yourself with the library's resources in the Library Assignment (50 points). Then you'll write the Topic Paper so that you can make sure you have a good topic for your subsequent papers. This topic paper (worth 50 points) will be a 1-2 page statement of your research problem and hypothesis, including motivation for the study and why it would matter. The second paper (introduction section) will be a paper to prove that you know how to read and understand research papers. This will be a rough draft of your introduction/background section of your final paper (100 points). The third paper assignment will be a paper summarizing your methods and predicted results of your study (100 points). Your final paper should be a 10-15 page research proposal with all of the major features of a standard research report (150 points).
Note:
Less than half of the possible points in this course are earned by taking exams. I am much more interested in the finished products that you can create than in the facts you can regurgitate and recognize in an exam period. Doing exceptional research requires more than knowledge -- it requires dedication, attention to detail, and WORK. This isn't to say that the more hours you put into research the better it is, but there is a general tendency for longer hours to lead to better work. A quick and slipshod job is simply not going to get you good research. This may end up being one of the toughest courses you take, but you will end up with a finished product that you can give to employers and graduate admissions committees as a writing sample. Good luck.
Please refer to the University Grading Policy for Undergraduate Courses for additional information about University grading policies.
Academic Integrity
According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity , an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.
Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity ). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic outcomes, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes which may include ineligibility for Dean’s List, pass/fail elections, and grade forgiveness. Students may also face consequences from their home/major program and/or The Schreyer Honors College.
How Academic Integrity Violations Are Handled
World Campus students are expected to act with civility and
personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and
property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all
can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment
of academic integrity is requisite to respect for oneself and
others, as well as a civil community.
In cases where academic integrity is questioned, the Policy on Academic Integrity indicates that procedure requires an instructor to inform the student of the allegation. Procedures allow a student to accept or contest a charge. If a student chooses to contest a charge, the case will then be managed by the respective college or campus Academic Integrity Committee. If that committee recommends an administrative sanction (Formal Warning, Conduct Probation, Suspension, Expulsion), the claim will be referred to the Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response.
All Penn State colleges abide by this Penn State policy, but review procedures may vary by college when academic dishonesty is suspected. Information about Penn State's academic integrity policy and college review procedures is included in the information that students receive upon enrolling in a course. To obtain that information in advance of enrolling in a course, please contact us by going to the Contacts & Help page .
University Policies
Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has resources for students with disabilities. The Student Disability Resources (SDR) website provides contacts for disability services at every Penn State campus. For further information, please visit the SDR website.
In order to apply for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability resources office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation based on the documentation guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability resources office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.
For information about additional policies regarding Penn State Access Accounts; credit by examination; course tuition, fees, and refund schedules; and drops and withdrawals, please see the World Campus Student Center website.
If you have a crisis or safety concern, mental health services are available to you as a Penn State student. Crisis and emergency contacts are available, no matter where you are located:
- Anywhere in the United States: Call the Penn State Crisis Line at 1-877-229-6400 or text LIONS to 741741. You can also contact your local crisis services or hospital for emergencies.
- Outside the United States: Please contact emergency services in your current location. You can also use the International Crisis and Emergency Services listings.
- At University Park: Assistance is available at Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) locations on campus.
- At a Penn State branch campus: You can search for counseling information at your campus.
Accommodations for Disabilities: The Pennsylvania State University encourages qualified persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course or have questions about physical access, please tell me as soon as possible.
Need additional help? You can always see me for extra instruction or help with course materials. You are also encouraged to take advantage of other resources on campus, such as the University Learning Resources Center (call 865-1841 for tutoring and learning skills) and the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services (call 863-0395 to discuss any issues of a personal nature).
Disclaimer: Please note that the specifics of this Course Syllabus are subject to change, and you will be responsible for abiding by any such changes. Your instructor will notify you of any changes.