PSY 300 - Research Methods in Psychology

• Summarize the steps of the psychological research process
• Compare scientific and nonscientific approaches to knowledge
• Describe the process of constructing and testing psychological theory as well as the characteristics of a good theory
• Describe the characteristics, advantages, and limitations of research methods used in psychological research including correlational and quasi-experimental designs
• Identify one or more advantages of a complex experimental design
• Construct a “researchable” question that pertains to your interests
• Develop a research question into a specific hypothesis that relates two or more operationally defined variables
• Describe research designs appropriate to a behavioral research question
• Identify potential threats to internal and external validity in reported behavioral research
• Use computer databases to generate a list of relevant sources on a topic
• Identify and address relevant ethical issues in the treatment of human and animal participants in a specific proposed behavioral research project
• Write professionally using APA style