Students of the Dutch bachelor’s programme, see Inleiding in de Methodologie en Statistiek
Entry requirements
None
Description
Topics discussed in this course include: empirical reasoning; deriving a verifiable research idea; selecting data collection methods; determining reliability and validity; using descriptive statistics; the normal distribution, associations between variables; experimental control, experimental designs; and describing and explaining variability.
Course objectives
Acquiring knowledge of core concepts and basic principles of the methodology of psychological research and the way these are interrelated.
Acquiring knowledge about and skills of working with descriptive statistics.
Acquiring the necessary skills in working with the SPSS statistical package for descriptive statistics.
Note: A detailed list of course objectives will be available in the Exercise Book.
Timetable
For the timetable of this course please refer to MyTimetable
Registration
Education
Students must register themselves for all course components (lectures, tutorials and practicals) they wish to follow. You can register up to 5 days prior to the start of the course. The exception here is that first-year bachelor students are assigned and registered for all components in the first semester or academic year by the administration of their bachelor programme. The programme will communicate to these students for which course components and for which period the registration applies.
Exams
It is mandatory for all students, including first-year bachelor students, to register for each exam and to confirm registration for each exam in My Studymap. This is possible up to and including 10 calendar days prior to the examination. You cannot take an exam without a valid pre-registration and confirmation in My Studymap.
Carefully read all information about the procedures and deadlines for registering for courses and exams.
Students who take this course as part of a LDE minor or a premaster programme, exchange students and external guest students will be informed by the education administration about the current registration procedure.
Mode of instruction
8 2-hour lectures, and 8 2-hour mandatory tutorial sessions.
The lectures
Each course week begins with a lecture to introduce and explain course material. The lectures also cover additional and new topics that are included in the examination. As preparation for the lectures students are required to study the chapters assigned for that week. The lectures primarily focus on course objectives 1 and 2. The lectures can be attended in a lecture hall and via a live stream. The lectures will be made available as Weblectures.
The tutorials
The day after the lecture there is a tutorial session. In preparation for these sessions students have to complete a number of mandatory homework assignments, that will be checked by the teacher at the start. These sessions focus on applying the acquired knowledge in practice. Students also learn to work with IBM SPSS Statistics, a software package for statistical data analysis. The material covered in these work group sessions is also included in the examination. Students are required to bring the exercise book to every session. Attendance is mandatory. The tutorials focus on course objectives 1, 2, and 3.
Assessment method
The assessment consists of two components:
1. A written examination consisting of multiple-choice questions, covering both theory and statistical calculations from the literature, the tutorial sessions, and the lectures (Course objectives 1 and 2).
2. An SPSS skills test covering the various aspects of students’ skills in working with SPSS as well as in describing and interpreting statistical output (Course objective 3).
The final grade is a weighted average of the examination grade (70%) and the grade for the SPSS skills test (30%).
The Institute of Psychology uses fixed rules for grade calculation and compulsory attendance. It also follows the policy of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences to systematically check student papers for plagiarism with the help of software. Disciplinary measures will be taken when fraud is detected. Students are expected to be familiar with and understand the implications of these three policies.
Reading list
Leary, M.L. (2012) Introduction to Behavioral Research Methods (6th edition). Boston: Pearson. ISBN 978-1-29202-027-3
Howell, D.C. (2014/2021). Statistical Methods for Psychology (Leiden edition). Wadsworth: Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1-4737-8791-9
Pallant, J. (2020). SPSS Survival Manual (7th edition). Berkshire: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-3352-4949-7
IBM SPSS Statistics (version 27 or higher). Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Software for sale via www.surfspot.nl
Exercise book Introduction to Methodology and Statistics 2022-2023
Lecture slides (provided via Brightspace)
Contact information
- Drs. Hemmo Smit hsmit@fsw.leidenuniv.nl