Research Methods

Catalog description

This course examines both quantitative and qualitative research designs most frequently used in psychological and social science research. Special attention will be given to understanding experimental designs, group comparisons, case studies, survey research, psychometric studies, grounded theory, and meta-analyses.  Students will learn to distinguish the nature of designs that enable casual inferences from those that do not, evaluate the appropriateness of conclusions derived from psychological research, and articulate strengths and limitations of various research designs. Aspects of individual and cultural diversity will also be covered as well as the ethics related to protecting human participants in research.