PSY 121 (Obafemi Awolowo University): Basic Concepts in Experimental Psychology / Research Methods

Chapter 1

Course orientation & core vocabulary

1

Key terms drill: variable, hypothesis, operational definition, construct, confound

2

How to read an empirical journal article (abstract → methods → results → discussion)

3

Critical thinking practice: spotting claims, evidence, and alternative explanations

4

Operationalization workshop: turning concepts into measurable variables

Chapter 2

Scientific method in psychology + research ethics

5

Scientific method steps: observation → hypothesis → test → analysis → conclusion

6

Ethics: informed consent, confidentiality, deception, debriefing, IRB basics

7

Bias & control: confounds, demand characteristics, experimenter effects

8

Replication & transparency: why studies fail to replicate; basics of open practices

Chapter 3

Research designs (experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational)

9

Identify study types from scenarios: experiment vs quasi-experiment vs correlational

10

Independent vs dependent variables; directional vs non-directional hypotheses

11

Design structures: between-subjects, within-subjects, mixed designs (conceptual)

12

Random assignment, random sampling, counterbalancing (know the differences)

13

Validity threats: internal vs external validity (history, maturation, selection, etc.)

Chapter 4

Sampling, measurement, reliability & validity

14

Sampling techniques: convenience, random, stratified; sample size intuition

15

Scales of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio (and why it matters)

16

Reliability: test-retest, inter-rater, internal consistency (concepts + examples)

17

Validity: content, criterion, construct validity (concepts + examples)

18

Questionnaire basics: item writing, Likert scales, pilot testing, response bias

↗ Operationalization workshop: turning concepts into measurable variables (see Chapter 1)

Chapter 5

Data handling + introductory statistics for psychology

19

Data management: coding, cleaning, missing data, basic data dictionary

20

Descriptive statistics & graphs: mean/median/mode, SD, histograms, bar charts

21

Inferential thinking: sampling distributions, p-values, alpha, confidence intervals

22

Choosing a test (conceptual): t-test vs chi-square (what questions they answer)

23

Association models: correlation and simple linear regression (interpretation only)

Chapter 6

Research communication: APA-style writing & presenting results

24

APA-style report structure (IMRaD) and what goes in each section

25

Referencing and academic integrity: paraphrasing, citations, avoiding plagiarism

26

Writing practice: Method & Results sections from a small dataset

↗ Descriptive statistics & graphs: mean/median/mode, SD, histograms, bar charts (see Chapter 5)

27

Presenting results: tables/figures and how to report statistics clearly

28

Oral presentation & poster basics: telling the research story in 3–7 minutes

Chapter 7

Applied mini-project (from question to report)

29

Project step 1: write a researchable question + hypotheses (and define variables)

↗ Operationalization workshop: turning concepts into measurable variables (see Chapter 1)

30

Project step 2: create a protocol (design choice, materials, procedure, measures)

↗ Ethics: informed consent, confidentiality, deception, debriefing, IRB basics (see Chapter 2)

31

Project step 3: data collection plan, consent/debrief scripts, and documentation

32

Project step 4: analysis plan (variables → descriptive stats → appropriate test)

33

Project step 5: submit final report + do peer review using a marking rubric

34

Project step 6: limitations, generalizability, and ethical reflection