 PSYC 480: ADVANCED RESEARCH

CLASS SYLLABUS 
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Wind Goodfriend
Office: SSA 204
Phone: 749-2108
Email: goodfriend@bvu.edu
Office Hours: Mon, Tues, Wed from 2:00-2:50 in SSA 204
In addition to group class, you will be required to meet with the instructor for
individual mentoring sessions once a week (see below).

CLASS INFO:
Where: SSA 219
When: Monday evenings 6:00-7:00
This course counts toward the Psych major as an upper-division course.
This is a Gender Studies Track course. If you want to have the course count toward
Gender Studies, you must do your project on gender issues, homosexuality, or prejudice.
You must also let the instructor know your intentions in the first two weeks of class.

TEXT: The APA Publication Manual (or other APA writing guide).
Other readings will be passed out in class and/or made available on Angel.

OBJECTIVES AND GOALS:

This class is designed to take a full academic year (students are expected to enroll in Psyc 481: Research
Thesis in the following Spring semester). The goal of this course is that by the end, you will have
completed a full-length research paper, written in APA style, based on a project you designed and for
which you collected empirical data.

The objective is to emphasize the importance of research in the field, and to provide an opportunity for a
real research experience, similar to what will be expected of you in graduate school. In this way, you will
learn more about the graduate school experience (and therefore learn if you truly enjoy research).
Hopefully, you will also be more attractive when applying to graduate schools as a result of this course.

At the end of the year, you will be required to submit your research for at least two conference venues
and you must submit your paper to a journal for possible publication. Funds will be made available to
help you cover any conference expenses.

Accommodations:  Buena Vista University provides reasonable accommodations through an organized

process. Students desiring accommodations must follow the University's process.  Forms are available at:
http://www.bvu.edu/departments/academicaffairs/cae/studentaccommodations_sl.asp 
Please contact Donna Musel, Director of the Center for Academic Excellence (CAE) to begin this
process. 
INDIVIDUAL WEEKLY MEETINGS:

In addition to the regular evening class, each student is required to meet with Dr. Goodfriend every week
to have personal mentoring time. The following times are available – in the first week of class, times will
be chosen/assigned. If you need to switch times in a certain week, use this schedule to find someone to
switch with you (and be sure to tell Dr. Goodfriend in advance). Occasionally Dr. Goodfriend will need to
change the time; she’ll let you know at least a week in advance.

TIME STUDENT NAME

Wednesday 3:00-3:30 pm
Wednesday 3:30-4:00 pm
Wednesday 4:00-4:30 pm
Wednesday 4:30-5:00 pm

Thursday 2:00-2:30 pm
Thursday 2:30-3:00 pm

Friday 10:15-10:45 am
Friday 2:00-2:30 pm

GRADING:

Your grade in this class will be discussed with you periodically throughout the semester. In addition,
feedback will be provided to you on each draft of your thesis and during individual meetings. Grades will
be assessed based on the following criteria:
 Meeting deadlines
 Quality work
 Quality and respectful peer reviewing for classmates
 Following directions
 Respectful and ethical treatment of human participants in your study
 Cooperative attitude
 Class and individual meeting attendance. An unexcused absence from either will result in either
a full letter grade being dropped (for each absence) or withdrawal from the course.
 Schedule for Research Thesis
Week 1: Orientation to the course; pass out example thesis; choose weekly one-on-one appointments
Homework: (1) Read example thesis, (2) Read Bem article, (3) Choose a few possible topics for your thesis.

Week 2: Discuss example theses, Bem article, & ideas for topics.
Homework: Find a total of 21 articles using PsycInfo to use for your thesis; actually GET 10 of them.

Week 3: Discuss how to summarize articles & state how they are relevant to your thesis. Discuss importance of vitae and how
to construct it.
Homework: Summarize 7 journal articles, write draft of your vitae

Week 4: Discuss summaries and vitae

Homework: Summarize 7 journal articles, revise vitae

Week 5: Discuss how to write hypotheses, including an experimental manipulation, possible confounds, participant sex
effects, etc.
Homework: Summarize final 7 journal articles, practice APA style, Outline of your Introduction, including four
hypotheses

Week 6: Discuss APA style; share your 4 hypotheses with the group
Homework: Write rough draft of your introduction, including literature review, purpose of study, and hypotheses.
It should be around 5-8 pages long.

Week 7: Discuss progress so far; discuss research ethics and how to get certified online
Homework: Continue writing introduction, complete online certification. Begin creating materials you will need for
your study (e.g., surveys, manipulations, etc.)
Website for online ethics training: http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php

Week 8: Peer review of introductions in class

Homework: integrate peer feedback into next draft of introduction. Continue working on materials.

Week 9: Discuss methods, review independent / dependent variables & control over lab settings, random assignment, etc.
Homework: Finalize introduction, write first draft of methods section

Week 10: Peer review of methods sections; discuss IRB applications

Homework: Write IRB application

Week 11: Continue revising introduction and methods sections, discuss any problems with IRB applications
Homework: Finalize survey materials, SUBMIT IRB application

Week 12: Catch-up week if needed, on individual basis

Homework: Prepare all materials needed for data collection, including sign-up sheets for students

Week 13: Discuss data entry methods

Homework: Begin data collection

Week 14: Discuss any problems occurring; discuss “expected results”

Homework: Continue data collection, begin data entry. Write draft of “expected results” section

Week 15: Continue data collection and entry

Continue data collection & entry; revise expected results section

Next semester  Complete data collection and entry, results, and discussion. Present your thesis at either
Scholar’s Day (at BVU) or MUPC (Undergraduate Research Conference). Submit for possible
presentation at MPA in Chicago.

Important dates: Scholar’s Day  April 22; MUPC  TBA; MPA  May 5-7