Honors Research, PSY 359H (41030)

Meeting time and location:     MWF 9-10 a.m., SEA 2.108

Professor:       Dr. Randy Diehl

Office:             SEA 4.222

Phone:             475-7495

E-mail:            diehl@psy.utexas.edu

Office hours:   MW 1-2 or by appointment

TA:                  Will Canu

Office:             SEA 2.318

Phone:             471-3902

E-mail:            canu@mail.utexas.edu

Office hours:   WF 10-11:30 or by appointment

Texts:              Pyrczak, F. (2000).  Writing empirical research reports:  A basic guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences (3^rd ed.).  Los Angeles: Pyrczak.

                        American Psychological Association (2001).  Publication manual (5^th ed.).  Washington, D.C.:  American Psychological Association.

                        Some additional readings will be assigned during the course.

Prerequisites:  The Psychology Department will drop from any upper-division course all students who do not meet the following prerequisites: 

• PSY 301 with a C or better
• PSY 418 (or an equivalent listed in the course schedule) with a C or better
• upper-division standing (60 hours completed). 

Additional requirements for Psychology Honors Research are that you:

• are a Psychology or Plan II major
• have an UT GPA of at least 3.25 overall and a Psychology GPA of at least 3.5 
• have at least 6 hours of upper-division courses
• have permission of the Psychology Honors Advisor (i.e., course instructor)

(Note also that PSY 458 must be taken before enrolling in PSY 379H; it may be taken concurrently with PSY 359H.)

To graduate with Special Honors in Psychology you must:

• fulfill the normal degree requirements for a degree in Psychology plus three additional hours in the major (for a total of 31 hours of Psychology)
• complete PSY 418, PSY 458, PSY 359H, PSY 379H, and participate in PSY 158H
• have UT GPAs of at least 3.25 overall and 3.5 in Psychology courses
• complete each Honors Thesis class with a B or better
• complete at least 60 hours in residence at UT counting toward the degree.

Course objectives:     

• to select and refine a research idea,
• to review the relevant literature, and
• to design an independent research project.

Writing assignments (due dates are listed on the attached schedule):

1. Topic summary:  This is an overview of the area of research you plan to explore for your project along with questions that are of interest to you (1-2 pages).
2. Literature review:  This includes a description of the research question that you plan to address together with a discussion and analysis of relevant earlier research (5-8 pages).
3. Research proposal:  This consists of a revised version of your literature review along with a description of your experimental hypotheses, experimental design, and proposed methods (9-12 pages).

In addition, there will be several other small writing assignments during the course.

Attendance and preparation

Attendance is expected.  Readings and other assignments for a particular class should be completed prior to that class.

Grading

      Contributions to the final grade are as follows:  topic summary--5%, literature review--20%, class participation and small assignments--15%), research proposal (including revised literature review--60%.

Students with disabilities

      The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities.  For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.

Course Schedule (tentative)

Date                Topic                                                   Assignment

Aug 28             Overview of Honors Research

Sept 4              Selecting a research topic                      Write 1 or 2 sentence on topic.

                                                                                     Begin literature review.

Sept 11            Narrowing the focus                              Write paragraph on narrowed topic.

Sept 18            Reviewing the literature                          Begin general literature review.

                                                                                     Topic summary due

Sept 25            Developing hypotheses                          Pyrczak Chap 1, 2, and 3

Oct 9               Writing an introduction                           Pyrczak Chap 4, 5, and 6

Oct 14             Getting in to graduate school                  Literature review due

Oct 18             Designing your study                              Pyrczak Chap 7

Oct 25             Selecting stimuli and measures  

Nov 6              Human subjects                                   

Nov 15           Writing a methods section                       Pyrczak Chap 8

Nov 22            Presentations begin                                Research proposal due