Aims
The course provides students with the opportunity to explore and apply the contents of experimental psychology through a theoretical and practical approach. By the end of the course, students will develop the ability to:
- Plan and conduct quantitative research in the field of psychology.
- Analyze data collected using the statistical software SPSS.
- Interpret and present the obtained results.
Programme
The course provides students with the foundations of descriptive and inferential statistics using the SPSS software. Special attention is given to solving practical problems and developing the ability to translate research questions into testable statistical hypotheses. The following topics will be covered during the course:
- Description of the process of constructing a psychometric questionnaire in the psychological field.
- Literature review related to a construct of psychological interest.
- Operationalization of the construct and definition of the items that will compose the questionnaire.
- Data collection through the administration of the questionnaire using Google Forms.
- Analysis of the collected data using the SPSS statistical software.
- Shapiro/Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests to assess the assumption of normality in a sample distribution of data.
- Testing research questions translated into statistical hypotheses using the following statistical tests: Chi-square test, Pearson correlations, T-tests for paired and independent samples, simple and multiple linear regressions.
The course will follow a progressive approach, starting from the selection of the construct to the presentation of group analyses. Specific tasks will be assigned, involving students in various stages of the questionnaire creation and validation process, culminating in a final presentation of the conducted analyses.
Exam
Evaluation method:
The exam is divided into two parts. The first part is a group activity, which involves the collective presentation of the analyses conducted on the data collected through the administration of the research protocol. The second part is an individual component that entails performing statistical analyses in SPSS, based on the methods learned during the course, using data provided by the instructor.
The assessment will consist of:
Presentation of a group work and individual examination
Bibliography
The study material for exam preparation will include slides, handouts, and files used during the course.