Practicum in Social Psychology

Official syllabus will be handed out in class

Instructors
David W. Johnson, 60 Peik Hall, 612-624-7031

Overview of the course

Course summary: This course is a doctoral level research workgroup designed to engage students in the conceptualization, design, implementation, and analysis of experimental, survey and field research in the areas of social psychology.

Course requirements: Readings, discussions, and participation in all aspects of ongoing programs of research including: literature reviews, conceptual discussions and hypothesis generation, research design, materials development, piloting materials, data collection, data analyses, write-up and presentations.

Current research projects: We will primarily address problems fundamental to social interdependence theory, conflict resolution theory, and organizational change theory, utilizing experimental, correlational and qualitative research methodologies.

Participating in research projects

Becoming involved in research is an integral part of graduate training. The skills you acquire by conducting research will be extremely valuable regardless of whether you eventually pursue a career in academe, business, consulting, or attempt to publish research-based papers. Learning how to conduct research and understanding the research process will help you develop a framework for thinking about psychological and sociological issues and problems from multiple perspectives, determine how to identify potential causes of the issue or problem, explore different approaches to solve the problem, and evaluate whether your approach to the issue or problem was effective or whether alternative explanations for the problem or issue are needed. That is, by participating in research you should develop a set of tools that enable you to:

• Describe a problem – collect information about an issue, situation, or organizational problem;
• Diagnosis the problem – use different theories, frameworks, and models to analyze the issue and probable basic causes of the problem or issue;
• Prescribe solutions – use theories and concepts to develop possible solutions for the issue or problem;
• Act -- specify the actions need to implement a solution, evaluate whether the solution was effective.

The aforementioned is a set of general skills. These general skills can be developed through participating in research projects and by developing a more specific set of research skills.

The research process is typically long. Most projects in the social psychological area take 1-3 years from inception to submission for possible publication. There are several phases involved in research.

An empirical research project generally involves the following phases (note that the particular skills learned in each phase are in parentheses):

• Literature Review (Library and Computer Search skills; Ability to Identify Relevant Information) Searching for and collecting articles relevant to the topic area
• Reviewing the Literature (Content Knowledge) Reading and summarizing articles; Identifying themes and major issues
• Analysis of the Literature (Critical Thinking; Diagnosing Issues) Looking for patterns of research findings across different studies, integrating findings of different studies, exploring different theoretical models and rationales for explaining findings
• Developing Testable Hypotheses (Creative Thinking; Conceptual Skills; Integrating ideas)
• Using content knowledge, analysis of previous research, and theoretical concepts and models to derive new ideas that can be tested
• Providing Rationales for Hypotheses (Conceptual Skills; Integrating Ideas; Logic)
• Using a combination of past research, theory, and integration of different theories to explain why the hypothesis is valid
• Designing a Study (Analytical Skills; Decision-Making; Methodology)
• Developing a means to collect data that a) matches the hypotheses proposed and b) do so in a way that will allow the researcher to be confident that the results obtain are valid
• Data Analysis (Statistical Skills; Analytical Skills; Statistical Software Skills and Knowledge)
• Determining the most appropriate statistical techniques for analyzing the data that allows for robust testing of the hypotheses
• Evaluating Results (Conceptual Skills; Integrating Ideas; Critical Thinking)
• Analyzing the results obtained to determine if they hypotheses were fully supported; Using theory to explain the finding; Proposing alternative explanations for the finding
• Manuscript Preparation (Written Communication Skills)
• Describing all of the above phases in a very clear, coherent, concise manner, following standards for manuscript organization and preparation for the particular journal; Making complex studies understandable for readers

A conceptual paper typically involves the following phases:

• Literature Review (Library skills; Computer search skills; Identify Relevant Information) Very extensive literature search; collecting articles relevant to the topic area
• Reviewing the Literature (Content Knowledge) Reading and summarizing articles; Identifying themes and major issues
• Analysis of the Literature (Critical Thinking; Diagnosing Issues) Looking for patterns of research findings across different studies, integrating findings of different studies, exploring different theoretical models and rationales for explaining findings; Searching for themes to link different research areas together
• Developing Testable Propositions (Creative Thinking; Conceptual Skills; Integrating ideas)
• Using content knowledge, analysis of previous research, and theoretical concepts and models to derive new ideas that can be tested; Integrating different theories to identify new areas for exploration; Developing new models to explain organizational phenomena; Using past research and theory to develop new models
• Providing Rationales for Hypotheses (Conceptual Skills; Integrating Ideas; Logic)
• Using a combination of past research, theory, and integration of different theories to explain the propositions
• Manuscript Preparation (Written Communication Skills)
• Describing all of the above phases in a very clear, coherent, concise manner, following standards for manuscript organization and preparation for the particular journal; Making new and complex ideas understandable for readers

Revised October 2003